Rate my donut!

[Young Angus]

So I've got a rear maxi drive which was installed over a decade ago, so I thought surely they would have done the rotoflex to uni conversion at the same time but apparently not.

Anyway opinions seem divided whether or not the roto is okay or if I should bother converting it. My D1 is not my daily driver, but I will be doing both long distance touring and trying to do some serious offroading in it, but probably not trying to tow anything too heavy. It's got a modest 2" lift and runs 245/75/16s which is as big as I'll go.

What does the hive think? Should I just replace the donut or as Mario recommended, just keep a spare, or should I go to the trouble of converting it and above all...Is it worth it? I want this thing to be solid, but if the roto means it'll ride nicely and they are easy enough to replace on the side of a road if need be then maybe I'll just leave it alone.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/10/265.jpghttps://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/10/266.jpg

[trout1105]

I would be more concerned with all that oil that appears to be coming out of the pinion seal [bigwhistle]

[rangieman]

Yep Pinnion seal first :bat:
I prefer unis but that is me . Replace ya donut if doing a big trip and keep the old one as a get out of jail[wink11]

[deadfishdisco]

Mario gives good advice....

As you will be removing the shaft for the pinion seal, I would replace the donut at the same time (and bolts) and also consider the front uni joint too.
keep the old donut (as also recommended) . It doesnt look too bad, I replaced mine but the rubber had perished and cracked around the bolts...ie it was obviously stuffed...but still working.

have fun, robbo

[Pedro_The_Swift]

if the donut has been there the entire time of the lift,, leave it alone untill it starts to crack,,
some dont handle lifts at all,, I think Slunnie is still Donut King... [bigrolf]

[AK83]

I'd say leave the donut too.
I did mine 30K klms ago, still no issue.
If it does break, they're easy to fix out in the sticks with minimal tools.
Much harder to fix a uni by comparison! ;)

I can't work out how much lift my D1 has on the rear, but it's min 1" looks more like 2". Rear is about 1" higher than front.

Mine was split when replaced, so I have no spare .. but if anyone knows are there any manufacturer that do polyurethane roto's?

And as already said about the pinion seal, sort that out as a priority and follow deadfishdiscos advice on that.

[Young Angus]

Sounds like good advice, I wonder is the pinion seal an easy fix...

[manic]

Went to change the donut on mine this afternoon. Whilst changing the rubber over on the road would be quicker/easier than a uj, you would probably skip the bush in the prop which should be done if you want your new donut to last.

I got a replacement bush for prop and new pin/spigot for diff end. The bush took an hour of mostly hammering to remove from the prop. It was near enough welded in there.

You will need to remove the locating pin on diff end to replace pinion seal so you might as well replace it if worn at all. It has a M8 thread for a puller but mine did not budge 1mm. Stripped threads on two bolts and broke a ratchet spanner trying to extract it. Given up as not essential, pinion seal is good. Good luck with yours, some heat might help.

Another round of grief from that donut setup and I'll be converting to UJ.

[loanrangie]

Sounds like good advice, I wonder is the pinion seal an easy fix...
Harder on rotoflex diffs as you need a puller to remove the spigot.

[Old Farang]

All very well to replace the rotoflex rubber on the road, but mine split one of the bolt holes on the prop shaft star flange. It does have after market springs, but less than 2" lift. I have converted it to a u joint, which will give you much earlier warning of imminent failure.

[Pub247]

I havent touched mine but i carry a new spare rotoflex in case it fails i will wait till i upgrade to a locker before switching to uni.

I like to think the rotoflex is the weakest point in driveline so if it breaks anywhere itll be there first. (thats my logic anyway)

[rick130]

if the donut has been there the entire time of the lift,, leave it alone untill it starts to crack,,
some dont handle lifts at all,, I think Slunnie is still Donut King... [bigrolf]Hahaha, and I'm pretty sure he's back to a donut just to reduce vibes.

[Slunnie]

Hahaha, and I'm pretty sure he's back to a donut just to reduce vibes.

I sure am!