john Douglas

[john Douglas]

Hi,Starting a suspension over haul on my Series one,at long last.First thing i notice!brake drums are 11"and shoes 2.25,I'm thinking series 3 lwb?Any other ways off telling if my diffs have been swapped.57/88/S1Cheers john

[JDNSW]

If the entire axle has been swapped it will immediately be apparent - the Series 2/2a/3 is about two inches wider track, and the wheels will protrude slightly beyond the mudguards, depending on tyre size. The Series 1 rear axle is semi-floating (except very late station wagons) whereas Series 2 on are fully floating, meaning that the hub on Series 1 is flat, where as on later ones the drive half axle protrudes through a bolted on drive flange and has a large nut covered by a pressed hubcap, the same as the front.

If by 'diff' you mean just the differential centre unit that bolts in to the axle housing, while there were minor changes through production, these are a bolt-in swap all the way to the end of Series 3 production, except for the V-8, which has a different reduction ratio. Note that non-standard diffs may have been fitted at some time in the past, particularly to suit it better to the Holden engine.

Most likely the brake assemblies have been swapped from a long wheel base from Series 1 onwards, which had 11" brakes - wider 11" brakes came with the 6 cylinder engine during Series 2a, and were fitted to late Series 3 lwb with four cylinder engines. Fitting lwb front brakes to swb Landrovers is a simple and effective way of improving brakes, but needs the master cylinder swapped as well.

Hope this helps.

[john Douglas]

Hi,Starting a suspension over haul on my Series one,at long last.First thing i notice!brake drums are 11"and shoes 2.25,I'm thinking series 3 lwb?Any other ways off telling if my diffs have been swapped.57/88/S1Cheers john
Thank you,Im already ahead of yesterday.Seems from the description that my differentials/axles are from a later model.The tyres are close but not protruding beyond the body even wearing 235/85/16.I thank you again.As my intension is to make this truck as light as possible without undermining the integrity of the structure,the leaf springs look solid and rusted?

[B.S.F.]

Looking from the back, there should be an axle number stamped near the top, between the breather and the u-bolt. It is not possible to transfer a Series 3 Lwb axle to a Series 1 without modifications to the spring pad location. Fully floating axles were standard on all S1 107 or 109 Lwb witth 11" brakes. (Probaly about 56 on)Some of this information was taken from the S1 parts catalogue and some of it from crawling under the car..W.

[JDNSW]

And conversion of semifloating to fully floating axles on a series 1 is quite easy, quick, and parts from Series 2/2a/3 bolt on - except for the half axles, which are special to the Series 1 and stocked alongside the hen's teeth. (But it is possible to fit the later half axles using a spacer between the drive flange and the hub.)