Thread: Rear diff issue

Any play there is a sign of bigger problems. Dont drive it as you are likely damaging the diff gears. There should be pre-load on the pinion bearings. Pull the rear driveshaft joint and check the pinion nut hasn't come loose. It should be mental tight. If tight, you have a pinion bearing related issue that needs sorting pronto.

Good luck with it.

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Thankyou for the reply mate.
Car is off the road as of now.
Will get everything apart now and see if i can find the problem.
Will update the thread as soon as i get a little closer to finding out.

Here is hoping its a loose nut!!

pinion nut has probably worked loose or you're having a bearing collapse.

Im hoping its the pinion nut. However if i need to do something more major then i have no issue with it. I want my disco back on the road and getting muddy. I do push the old girl quite hard so have to expect these sort of problems i guess.
Will report back as soon as i have it clean and dismantled.
Thankyou for the quick replies.

Update.
I took off the rear shaft and spigot.
Guess what the damn nut was loose!!
Finger tight infact.
So that was likely the problem but i guess now what damage has been caused as a result?
I assume i will have to change seal bearing and spigot?
Also i noticed the cush drive coupling was looking a little worse for wear so change that also?

Finally how do i go about tightening this nut?
Is it as simple as a torque setting or is there a certain amount of preload?

Given the preload concerns and cost im thinking about just getting a new centre?
Partly because i have sourced a locker at a reasonable price, what are your thoughts?
Just replace the parts and keep wheeling or given the potential other issues just scrap the centre?

Cheers DAMINK.

[ame]https://youtu.be/9O78M1IZ3ZM[/ame]

Ok got the diff apart now. Just curious that pinion bearing is stuffed right?
I was surprised to see when i pushed onto the bearing the rollers actually touch the base of the pinion gear.
I have to assume thats simply a stuffed bearing right?
Diffs are not my thing so really in the dark here a little so any advice would be appreciated.

G'day. Hard to say if the bearing is stuffed or not from the vid. The rollers will normally have play on the race when not installed, as shown, so that's not an indicator by itself. The pinion head and bearings don't show any problems that are visible but they'd have to be well stuffed to show up on video like that.

Before stripping it down did you try tightening the nut up nice and tight and seeing what it all felt like? Did it spin over smoothly? It might be that just the nut came loose and needed a dob of Loctite and a tighten.

I'd suggest that you get a copy of RAVE and that will give you all the info you need to check the diff out (and anything else). Plus torque specs, etc. There are online copies that can be downloaded for 'older' Landies like ours. Google is your friend.

Now it is completely in bits, you'll need to reset all the backlash and preloads, etc. Again, RAVE has the procedure laid out clearly and it's not difficult, just a bit fiddly. And you can guesstimate backlash without a dial gauge if required. You may get away with just putting it all back together... maybe.

Or use it as an excuse to drop in a locker pre-built. There's one up for sale in the Markets section for a sharp price.

If you still have the rubber donut joint at the diff, consider upgrading to the older UJ shaft and flange as they are much more reliable. That's well covered in the forum (and any other LR one) so I won't detail it here.

Cheerio.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

Thankyou for the reply mate. I need as much advice as possible.

Yes i did try tighten the nut before i disassembled and it had a lot of play although i did only tighten it with a small wrench and after reading it needs something like 200 pounds of force. I put 30 pounds if lucky!
So should have actually tightened it far more.
That boat has now sailed so to speak.

I already have the rave manual mate so that will help.

I have not taken off the bearing tighteners for the main carrier so hoping that was a good move? Will that prevent the need to set the backlash?
Leaving me with only end play on the pinion i need to sort out?

And to be honest there mate it may well be an excuse to install a locker
I have convinced the wifey (bank) its needed given i am forever pushing the old disco to its limits.

As for the one for sale..... Air locks just seem like a silly idea to me. The pressure required to make them work and the risk of having pressure in your casing should the O rings give way????

That second hand unit here and on ebay i am looking at.
But will not pay his price of $700. Thats seriously over priced for a second hand unit.

$400 i would consider it. That way i could get the pumps and what not to actually make it work. It will still be a $1000 job to get it to work and be second hand versus a new detroit locker carrier for about $1000.

At this point im leaning towards a detroit locker.
So im going to get new bearings for the pinion, new spigot as that was pitted quite badly, new seal obviously and a new flange.

Once i am confident all is good i will then get my locker.
Would always prefer 3 wheels turning instead of 2.

Again thankyou for the replies.
It helps me more than you could imagine.