Thread: The fitting of a QT Diff guard

hello boys and girls today we fitted the front and rear diff guards on my disco.

So here is a couple of pics to show you
The diff guards fitted are QT and they are both part number A1050..(this is technically a front diff guard but as diffs are the same can be fitted to both)

First of all I just want to introduce you to a leaky rear diff as I'm sure no one else has one and doesn't know what they look like.



First things first offered the guard up so we could put bolts in to help hold it in place



As you can see, the base of the diff guard bolts to the base of the diff housing...there are two holes there already and no need for drilling (guard comes supplied with the bolts needed)



The next step is to put the top bracket in place which utilises two of the studs at the top of the diff housing (the ones that travel around the cirumfrance) if you look at the picture you can see the silver bracket now on the top of the diff.



Remember to leave everything a little lose so you have play to move things around...

The top bracket is shaped a bit like a triangle and at the other end (the end that attaches to the front of the diffguard) also has two hole but you will only need to utilise one of them.....as there is only ONE threaded hole on the top of the diffguard which this bracket attaches too

The bracket also is made up of much thinner metal and I think is made as a sacrificial bracket to some degree....because when everything gets tightened up there is a large gap between the guard top and the bracket...So we tightened it knowing that the bracket will bend down over the diff! it wasn't much of a bend but in case your thinking well I don't want to bend that bracket you wont be able to fully tighten the guard up.

Here are some closer pics of that bracket using the studs on the diff housing




The most fiddly part of the hole thing is lining up the diff guard with the top bracket and knowing which hole to put the supplied bolt into as the bolt and hole are small so in such a space restricted area it can be one of those things that can take five mins to get it to catch on a thread or an hour and lost of swearing

Thankfully it took about 20/25min each diff....its awkward if your on your own and holding the guard up as well.

Once you have the bolt in the front of the top bracket no a couple of threads go around and tighten everything up

This is a picture of the one on the front



.....the guard rides over the top of the track rod and there is a hole on the guard I presume to refit your steering damper (mine doesn't live there) as on the front diff you have you have to remove the damper bracket in able to fit this guard....

We also found that we couldn't refit the harmonic balancer as the holes didn't line up..(but i'm not going to loose any sleep over it)

I did how ever joke that those holes on the diffs would make good recovery points if you put the car on its side for a sleep

This is the guard fitted on the rear diff



This is the guard fitted on the front diff




As you can see by this photo it was so quick to fit Ian extended the chassis on my car just for something to do

The are two things to note on the rear diff, firstly I don't have a rubber coupling (there are specific guards for range of models and model years. With and without the rubber coupling so make sure you get the right one)

Secondly on the rear diff when the guard was fitted....We thought one of the brake lines was a little to close for comfort to the guard and was concerned about it rubbing through, so we put some small sized spiral wrap on and tie wrapped it away from the offending area..of course the brake lines don't have much movement so I'm talking minimal when I say away.

Hope this maybe of some help to someone......and don't be frightened they are a piece of cheese to fit..and bloody sturdy the guards are made from 5mm steel and zinc plated.

yeah thanks mate my harmonic balancer came off also..