Locker install - new crown wheel bolts or use the original?

**tailslide** · 27th May 2013, 08:46 PM

Hi Guys,

I have some Ashcroft goodness about to land at my door, via Luck8's recent promotion.

I will be installing the locker into a spare diff centre that I have and was wondering if I should be using new crown wheel bolts. They are not available locally from LRA. (I checked, but they could sell me a new diff for $2,000

). Ashcroft have bolts that can be ordered.

So do people put new bolts in or just clean up and reuse the old bolts?

I have a dial gauge and torque wrenches and will be doing the fitting myself, having a spare diff takes the time pressure off. As it is a used diff I'm not planning on replacing the pinion bearings, unless they are showing signs of wear. By not upsetting the pinion, and matching the backlash to the current measurement, I should in theory have a setup that matches the current wear pattern, and be relatively easy to achieve.

I will be checking the contact pattern before and after to confirm.

It has been quite a while since I last had a hand at rebuilding a rover diff. Real rover diffs use lock tabs, not Loctite.

Cheers
Ron

**Vern** · 27th May 2013, 08:50 PM

I got new bolts from ashcrofts, they're fairly cheap

**steveG** · 27th May 2013, 09:07 PM

Mine were just cleaned up and reused.

Steve

**isuzurover** · 27th May 2013, 11:22 PM

I have never replaced crownwheel bolts when fitting a locker. I have also never broken a CW bolt

**kreecha** · 28th May 2013, 06:13 AM

I put new bolts in.
They cost $25.
But I also did it because my KAM crownwheel is wider, and the original bolt length was insufficient

Cheers, Adam.

**tailslide** · 28th May 2013, 11:22 PM

Thanks for the input guys. I'm a bit biased to replacing them as I have reused CW bolts in a rover diff (SIIa) and one of them ended up going between the pinion and crown wheel after shearing the head off, cracking the carrier. Couldn't really tell what let go first but the bolt head had been though the gears for at least one pass.

Not really the same as the DII diff I know.

I can wait till I have had a good check of the pinion bearings before I place my order. As I may be up for a shim kit as well...

Cheers
Ron

**tailslide** · 7th June 2013, 09:48 PM

My new bolts have arrived, even got a set for my front diff which may be upgraded in the future funds permitting.

Still waiting on the Ashcroft locker to be delivered so will not be playing with the diff this weekend. Everything is set and ready to go, oh the waiting...

Cheers
Ron

**gazby** · 8th June 2013, 08:20 AM

Roughly, what would an Ashcroft diff set you back, delivered ?

**tailslide** · 8th June 2013, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by gazby

Roughly, what would an Ashcroft diff set you back, delivered ?

Sorry, I wouldn't know. It would be best to ask Ashcroft for a quote: info@ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk. I have always found them to be very helpful in responding to queries.

Cheers
Ron

**tailslide** · 20th June 2013, 11:43 PM

Last weekend I swapped the centre over and found that five (out of ten) CW bolts on the old carrier were under torqued. They shifted with about 30 - 40 NM. These bolts all showed thread damage at the point where the crown wheel back and the carrier meet.

The four shiny strips between the two bolts above came from the thread. Also there was no evidence of loctite being used.

Here is my finished locker install:

I have a few more photos in my Ashcroft album here: Ashcroft Transmissions Photos by rschipp | Photobucket

Cheers
Ron

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Locker install - new crown wheel bolts or use the original?

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