General Forums > Metal Bombardiers
51 R18 Rebuild
the old trucker:
Dave... ol' buddy..ol' pal. Is that diff still the original length or did you do some cutting to it ? I know you have a wide gauge, but I was wondering if it's the same length as the old one. I like the idea of the sprocket staying put in the event for trouble. Is that the same diff as in the newer pickups ( 80's - 90's ).
The ends on yours looks similur to mine. The machinists here say they can narrow up a diff for me if need be. Dave, if I went like you are, do you think it would be OK to weld a piece of round 1/4 or 3/8 plate to the axle ends & get them drilled to accept my sprockets ??
OT.....
dpaulson:
The newer pickups have a 8.8". The axles are held in with a c-clip at the differential end, so these ones won't stay in when broken. I would think the odds of braking an axle is low in the type of driving that I do anyway, I not sure how rammy you are. You'll have to judge that for yourself :o. This diff is 2" wider than the Chrysler diff. The bolt pattern is different anyway, so I'll just re-manufacture new centers for the sprockets with the correct offset.
--- Quote ---do you think it would be OK to weld a piece of round 1/4 or 3/8 plate to the axle ends & get them drilled to accept my sprockets ??
--- End quote ---
I don't have any experience with welding on axles to say one way or another. Can you just knock out the studs in the axle and locate and re-drill in between stud holes (assuming the plate is large enough) or re-drill your alum. sprocket. (or forget about the alum sprockets altogether and go with the newer style plastic sprocket). I think that when the diff has been narrowed, the general practice to narrow the axle is to cut the spline end and re-spline because it would be a lot less work than to build up the axle and machining for the bearing as well as the plate for the stud bolts.
the old trucker:
Dave I think it would be educational to take pics of the step by step procedure involved in doing this. I know it would help me ....
OT'S still learning....
the old trucker:
Dave I have an idea. I don't know if it is stupid or not but here goes. If the new diff you have was just the right size, couldn't you leave the brake drums & shoes attached ?? Then plum in two master cylinders so you could have steering brakes for use on icy surfaces...
Look up (Drivetrain) & look at page 2, start @ Reply # 16. It will show what I'm talking about.
OT.
Cranman:
Don't know if he comes on here in summer but stuckinslush (Darrell) used a diff from a ford explorer and it even bolted up to his sprockets. I think he had to put spacers in when he took the rotors off but it was perfect and the ratio was great for his woodie. That is a pretty tough diff apparently.
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