'98 SFA front diff

[zepplin]

I have a '98 2.8 diesel with the gearmax rear diff & diff lock. I believe that the front diff is the imported one (as they all are?) as there is no removeable cover on the back(front) housing. Does this mean that the drive shafts in the front axle are 30 spline & the rear shafts are 27spline? I have an ARB locker that was meant for the rear of an '89 'Lux with the imported rear diff (8", 30 spline) & want to know if this locker can be fitted to the front of the '98 'Lux.

[BenHur]

Aparently yes. See this:

I have one detroit for a local axle rear. R4800. Detroits for Import R6500. Ez or Lockrite or Auzie Locker about R3400. Local axel is a 27 spline, import 30 spline. Hiluxes with both import axles have the same 3rd members front and rear.

Thus it will use the same locker front or rear as well

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=318&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

[zepplin]

Thanks Bennie,

I did see that thread. Think I'll wait for a more definitive answer before pulling the front shafts. Would hate to go through all that work & then find that it wont fit.

Cheers

[Zantus]

Yes, the locker will fit your front diff.

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

Another reason why the front and the rear diff pumpkins have the same amount of splines on the imported axles is because what we do is fit a front pumpkin at the rear and the rear at the front, the front are normally in a better condition because they have not been abused.

[zepplin]

So with all the above info, am I correct in saying that on the later model bakkies with the gearmax rear, there is a difference in the number of splines between front & rear i.e. 30 front & 27 rear?

[Zantus]

So with all the above info, am I correct in saying that on the later model bakkies with the gearmax rear, there is a difference in the number of splines between front & rear i.e. 30 front & 27 rear?

Yes, there is a difference, the front stayed the same all the time and rear was "downgraded" to the local gearmax diff!

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

This is why it is also known that the local rear diff's are much more prone to not lasting than the imported type diff's.

[BenHur]

What about the ratio's? Do the local manufactured vehicles run different rations than the imported ones? In other words will I be able to simply swap my local rear diff for an imported one or will I have to change ratios on the front to match if I do a swap?

Alternatively have anyone tried interchanging spares on these differentials. Will I be able to use imported side shafts and side gears in a local diff body (maybe swap spiders as well) or are they totally different. What about the pinion shaft and ring gears? Do the carriers differ?

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

Concerning your questions benhur.

First of all;

The Hilux bakkies that have the 2.2 and 2.4 Diesel engines have a diff ratio of 4.875, these were normally vehicle's that were manufactured before 1996, they came out with the imported rear axle as well as the front imported axle.

However all Hilux vehicles that were manufactured in 1996 and after (we are talking about the ones with the solid front axle) came out with the Gearmax local rear axle, this is the one with the cover on the back of the diff housing, they came out with a diff ratio of 4.55. these were the Hilux's with the 2.8 Diesel and the 22R 2.4 petrol engine.

Now if you wanted to use a front imported axle from a 2.8D or 22R engine vehicle on the rear of a 2.2 4Y or 2.4 D pre 1996 model Hilux you would have to change the crownwheel and pinion to make the diff ratio 4.875 this will work, however the parts of the rear gearmax local diff will not fit on an imported front axle and I would not even recommend using various spider and sun gears from various other diffs as well as crownwheel and pinions to build up a new diff, the reason been, when you fit a crownwheel and pinion, they are a match fit, this goes as well for the spider and sun gears.

I do not think that the rear side shafts from an imported diff will fit in a local gearmax rear diff, I think the splines are not the same. We have never had to check this, I might be wrong, but will find out and let you know.

[BenHur]

Thanks Simon

Do I understand you correctly if I say that if I were to buy a import rear diff for my Lux I would also need to buy a another crown wheel and pinion with the 4.55 ratio for my front diff since the 4.85 ratio crown wheel and pinion from the gearmax would not fit the import diff.

It would be nice to see if a matched set of spiders and sidegears and sideshafts of a import diff would not fit a local carrier and housing. If that is the case I therortically might pick up a diff with a stripped crown or pinion for cheap and use its spares on mine.

For those of you who do not know the terminology I found this while checking out different websites(this is my understanding so correct me if I am wrong:

The solid part in the diff that hold all the parts together is referred to as the carrier or casing and I saw another name somewhere but cant remember now.

The input shaft from the prop haft is referred to as the pinion and the gear at the end called the pinion gear.

This gear that runs around the carrier and runs on the pinion is called either the ring gear or crown wheel.

The gears that connects to the side shafts is called the side gears and the gears that run between the side gears is called spider gears, sun gears or planetary gears.

[BenHur]

I have been at a scrapyard today and they had 2 gearmax diffs there, the one being a D(I think) 75 and the other one a (D)84 :? . The guy said he knows the 84 one came from an Isuzu but he was not sure about the 75 saying it might be from a Hilux. Does anyone here know what model gearmax diffs the Hilux used The 75 one is without spider and side gears but he said that I could reuse my existing ones if this is the actual carrier model that will fit my diff.

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

sent you some large format pic's look in the other Open Section benhur.

Yes you are correct with the words that you used for the items