Removing the front differential- the easy way.

[Growlerbearnz]

So I'm finally starting to install the front differential locker, and was horrified by how complicated the factory workshop manual makes removing the front diff. Here's how I do it- this way preserves your wheel alignment and, because I'm fundamentally lazy, involves the least amount of work.

Before jacking the van up:


Turn steering to the left, and on the left front suspension, remove the sway bar link/bolt and bushes.

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Turn the steering all the way to the right, then on the left front suspension, insert a piece of wood between the upper wishbone and the upper bump stop (rebound stop).

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Loosen left front wheel nuts, jack the van up and put on axle stands.

Remove undertrays/bash guards (12 and 14mm bolts). Drain diff oil (24mm socket.)

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Remove the left front wheel. Undo and remove the two sliding bolts (17mm) and tie the brake caliper up so it’s not dangling from its flexible hose.

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Loosen the *left side* 17mm nuts holding the rear subframe/cross member to the chassis- don’t remove them entirely, but undo them as far as they’ll go without coming off.

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Now remove the steering knuckle- a ball joint splitter is the easy way to do it, otherwise use a hammer like grandad used to.

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Remove the four bolts (17mm) holding the lower ball joint in place. Extracting the bolts can be a pain, if you can't get them past the CV joint then just remove the nuts and spring washers and take them out later.

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Undo the Auto Hub cover and remove the circlip inside. Hopefully you'll need to excavate lots of grease to find it. Also remove the tiny shim that lives behind the circlip.

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Now undo the 3 bolts holding the top swivel joint to the upper wishbone. Push the lower wishbone down, let the upper swivel joint fall forwards (this is where you extract the four bolts if you couldn't get them out earlier) and remove the swivel hub, leaving the driveshaft behind.

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Now remove the driveshaft. Take care to pull it straight out towards you so you don't damage the oil seal in the diff housing.

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Mark the driveshaft and remove all the bolts, slide the driveshaft backwards as far as it’ll go.

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Mark the right side CV joint and remove the nuts- the bolts will stay in place, but the CV will come loose.

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Remove the 17mm bolt from the front mount,

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the four 14mm bolts from the end mounts,

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and the two 14mm bolts from the bracket thing that goes over the diff. (Those last two 14mm bolts are a complete pain.)

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You axle should now fall out.

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It’s heavy. Don’t be under it when it drops. If it hangs on the CV joints, you might need to slide it sideways a bit to make room to clear the CV joints.

Reassembly is vaguely the reverse of removal, but with more swearing as you try to lift the heavy axle up while guiding the CV joints into place. I'm super not looking forward to that job.

[lrp374]

Thanks for the directions on getting the differential out. I guess I really never thought about what was involved in installing the Lokka I was so focused on the results. What is your estimate of total time for the modification? This looks like a fairly major job for a backyard mechanic. Mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow!!

[Growlerbearnz]

I reckon removing the axle this way should only take an hour or so, as long as there are no seized bolts. It took me about 2 hours, and I was figuring it out as I went along.

[winelover]

As with all of your other extremely helpful posts, thank you! They have sent my lokka out, but as I am in the states, it has not showed yet. Looking this over, it seems like a damn good time to replace all my CV boots....now I just need to find some parts numbers and a supplier.

[thelazygreenfox]

You may have already seen this coming but.....

Pull back the inner CV boot and remove the clip holding the CV joint balls. This negates removing the ball cup and damaging the differential seal. Also it's a bit lighter when reinstalling the CV axle assy. Add grease to the balls when reassembling.

Use your guide for the L400 as well. They're so similar....

[Growlerbearnz]

That's a pretty good idea, I'll add it to the instructions as an alternative. In my case all the CV boots are originals, held on by crimped steel bands. I'm not keen on replacing the bands just yet, and I just know that pulling the boot back will cause it to split.

[thelazygreenfox]

GB
Unfortunately you don't have Princess Auto.. (No there's no Princess involved, but some of the ladies there are standouts .). They sell light duty stainless banding for that job, easy to work with and basically it's a zap strap in metal.

Gosh, these foreign countries don't have anything..... LOL Some day I'll bring my deli there on my world tour, my buddy says the hunting and fishing is great.

I'm sure you're right, old boots break easy.
MD