LT230 new diff gears feel rough

Britcyclerider · Jun 16, 2018

Hi All. I am in the process of rebuilding an ex Disco 1.2 transfer box and have purchased a new one piece cross pin and diff gear set from Ashcroft's. I have built up the diff using shims supplied with the gasket set, but am a little concerned how course it feels when spun. There is no locking or snagging, it just doesn't feel as smooth as I was expecting. It may be that after some running, the teeth wear in, but don't want to priceed until I have this verified.

I am not convinced, but maybe I need to change the shims, just haven't had time yet.

Any thoughts? Btw, I am meticulous when rebuilding and there is no FOD in there!

flat · Jun 16, 2018

dunno but ashcrofts are super helpful, might be worth giving them a ring?

jamesmartin · Jun 16, 2018

Britcyclerider said:
Hi All. I am in the process of rebuilding an ex Disco 1.2 transfer box and have purchased a new one piece cross pin and diff gear set from Ashcroft's. I have built up the diff using shims supplied with the gasket set, but am a little concerned how course it feels when spun. There is no locking or snagging, it just doesn't feel as smooth as I was expecting. It may be that after some running, the teeth wear in, but don't want to priceed until I have this verified.

I am not convinced, but maybe I need to change the shims, just haven't had time yet.

Any thoughts? Btw, I am meticulous when rebuilding and there is no FOD in there!

if center diff gears are shimmed properly ie so theres no free play the gears are supposed to feel notchy when turned

LeftFoot · Jun 16, 2018

When I overhauled my transfer box 2 years ago i was faced with an identical problem. Actually I believe that if you search my posts you might see when I posted and I believe James Martin responded with the same response as above.
I replaced the cross pins in the center diff with the single type from Ashcroft and just like you installed the new gear set. I too did not like the feel and decided to re-use my original gears with new brass thrust washers.
So I currently have a brand new set of gears from Ashcroft lying around. Perhaps with the proper combination of shims the Ashcroft gearset will feel like how we were expecting it to feel.

jamesmartin · Jun 16, 2018

LeftFoot said:
When I overhauled my transfer box 2 years ago i was faced with an identical problem. Actually I believe that if you search my posts you might see when I posted and I believe James Martin responded with the same response as above.
I replaced the cross pins in the center diff with the single type from Ashcroft and just like you installed the new gear set. I too did not like the feel and decided to re-use my original gears with new brass thrust washers.
So I currently have a brand new set of gears from Ashcroft lying around. Perhaps with the proper combination of shims the Ashcroft gearset will feel like how we were expecting it to feel.

you may not like the feel but thats how they are supposed to be if properly set, as play appears with wear they feel smoother but with some backlash, most on the road will have play,but if your rebuilding boxes its kind of the point to build it back to manufactureres spec,especially if you were rebuilding them for lr,diff gears arent operating as your other gear wheels

Britcyclerider · Jun 17, 2018

Thanks all for your comments. As you suggest James, it may be that this is the intended (the factory manual suggest that some roughness is expected). It's just that I have rebuilt many motorcycle gearboxes (albeit with straight cut gears) and they are always smooth as silk. I have worked on helical gears too, and they always mesh smooth. I haven't done bevels yet, but sort of expected the same. What really unnerved me was after watching the truly excellent Landrover TooIbox videos (Chris, if you are out there, your videos are ACE!!), Chris seemed very happy when he spun the new gears and seemed to suggest they were really smooth.

Anyway, I think my approach will be to go through the factory shimming procedure and determine if any change to the Tuffnol shims is required. I will then speak to Ashcrofts and get there take on it.

Thanks again chaps!

Britcyclerider · Jul 7, 2018

Well I went through the shimming procedure as defined in the workshop manual and it turned out that I needed 1.35 mm shims. This is quite a lot thicker than the 1.05 mm shims included in the Ashcrofts kit. I mention this because it's probably worth checking properly if you do one of these boxes.

Onwards to the assembly!

jamesmartin · Jul 7, 2018

Britcyclerider said:
Thanks all for your comments. As you suggest James, it may be that this is the intended (the factory manual suggest that some roughness is expected). It's just that I have rebuilt many motorcycle gearboxes (albeit with straight cut gears) and they are always smooth as silk. I have worked on helical gears too, and they always mesh smooth. I haven't done bevels yet, but sort of expected the same. What really unnerved me was after watching the truly excellent Landrover TooIbox videos (Chris, if you are out there, your videos are ACE!!), Chris seemed very happy when he spun the new gears and seemed to suggest they were really smooth.

Anyway, I think my approach will be to go through the factory shimming procedure and determine if any change to the Tuffnol shims is required. I will then speak to Ashcrofts and get there take on it.

Thanks again chaps!

they are smooth when not adjusted correct

Britcyclerider · Jul 7, 2018

Got that James (although it still feels slightly wrong!). Thanks again for your direction with this.

LT230 new diff gears feel rough

Britcyclerider

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flat

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LeftFoot

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jamesmartin

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Britcyclerider

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