LT230 Rebuild

Right lads, ive a defender 1.4 t/box that i replaced with a disco one in my 110 a while back.

Since fitting the disco t/box i have now made a sizable change in tire diameter to 35'' maxxis creepies and as a result, its a bit sluggish.

So! as a result ive decided to do all the seals on the 1.4 box and eventually re-fit it.
Ive got a seal kit ready to go and have started fitting some of them, but have decided that while im at it, and seeing as im in no rush to re-fit it, i might as well check for any slack in the box/bearings needing replacing.

Which brings me to the question!

Ive got a workshop manual and am following it for the strip down process, but does anyone know if its possible to visually check the diff for play without pulling the roller bearing off it and splitting it?

also if anyone knows of a 'how to' rebuild of a LT230 they could link me to it'd be great! had a quick look and couldnt find anything!

thanks lads.

Heres as far as i got this evening:

the only check you can do without splitting it is to use both output shafts to feel for free play in diff gears ,ideally there shouldnt be any but usually there is ,diff gears are slightly preloaded by fitting selectable thrust washers one behind each sun gear, bearing can be removed by levering with two bars ,both halves of diff carrier are marked to ensure both go back in same position , if you want to talk about it on the phone you could call me

jamesmartin said:

the only check you can do without splitting it is to use both output shafts to feel for free play in diff gears ,ideally there shouldnt be any but usually there is ,diff gears are slightly preloaded by fitting selectable thrust washers one behind each sun gear, bearing can be removed by levering with two bars ,both halves of diff carrier are marked to ensure both go back in same position , if you want to talk about it on the phone you could call me

Click to expand...

Thanks for that james, i might give the splitting the diff a go tomorrow so, to be honest i have a feeling it will be fine, as everything up to this point has been perfect! i did check the play by rotating the two flanges and it seemed to be quite minimal, but i still want to peek inside anyway to be sure

provided i dont bust the bearing removing it, should i be able to re-use it? it is perfect at the moment. or would it be possible to unscrew the diff carrier bolts back as far as the bearing, pull the outer side of the carrier back and unscrew again until they are fully off?

thanks again!

-Defender110- said:

Thanks for that james, i might give the splitting the diff a go tomorrow so, to be honest i have a feeling it will be fine, as everything up to this point has been perfect! i did check the play by rotating the two flanges and it seemed to be quite minimal, but i still want to peek inside anyway to be sure

provided i dont bust the bearing removing it, should i be able to re-use it? it is perfect at the moment. or would it be possible to unscrew the diff carrier bolts back as far as the bearing, pull the outer side of the carrier back and unscrew again until they are fully off?

thanks again!

Click to expand...

you could do it that way but bearing wont be hurt at all as long as you dont lever under rollers or cage but the inner race,holding the diff in a vice helps , i often reuse the bearing when repairing boxes ,obviously when reconditioning you fit new

Finally got back to the t/box today!

Pulled the diff apart and had a look, all looked fine in there, no signs of ware, so put it back together quick before i forgot how it went back together i was nervous pulling it apart as i didnt know how easy/hard it'd be to put back together so didnt take any photos :/

But the good news is i did take loads of pics of the rebuild

Decided to give all parts a decent clean before rebuilding:







And then started rebuilding it :































flanges seem to be a bit stiff to turn no, probably just the new seals are a bit tight but ill pull the flanges off again and make sure all is good behind them.

Other than that, everything works and ive no spare bits left over!! :bounce: