Please, your opinions as always are much appreciated:
Vehicle: 2004 Defender 110, Old man Emu heavy/medium duty springs resulting in approximately 2” of lift with 31” tires on alloys.
2 Years ago:
Problem:
. Vehicle lurching/ bunny hopping during over run in low gears.
. Loud metallic rattle when foot is off of the accelerator pedal and vehicle is coasting.
. Terrible backlash between gear changes and when lifting foot of accelerator suddenly
.Rough/notchy gear changes from 1st through 3rd (at low speeds).
Apparent root cause:
Snapped center pin in front diffrential. Two resulting pieces of broken pin caused pin holes in carrier to be elongated and planetary gears to be eaten up.
Resolution:
Replaced front diff with one off of a disco. Donor diff condition was in excellent condition with no backlash. Vehicle felt like a brand new defender. Smooth gear changes, no bunny hopping and quiet!
2 Months ago:
Bunny hopping, notchy gear changes and terrible backlash have all gradually returned accompanied by wandering steering.
Removed front diff to inspect and come face to face with a diff that is almost identical to the first one I removed almost 2 years ago.
Snapped shaft, damaged planetary gears, pinion gear and crownwheel.
I replaced the diff once again with another from a donor 110. I checked the donated diff while it was still on the donor vehicle by turn the diff flange and got almost zero backlash between the flange and the half shafts. Oil on donor vehicle was clean with zero metal fragments.
Driving the last 4 weeks or so has once again become a pleasure.
My vehicle is never taken off-road, I am defintely not an aggressive driver and the drive train is keep in pretty good shape. The correct oil is used and the levels are checked regularly and oil replaced every 6 months.
Present time:
Today while crawling through a supermarket parking lot in 2nd gear the 110 started to lurch back and forth and only stopped when I engaged the clutch. This is a very familiar behavoir.
This leads me to ask these questions:
Is the recently installed diff on the way out already??
Why would I experience these failures of the front diff??
What could cause the center pin to fracture so easily with normal everyday road driving??
Are these 2 pin diffs that weak??
My long term goal is to purchase an ATB diff carrier from Ashcroft Transmissions as my confidence in the Rover 2-pin diffs is at an all time low.
Please, what am I missing??
Vehicle: 2004 Defender 110, Old man Emu heavy/medium duty springs resulting in approximately 2” of lift with 31” tires on alloys.
2 Years ago:
Problem:
. Vehicle lurching/ bunny hopping during over run in low gears.
. Loud metallic rattle when foot is off of the accelerator pedal and vehicle is coasting.
. Terrible backlash between gear changes and when lifting foot of accelerator suddenly
.Rough/notchy gear changes from 1st through 3rd (at low speeds).
Apparent root cause:
Snapped center pin in front diffrential. Two resulting pieces of broken pin caused pin holes in carrier to be elongated and planetary gears to be eaten up.
Resolution:
Replaced front diff with one off of a disco. Donor diff condition was in excellent condition with no backlash. Vehicle felt like a brand new defender. Smooth gear changes, no bunny hopping and quiet!
2 Months ago:
Bunny hopping, notchy gear changes and terrible backlash have all gradually returned accompanied by wandering steering.
Removed front diff to inspect and come face to face with a diff that is almost identical to the first one I removed almost 2 years ago.
Snapped shaft, damaged planetary gears, pinion gear and crownwheel.
I replaced the diff once again with another from a donor 110. I checked the donated diff while it was still on the donor vehicle by turn the diff flange and got almost zero backlash between the flange and the half shafts. Oil on donor vehicle was clean with zero metal fragments.
Driving the last 4 weeks or so has once again become a pleasure.
My vehicle is never taken off-road, I am defintely not an aggressive driver and the drive train is keep in pretty good shape. The correct oil is used and the levels are checked regularly and oil replaced every 6 months.
Present time:
Today while crawling through a supermarket parking lot in 2nd gear the 110 started to lurch back and forth and only stopped when I engaged the clutch. This is a very familiar behavoir.
This leads me to ask these questions:
Is the recently installed diff on the way out already??
Why would I experience these failures of the front diff??
What could cause the center pin to fracture so easily with normal everyday road driving??
Are these 2 pin diffs that weak??
My long term goal is to purchase an ATB diff carrier from Ashcroft Transmissions as my confidence in the Rover 2-pin diffs is at an all time low.
Please, what am I missing??