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  1. #1
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    Default Landrover diff pan repair/upgrade

    The front diff pan on my 80’s Landrovers gets a hard time. The cop impacts from hitting rocks, and corrugations and rough roads make them flex and eventually crack around the weld between the 2mm thick pan and the 6mm thick housing.
    There are various designs of guards to protect from impact, but they don’t help with the cracking, and I suspect some may even worsen it.
    A number of years ago on another forum I saw a mod one of the guys had done where he replaced the original pan with a 8” weld on pipe cap. Pan and impact protection in one

    My turn to try it…

    First, a quick run around with the plasma to remove the bulk of the pan




    A bit of plasma gouging and a cold chisel removed the rest of the flange.



    A quick cleanup then the new cap sat in place.



    Needs about 20mm taken off the length so into the lathe and into it with a parting tool and power feed




    Some interesting curlies.
    Stopped when it started to deform the inside surface as I wasn’t keen on the rest of the cap getting a life of its own.



    Cutting disc in the angle grinder on the bench made a nice clean job of finishing the parting.

    Time to check the clearance from the inside of the cap to the crownwheel.
    Loosely scrunched up some al foil and molded it around the crownwheel.



    Pushed the cap on to squash the foil, then checked how thick it was afterwards - roughly 10mm which is what I was after.



    Next clearance issue is at the housing - you can see the cutout.
    The new cap needs some work at those points.
    Couple of cuts with angle grinder, heated the area and bent out the small tab - then welded up the cuts.





    More to come…

    Steve

  2. #2
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    Default

    Next we need a 3/4 BSP hole for the filler plug.
    Marked and drilled a pilot hole.



    Realizing it was going to be a challenge to hold in the drill press for the 25mm hole, after a bit of head scratching I decided to tack on a piece of 75mm SHS to clamp in the vice.
    With the SHS rotated a bit it sat nicely with the pilot hole in the middle.





    And then out with the big tap wrench



    Made up a quick and dirty jig so I could preload the housing slightly and hopefully stop it turning into a banana when welding the cap on.
    Bolted through the radius arm brackets at each end, and a couple of small screw jacks under the work area.



    Out with the MIG and got it welded (along with managing to somehow set my shorts alight.

    The finished job ready for cleanup and paint.



    And the fire damage.
    Thankfully cotton not synthetic material or it would have been nasty.




    Steve

  3. #3
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    May 2011
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    Murray Bridge S Aust.
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    Steve, NICE work. That cover's not going to bend in a hurry.
    Do the Landy axle housings suffer from bending??? Asking, as it might pay to laminate the housing now, if they do. Have done quite a few Land Cruiser ones and both my Suzuki axle housings when I rebuilt it. Fortunately was working at a 4WD place when I learnt how to do it.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  4. #4
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    Sep 2021
    Location
    Western Sydney
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    Default

    Nice work and clever bracing ! i would have thought that new round dome diff cover , the shape of it would have impacted on the panhard rod clearance when its on fully lean angle as it sticks out further ? If your bashing the diff or getting hung up on rocks you need bigger wheels , lol . Are you planning on doing the rear diff to match the front ?

  5. #5
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    Default Landrover diff pan repair/upgrade

    Quote Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore View Post
    Steve, NICE work. That cover's not going to bend in a hurry.
    Do the Landy axle housings suffer from bending??? Asking, as it might pay to laminate the housing now, if they do. Have done quite a few Land Cruiser ones and both my Suzuki axle housings when I rebuilt it. Fortunately was working at a 4WD place when I learnt how to do it.
    Kryn
    Thanks Kryn.
    In normal use they don't seem to be an issue, but I've seen them bent when people start getting airborne off sand dunes etc.
    I actually did 2 housings yesterday - one is destined for my old 110 wagon which currently has a housing which has had the pan cracks welded in situ multiple times.
    The other is for my 120 ute project. Probably wouldn't hurt to laminate that one, but since there is engineering certification involved in the build I'm trying to limit the mod scope a bit.

    Iron Triangle: the rear diff on my ones is the Salisbury style - landrover's version of a Dana 60 - so is a different style than these front housings. The pan is bolted on so is easy to replace the original sheetmetal one with a heavier fabricated version.
    Here's one I prepared earlier:





    Steve

  6. #6
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    Jun 2005
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    Helensburgh
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    Quote Originally Posted by OxxAndBert View Post
    The front diff pan on my 80’s Landrovers gets a hard time. The cop impacts from hitting rocks, and corrugations and rough roads make them flex and eventually crack around the weld between the 2mm thick pan and the 6mm thick housing.
    We had a few ENV diffs back then as we put a P76 into a forward control and ENV's don't break. Salisbury diffs were better but the original Rover diffs were always breaking axles.
    CHRIS

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by OxxAndBert View Post
    The pan is bolted on so is easy to replace Steve
    Someone told me that it was bolted on to make replacing the axles easier????
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  8. #8
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    Apr 2018
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    Drouin Vic
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    Nice mod Steve, will it increase the oil capacity by much?

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pete O View Post
    Nice mod Steve, will it increase the oil capacity by much?
    Thanks Pete.
    I haven't done any measurements but would guess possibly 0.5L extra? Maybe not even that much.
    I've kept the fill plug exactly the same height (exactly according to my Mk1 eyeball and a paint marker!!) so there's no extra in the axle tubes themselves - just the difference in shape between the old and new pans.
    I'll try and remember to take note when I fill it up and report back...

    Steve

  10. #10
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore View Post
    Someone told me that it was bolted on to make replacing the axles easier????
    Kryn
    Not a bad thought Kryn, but no
    In case you're serious and not just taking the p out of Landrovers...
    With the Salisbury style the pan has to be removable to install the diff, as its an integral style with the carrier bolted into the axle housing rather than a removable third member/banjo style like the typical rover/toyota/nissan etc diffs.

    Steve

  11. #11
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    Hi Steve, I wasn't being serious, just funnin. Life's too short to be serious.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  12. #12
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    Who in their right mind would take the P**S out of a vehicle, that virtually opened up the outback of SA, with a bloke like Len Beadell at the helm?
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore View Post
    Who in their right mind would take the P**S out of a vehicle, that virtually opened up the outback of SA, with a bloke like Len Beadell at the helm?
    Lots of people.

    It's not like Len had a huge choice in what vehicle to use back then!

    Landrover diff pan repair/upgrade

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  14. #14
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    Seriously though, I nice mod and well made!

    Simon

    Sent from a galaxy far far away
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

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