Fitting a Lock Right in the X90

 

04/07/11

I've got to start with a   , as I must admit I'm a bit of an amateur when it comes to stripping and assembling diffs... so it was with some trepidation that I decided to fit a Lock Right into the diff destined for the X90 "X-ALT". 

This is the diff I bought, one of a pair from "Brooem" on the Shropshire Suzuki site, the idea being to get the gearing right - see the calculations here. So, the first thing to do before disassembling it, was to check it was the right ratio... so I marked one of the crown wheel teeth and then counted round the ring gear, ending up with 41 teeth, and with 8 on the pinnion... so 41 / 8 = 5.125:1 ratio diff, which is what I wanted, according to the calculations on the link above.

Ok, so, ummm... better start then?...

With the neck of the diff clamped in the vice, and a sheet of chequer plate behind to hide the mess on my bench!  LOL, and I start by undoing the "bearing caps" (according to the manual). 

With the four bolts untightened, I lift the bearing caps off and place them on some cardboard, carefully labelling them left and right.

Then the diff can be lifted out of the carrier, and clamped into the vice instead...

There's the third member also put to one side on the cardboard.

Then the 12 bolts that hold the crown wheel (ring gear in the instructions) can be untightened, and the "case cap" can be removed... you can see a small shiny cut in each component where I marked them with the angle grinder, as advised in the instructions again...

There, the cap is removed after a slight lever (thin screwdriver) was used to split the two from each other...

Again, the case cap is carefully removed and put to one side (I chose to leave the bolts in, in their original locations). 

Now the instructions said "Remove the pinion shaft(s), spider gears, side gears, all washers and the pinion shaft block."  Ummm, errr, WTF?

Unsure what I was doing, I looked again in the Richmond box at the parts that were going to replace what I was taking out, and flicked through the instruction book again... ah, I see, "take all the gubbins out of the middle" they meant to write... LOL 

Staring into the middle of the diff, the shaft and the two half shafts arranged in a + are secured by rolled pins (technical, huh?)

Good job I've always been a bit of a tool-magpie, and I dug out the engineering punches from my tool chest... and gently tapped the three pins out

With them removed, everything else soon came out nicely...

And joined the other bits assembled on the clean cardboard. (You can see the securing pin holes in the little shafts)

Now, as the manual says, we start building back up in the diff, first the thrust washer, then the side gear, although I'm using a complete replacement locker assembly, as I'd sold out of stock, and had to buy a full kit from a competitor!  

Then the shaped block that will take the pinion pins

Then the pinion block goes in...

And then the full size pinion goes in, noting that it goes in the position with just one mounting pin hole...

Then the other two small pinions go in...

And I used the engineers punch to waggle them into position for the securing pins (in my fingers) to locate properly...

Then tap the three pins into position...

Then, as the manual says, use some grease as "glue" to hold the 8 springs (one inside the other in each hole in the piece in the diff, and the pins into the upper piece... the grease does have very good suction qualities to hold them in place...

Then the top piece can be carefully lowered into position so that the pins go into the holes with the pins in... I then gave it a few "bounces" to check it felt right, i.e. all the pins were sat on the springs properly... 

Then the centre piece goes in...

Then the side gear goes on top (now at this point, looking back at the photos... I've missed the top thrust washer!  )

Then the crown wheel / ring gear is brought back and lined up with the little marks I ground earlier...

And then the cap can be replaced, again lining up the marks made earlier...

And then the 12 bolts can be tightened down, I worked opposite sides alternating round...

Then the third member is clamped back in the vice...

...and the bearing caps are re-alligned...

All, bolted back together, a big sigh of relief  

I took this picture partly as a joke, to say "I've got bits left over", as these are the bits that have been replaced... but then I realised, looking at the photo, that the thrust washer is still on top of the old side gear!!!   So I've now got to half re-strip the diff and pop it in... LOL, lesson learned...!

Dave