Solid Axle Swap!!!

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dilmah

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Well as the title states I have begun the process of undetaking a Solid Axle Swap on my 08 D22

The Diff is out of a 1993 TB42 auto, has 3.9 ratios but more importantly the housing is dead straight and been used primarily as a soccer mum's car and hence little offroad use.

Ill be buying the calmini kit and using 12" fox remote res coilovers

Let the fun and games begin!
 
First step was securing the GQ axle, hung out for 4 months to find the right one and only paid $175 for it which is cheap in Perth. Most units go for around the $400 mark with Gu diffs around the $600 - 1000 mark
 

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I then spent a day stripping it down, had to buy a 54mm socket, $22 later from veals
 

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I then busted out the 4" grinder and spent a long time removing the radius arm brackets, coil hats and all of the other crap.
Another few hours on the grinder removing the welds and I was left with a bare housing

Next setp is to remove the welds on the knuckles and flip them around. My mate who is a boily by trade will be doing the welding for me
 

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haha 140 odd pages, Ive just got my hands on some MK knuckles so the hi steer is sorted. The next stage will be building the diff and redoing the hub seals.
 
Nice, good luck. If you are goin to flip the diff to suit the Navara transfer don't forget they don't last long.
 
Nice, good luck. If you are goin to flip the diff to suit the Navara transfer don't forget they don't last long.

im also curious about this.

Will you be re-drilling the housing to have the diff center flipped? so its the correct way up once you flip the diff? properly have to cut out the front housing and move it 180 degree's to, for the main gear-cutout.

Or are you going a patrol gearbox conversion to?

or do you plan to leave the centre upside down? wont this cause issues with oil feed etc, not being able to have the diff oil level high enough to be on the main contact components?

do you have any plans for a lokka?
Manual lokka?
LSD from a terrano?
Electronic or air lokka?

- following eargly.
 
Diff housing will be flipped, I have already cut off the front cover and flipped it. Had to cut 2 of the diff studs off, the rest lined up.

As for the transfer case, ill use the TX 10 until it dies. I have a spare chain I can swap out aswell. Might upgrade to a 2 speed Atlas if I can get it to bolt up to the gearbox.

gearbox conversion was put in the "too hard category"

I will drill and tap a new sump plug. The fill plug is in the right spot

I will be putting an E Locker in it. Should have some more progress pics after this weekend
 
Great too see.
Ill be watching with interest.
Do you have an engineer in mind? or cross that bridge later?
Lots of pics and step by step progress pleeeeeaaaaase :)
 
well the Nav is driven once a week to and from 4wd locations and when I go on camping holidays so its not really my daily. There is no way ill get it engineered in perth so ill keep it regoed until it gets stickered then ill have to trailer it around or get permits to move it. might 4 link the rear aswell. ill see how the front goes first
 
An engineer won't sign off on a rig with more than 6" lift over stock height. I have a feeling that it will sit much higher than that
 
Diff housing will be flipped, I have already cut off the front cover and flipped it. Had to cut 2 of the diff studs off, the rest lined up.

As for the transfer case, ill use the TX 10 until it dies. I have a spare chain I can swap out aswell. Might upgrade to a 2 speed Atlas if I can get it to bolt up to the gearbox.

gearbox conversion was put in the "too hard category"

I will drill and tap a new sump plug. The fill plug is in the right spot

I will be putting an E Locker in it. Should have some more progress pics after this weekend

Just realised i got my Lokka from you :p
Dident you recently fit an E locker to the nav diff?

whats the modivation for the diff swap, for a stronger diff, or for the SAS?
 
An engineer won't sign off on a rig with more than 6" lift over stock height. I have a feeling that it will sit much higher than that

How high it is is up to you, with 35s on mine was 6" over standard.so really only 4" lift.
 
Yes you did buy the LOKKA from me

Yeah I did put the E locker in the front diff, only problem is Ive stripped 2 sets of crown and pinion gears and busted the pinion bearing. After 3 diff rebuilds It was time to SAS. Im actually getting quiet good at building diffs.

The fox coilovers are adjustable so I should be able to adjust the ride height, I can always put smaller springs in them if the nav sits too tall. Im hoping with 2" shackles the rear will sit level. Im hoping for lots of down travel and flex out of the front end, combined with 4.88 gears, 35's and lockers it should go well.
 
Bit of a progress update, picked up a pair of MQ/MK swiel hubs from an old patrol. They seem to be in ok condition, no rust, pitting or damage, just covered in grease and dirt, nothign a good wash wont fix. I also managed to pinch one of the brake calipers as they are slightly different from the GQ. I may still run the GQ brakes as I only got 1 caliper and they are slightly bigger, however it will require some modification.
 

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Today I finished cleaning up the axle with the grinder, removing the welds for the brake lines, diff breather and the radius arms. I then spent the best part of an hour removing the weld off the swivel knuckle and cutting that off. As I didnt have a press I had to put a small cut in the axle tube to relieve the pressure on the knuckle. It was then easy to tap it out with a hammer.

The only issue I had was I made the cuts a little too deep on the diff knuckle than I needed. It should not matter as it will be all welded up

Tomorrow I will do the other knuckle, clean the diff and knuckles with degreaser and put the knuckles back in correctly ready for welding.

If everything goes to plan my mate will do the welding when he is back from his swing and the hard part will be all finished!
 

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