Rear axle case swap

[Mossberg]

Just a note on the seals. Apparently the one I got, FTC5268,  superseded FTC0951,  so now fitted. 

Fitted the hubs and brakes, fitted the brake pies, I just need the pads to finish it off.

 

 

[western]

looking good 

[Badger110]

looks tidy

[Mossberg]

One question,  do these brake shields look right? The just seem a bit far from the disc.

[Mossberg]

26 minutes ago, Badger110 said:

looks tidy

It's taken some time,  but then I wasn't in a hurry.  I have cleaned everything up using electrolysis and painted it with Bonda Rust Primer and then a top coat.

This is a bit of a refurb on a budget - time I have,  cash is in shorter supply!!

New brakes and discs, new A frame ball joint,  new fixings and brake pipes (made myself), but everything else is cleaned and tarted up. Even the springs have been cleaned and painted. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Mossberg

[Anderzander]

13 hours ago, Mossberg said:

One question,  do these brake shields look right? The just seem a bit far from the disc.

Mine look like that.

Regardless of the budget constraints you mentioned- it all looks brilliant ! 

[Snagger]

Shields look good to me.  They have to have space for airflow, drainage and for any debris like stones and small bits of wood to escape.  Their job is only to minimise road spray and sand/grit flung by other tyres from getting onto the discs or becoming lodged between discs and pads.

Those brake pipes are very tidy.  Most folk make them up without completely straightening the runs or making the bends with uniform radii.  It has no technical benefit, but seeing neat installation like yours satiates my OCD!

[Mossberg]

Anderzander, Snagger,

Thanks for the replies.  I had the old brake pipes to copy so tried to copy those and to be honest I am happy with the outcome. 

I have actually just painted the rear calipers.  I wasn't going to as I have painted the front ones and that was scraping off even before fitting.  I cleaned them with brake cleaner first but did not abraid them, so perhaps that was the issue. 

The new rear calipers looked a golden colour,  but I think this is only a tinted lacquer or something.  Anyway,  cleaned, a abraided, cleaned again then spayed with lidl's own two fo £5 high temperature spray paint in mat black!! I will see which lasts the best, but they would have rusted anyway and I only used half a tin, so nothing lost. I will let them dry overnight before refitting. 

Due to the real s**t state of the old axle case I have decided to replace the front axle case too. I have picked one up for £100 and it has already been refurbished.  It has a number on it that is written in dots. Is there any way of checking this number against those that are the dodgy batch as I don't want to use a duff case. I was told the case was from a 300tdi so it should not be one off the duff ones, but no harm in checking.

I have also picked up a couple of the wider radius arms that I am currently cleaning up. I have just removed the bushes from one of them as they were way past best, but the others look OK. Is it best to replace all four? I don't want to replace for the sake of it but also don't want to go against best practice.

[Snagger]

I would always replace those bushes as a set.  Certainly, you should replace bushes symmetrically on the system.  But since you don’t know the brand, quality or history of what was fitted, pressing in your replacements would be very prudent.  For the extra effort involved now verses the total effort and time if you have to do it later, it’s an obvious choice.

I painted the callipers on my RRC and 109 after blasting and rebuilding them.  I used black and silver smooth Hammerite respectively (sprayed, as the silver would be streaky brushed).  Lasts well with no peeling, cracking or discolouration, and washes clean of brake dust easily enough.  It might be less successful on a motorsport vehicle that heats its brakes up more than I manage, but it works well enough for this.  It works well on engine blocks and heads, too.

I think the dot matrix axle numbers are quite late, introduced during the TD5 or TDCI runs.  I think 300s had them stamped, but I’m really not sure.  I hope you can get an answer on that.  You could weld up the flanges to the tube more robustly to avoid doubt.  As long as you don’t get the tube glowing, I doubt you’ll get significant distortion.

My RR rear axle has a similar condition diff pan.  I think the rest of the casing is OK, but I’ll find out when I can resume stripping it for rebuild.  Hopefully just needs a new (reinforced) pan rather than a whole new casing.

[muddy]

I have a pair of 95' axles here and they are dot stamped.

[Mossberg]

8 hours ago, muddy said:

I have a pair of 95' axles here and they are dot stamped.

Thanks muddy. I have also read the thread on Defender2 and apparently the axle cases that have failed have mig welded flange sections with no reports of friction welded ones failing. From the look of the new case it is friction welded.

[Mossberg]

On 4/22/2022 at 12:41 PM, Snagger said:

I would always replace those bushes as a set.  Certainly, you should replace bushes symmetrically on the system.  But since you don’t know the brand, quality or history of what was fitted, pressing in your replacements would be very prudent.  For the extra effort involved now verses the total effort and time if you have to do it later, it’s an obvious choice.

I painted the callipers on my RRC and 109 after blasting and rebuilding them.  I used black and silver smooth Hammerite respectively (sprayed, as the silver would be streaky brushed).  Lasts well with no peeling, cracking or discolouration, and washes clean of brake dust easily enough.  It might be less successful on a motorsport vehicle that heats its brakes up more than I manage, but it works well enough for this.  It works well on engine blocks and heads, too.

I think the dot matrix axle numbers are quite late, introduced during the TD5 or TDCI runs.  I think 300s had them stamped, but I’m really not sure.  I hope you can get an answer on that.  You could weld up the flanges to the tube more robustly to avoid doubt.  As long as you don’t get the tube glowing, I doubt you’ll get significant distortion.

My RR rear axle has a similar condition diff pan.  I think the rest of the casing is OK, but I’ll find out when I can resume stripping it for rebuild.  Hopefully just needs a new (reinforced) pan rather than a whole new casing.

Thanks Snagger. I will do all the bushes. I was surprised at how easy they were to get out and I think only about £3 each so as you say,  worth doing as a set.

When you check your axle case look carefully at the welded brackets. Mine were in a bad state and I didn't realise just how bad until I took it off.  

I spray painted the calipers with the lidl high temperature paint. Apparently you should bake the paint on after application but I don't have the facility to do that. I don't really expect it to last but it may just keep the rust off for a short while. (I also need to remember to take the masking tape off the pistons before fitting the pads!)

[Mossberg]

I took it out for a short drive today to test the brakes.  The pedal was firm and it stopped so I decided to take it on the road. I slowly built up speed before hitting the brakes. It stopped well without pulling so I was trying to get it to lock up.

So on pushing hard I got a rear wheel to lock. It was the rear left. I tried again and the same.  Whilst doing this the truck did not pull, but I don't know if this is normal. What are your guys thoughts?

[Mo Murphy]

You got a wheel to lock ? 😲

Mo 😉

[cackshifter]

If you have new pads (and/or discs)they will probably not be fully contacting the disc surface across the whole pad - they really need to bed in, esp before stops from 99mph, so hardly surprising the rear left maybe grips a bit better than the rear right. Some pads need to deposit a thin layer of pad material over the disc surface before reaching full efficiency. Maybe try again after a couple of hundred miles? If you don't bed them  and use them heavily they can heat the disc unevenly, causing at worst warping of the disc. 

[Snagger]

You should be able to lock up all four if you don’t have ABS, but the pads and discs may need bedding in first, so I wouldn’t worry about the right side just yet.

Have you checked your tyre pressures?  If the right is a bit lower, it’ll have more footprint and will be harder to lock up than a higher pressure tyre. You may also find the right side needs a little bleeding again, some trapped air working its way to that corner and reducing efficiency, but that is less likely than the bedding in or tyre difference.

[Mossberg]

Cackshifter, Snagger  

Thanks for your response.  I will give them some time before worrying too much. I would not have worried about this if it wasn't for the fact I did this work myself, and as I am new to spanner work, I am looking for problems. This is why the voice of experience is invaluable - and as such,  thanks to you folks that are so helpful to the likes of me!!