Front and rear Salisbury's

[Gareth Dickens]

I have some concern w.r.t. the condition of the internals of my front Salisbury as it seems to have quite a bit of backlash. I have just sourced a second rear Salisbury for cheap and was wondering if the centre portions would be a straight swap. I've read somewhere that some axles use reverse cut gears to make the front centre portion stronger. Are Salisbury's built this way?

[Gremlin]

Good question, but i really dont know....................but i can bet you land rover did not go into such detail. They did not do it with the normal diffs so i doubt they went trough the hassle of having reverse cut gears for the sals units. I belive part numbers are the same for the CW&P front to rear...............

[Phil Hancock]

Sals front is not reverse cut and carrys the same pt number as the rear for the ring and pinion and all the other diff bits.

[RobotMan]

Reverse cut is an unusual thing and predominantly aftemarket. I'm not convinced by it. Your front diff takes the biggest kicking when reversing out of well stuck situations so the reverse cut would be wrong cut for that. Uphill weighting on back axle, downhill engine breaking, nothing like on load torque. I would fit one for a racing application where it's all about forwards but, for me, and I suspect most people, it's not the panacea that we are told it is.

Oh and no Salisbury front and rear, as Phil says, is the same.

[Bowie69]

I think the biggest issue with the 'normal' cut on a front diff is a landing from some front-end air time....

[FridgeFreezer]

From what I've seen, most salisburys have a lot of rotational slack, rear axles are known for wearing the halfshaft splines out.

[Gareth Dickens]

Thanks for the replies. Since front Salisbury's are quite rare I'm having a set of front ENV sideshafts re-splined for the Sals axle as spares. Should they be hardened after cutting? Would fitting a ARB to the front Salsibury be worth it ? (Bang for buck/value for money?) (I'm going to fit one to the rear.)

[Gareth Dickens]

Thanks for the replies. Since front Salisbury's are quite rare I'm having a set of front ENV sideshafts re-splined for the Sals axle as spares. Should they be hardened after cutting? Would fitting a ARB to the front Salsibury be worth it ? (Bang for buck/value for money?) (I'm going to fit one to the rear.)

Any input guys?

[RobotMan]

Depends on your budget. Seems a shame to chop up rare ENV shafts. Trade them on and chop down some rear Salisbury shafts which are much more available.

Is this a Series, 101 or Defender Salisbury? The Coiler ones where the same as standard Defender from the hub out over for commonality so no strength gain there.

[Soren Frimodt]

If it were me, I'd simply cut off the flanges that holds the swivelball in place, cut a rear axle to the right length, and weld them on. voila you'd have a new centersection! Or you could of course just rebuild it the normal way. Not that hard, just time consuming. Anyways, If you make absolutely sure your u-joints is in good nick you shouldn't have any trouble whatsoever with strength on your front sal's. What you could do, just to make sure you have some spares, is weld the "yoke" end of a std series shaft to a piece of 24 spline sal's rear shaft. This is not bulletproof but works, and will get you home in 4wd, should anything happen.

[Gareth Dickens]

I have a lot of options at the moment and that is creating the doubt in my mind as to which direction to take. I have :

1 Front Salisbury axle (complete)

2 Rear Salisbury axles (complete)

1 Front ENV axle (complete)

2 Rear ENV axles (1 complete,other needs rebuild/overhaul)

* All are Series 4.7 axles

I definitely want to fit a Salsbury @ the rear, for a locker.

I'm starting to doubt more and more whether to fit a locker up front (expensive), and that puts me in doubt....... Do I,

1) Fit the ENV up front and keep the Salisbury as a Spare?

2)Fit the Salisbury and keep the ENV as a spare?

3) Fit the Salisbury and cut the ENV sideshafts to fit the Sals centre? (Got a spare centre, and will have a spare set of sideshafts for the Salisbury)

Do you get heavy duty (chromolly) universals (+) that fit the front sideshafts?

Thanks

Gareth

[Snagger]

Which axle to use probably comes down to cost. Crown and pinion gears are still available new, but you could use second hand parts from a good rear axle if required. The shafts will still be available somewhere, but you might need to hunt around for them. I'd suggest Dunsfold Land Rover as a first contact - I'm sure they would ship the shafts. Failing that, the shafts could be made up by a company like Ashcroft or KAM Diffs or somewhere more local to you. I'm not sure whether they have UJs or CV joints in the Salisbury axle, but I would imagine that either would be available from a local bearing supplier.

As for cutting up another axle - don't. It's a lot of work for no benefit - your casing will be fine, it's the innards that are worn.

[nicks90]

if the ENV axles are in good condition - sell them on. They go for good money!!!!

then spend that money on getting a set of shafts made for the front sals and swap in the centre from your spare axle.

[FridgeFreezer]

Given the "remote" location (SA) and the aparrent lack of availability of more traditional upgrades like uprated bits from Ashcroft etc., I'd go back to my original suggestion of looking round for some axles that are more easily available locally with a more reliable parts supply, I can't imagine ENV spares are plentiful so every time you break or wear something out you're back round this loop of fitting obscure bits, getting things custom made, etc.

[Gareth Dickens]

I think I've got the last complete Series front ENV and Salisbury, that's not in a vehicle, in most of South Africa' as I've tried to fish for some more to help my descission and have not been succesful. If somebody has either, they do not know what they have.

The ENV and Salisbury do have UJ's and I've been told that they are the weak link, so I would love to replace them with heavy duty or chromolly UJ's if there is such a thing out there. They should be the same as the Rover UJ's as the outer halfshalft is the same. (Mine are the 24 spline outers)

I don't think I've been too clear before, but in my posession I have, all the axles listed above, including side shafts. (Total 6 axles)

I'm just not too sure of which to fit. There is not much of a market for selling the ENV's and even if I do not fit them, I believe they are more valuable (to me) as spares if I were to break the Salisbury or vice versa. The only reason I even bought the front Salisbury was because I wanted to fit lockers front and rear, but have since read about the negative effects of lockers up front (extra side shaft load) and the fact that they are not as effective. ( due to weight shift)

Fridge, I know the world has become a lot smaller with technology, but shipping cost to SA is shocking and import duties astronomical. It will easily double or tripple the price of a component. Eg. ARB locker from Britpart to SA 1150 pounds. That's why I always try to source locally. Only other available axles in SA are Toyota Hilux, but at 2500 pounds a set excluding lockers it's a no-go as I got my second rear Sals for less than 40 pounds.

Thanks

Gareth