Geb Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Hi all first time poster, I'm in a bit of a pickle, back in 2009 I fitted front and rear kam diff lockers with front and rear half shafts with hardened cvs. Now up to now everything has been fine until I broke the front short half shaft. Now I'm having difficulty trying to get a replacement apparently kam are not what they used to be and what's available now isn't comparable with what I have! Are there people on here that are still using kam stuff and have found ways to get replacement parts to fit? Or have people had to change to other manufactures? Any help will be gratefully received, thanks, Gareth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Where did you go for help? 2009 was when they just brought out a new design of locker the one with locking dog sliding on a separate quill tube. The older locker to this needs extra long splines on the half shaft as the locking dog moved on this. so which locker do you have? I am guess its the one that needs the "custom" shaft if you have been told people cant help you, but that can also depend on who you spoke to Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geb Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 Hi Paul, thanks for replying, yes I have the one with the quill tube which the locking mech then gets pulled by fork to engage quill and diff. So this type doesn't need the long splines then? Also when the shaft broke I engage the locker to try and turn the other front wheel but nothing happened just acted like open diff, do these diffs need both shafts intact to be able to lock? Thanks gareth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 If you have the locker with a the quill tube then a 24 spline half shaft will work just fine.. OEM, kam, ashcroft etc... No they will lock without the shafts in. Have you taken the axle apart to see exactly what's broken? as it is possible to shear the quill tube which would result in what you describe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geb Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 New shaft arrived today looks almost the same just the way the splines have been cut looks different. Looked again at the diff and locker, the quill and locking mech all look ok and by inserting shafts and turning on the floor the diff seems to be working, whether or not for some reason it just didn't engage the locker correctly I don't know, will have to put it all back together and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martifers Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Where are people getting KAM spares these days? Emailed Kevin at KAM but not had a response, when I ring them, the call is auto forwarded through to Frogisland but they only seem to sell the new drop in diff. Waiting for a call back from them for further assistance. I have an old locker, pre quill, requiring long splined nearside shaft, I would like to upgrade this to the later style with quill tube and was quoted for the parts to do so by Kevin back in 2012. I wish i had done so at the time rather than just purchasing one of the last long splined shafts they had left in stock.... this was an 'HD' grade shaft (grey) rather then the 'aero' grade (black). Now I need a replacement stub shaft on the side that has the older 'HD' grade long splined shaft. I previously had a weaker stub shaft on that side, 27 mm under cut i believe, to make sure the stub broke before the 'HD' shaft did. Now I only seem to be able to find a single type of stub shaft, no undercut options, thus if i fit one, i am moving the weak point to the HD shaft which i really don't want to break as sourcing a replacement could be a real pain. Ideally I would like to upgrade the locker so that i can fit any uprated shaft, thus can use 'aero' grade along with the now 'standard' 'aero' stub shaft but for the time being a new stub shaft may have to suffice. Where is the best alternative to source the bits? Cheers Sharpie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 You will find things verty difficult In summary. Kevin (MD of KAM) has pretty much retired. Allmakes have bought heavily into KAM and now pretty much run KAM on a day to day and future situation through allmakes at Oxford. Some of the early parts are now no longer available as they have pretty much dried up, this is in relation to the ealrly locking system using the longer splined half shafts, these have been out of production for quite some time now. Allmakes seem to have streamlined the KAM product range, especually now they have the new "Drop in Locker", whuiich has replaced the older locker with the weld on ring / ali cover / quill tube syste, My understanding is that they have stopped production of the previous locker, and are concentrating purely on the DIL Locker. The parts for the old style lockler have again pretty much dried up. and are not in production, I have a few bits and bobs from left over repairs and rebuilds but not much. I think Allmakes will have possibly even less. The old style locker uses conventional shafts, so anything will fit, the oproblem will be parts for the locker units themselves when needed. some parts can be sourced as OEM LR but the special parts have all but dissappered, and unless someone makes relacement parts this could be a problem . This is the old locker KAM Diff Locker Fitting V6 2012.pdf As to the stubs shafts, there really were only ever 2 types - longs and shorts. The Undercut models were nothing more than the sub being put in a lathe and a cut being put into it. This was again early days where it seems the stubs proved stronger than the half shafts, so in effect the stubs were weaken with a parting tool to a reduced OD. This was sorted when the half shaft design was improved with high spec metals and the undercutting stopped. So, you could just buy a stub now and cut on a lathe for the same as you had. Hope the above helps Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geb Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Thanks for the info Nige, it's good to know that the type I have with quill uses standred fit shafts I had a horrible thought that was going to have to take it all out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danebrewer Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 if ypu still have issues with the shaft not fitting, IIRC, Ashcroft transmissions would cut you a shaft specially? can anyone confirm this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I doubt it !Shafts are spline cut THEN heat treated !...so would have to be a one off made ... whch would likley be a lot, its not just a case of "Longer by X Plwease" with CNC stuff, the machines are set up and then punch out x numbers of them, the costs are setting up times, so a one off is always expensive. Rakeway might ?Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedLineMike Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Milner off road can make custom shafts & in reasonable time frame also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danebrewer Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 oh no i understand that, you'd end up using tools at a considerable rate if you tried machining hardened/treated steel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan bomber Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 oh no i understand that, you'd end up using tools at a considerable rate if you tried machining hardened/treated steel You can get hard turning inserts for such jobs, not cheap though.... I'm lucky, work pays for the cutting tools I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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