Well, after over a year of talking about it I finally shaved the front diff on my toy axle to match the rear :p . This is a replacement housing actually, so I still need to add the 3-link brackets, coil mount, and panhard mount before I put it in the sammy. Just thought some of you might want to see the shaving part now...

nice hole, huh?

here's the new "cap" with added diff protection. It's 1/4" thick.

Here it is sitting in place.

Here's another view. I didn't quite get the flat bottom piece centered, but I think it will be fine.

here's the finished product. I added a little piece to the front right side to give a little more ramp/protection. I don't think I gained as much clearance as I did with the rear, maybe about 1/2", but at least the drain plug is gone and now the diff has some protection. My old housing is getting very beat up!!

I did mine similiar but cut more out of the face of the diff.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid121/p55df5d3d678a1228b0dc3e2ae404e3b1/f84d8408.jpg

Nice looking work, but from the pics it doesn't look like you gained much if anything in the clearance department. How much did you gain in reality?

You can actually cut further into the front portion and gain more ground clerance if you want. I need to do this to my front axle this week.

Nice looking work, but from the pics it doesn't look like you gained much if anything in the clearance department. How much did you gain in reality?

I gained about 1/2" in the front, plus lost that pesky drain plug.

Here's mine.. Done using the Roger Brown kit.

Nice looking work, but from the pics it doesn't look like you gained much if anything in the clearance department. How much did you gain in reality?

Geez Tusker, read the post :rolleyes: . Seriously, I haven't actually taken any measurements but it looks like about 1/2". I could have cut deeper into it and gained more, but didn't really feel comfortable cutting a whole lot more. Was kinda in a hurry and didn't look back over any pics or anything, so I stuck with cutting out the part I knew I could without thinking too hard or being overly carefull. Mainly just wanted to smooth out the bottom and get rid of the drain plug. I'm swapping the housing mainly because the old one is slightly bent and the panhard/coil mount keeps cracking so I want to redesign it. Shaving it was just an added bonus.

You can actually cut further into the front portion and gain more ground clerance if you want. I need to do this to my front axle this week.

I did that with the rear housing, but because this is a spare housing my front diff is still in the sammy and I didn't want to try cutting further without having the diff to set in there to check clearances. Basically, I was in a hurry and a bit lazy so I only cut what I knew for sure would be ok.

By the way, enjoying your buildup thread Chris, looks awesome!!

I did that with the rear housing, but because this is a spare housing my front diff is still in the sammy and I didn't want to try cutting further without having the diff to set in there to check clearances. Basically, I was in a hurry and a bit lazy so I only cut what I knew for sure would be ok.

By the way, enjoying your buildup thread Chris, looks awesome!!

Yea, you're dumb :flipoff2:


















J/k Anything is better than stock :)

Biggest benefit is the smooth bottom, not the extra fraction of an inch, although the more the axle is tilted in the rig, the more clearance you actually get. Like so:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=71870&stc=1

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=73944&stc=1

Shaving my ass thread (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154306)

FWIW, I'm also really happy with the way I did the diff armor. I started out making a really neat contoured duckbill like rotozuk did. Halfway through I got pissed, said fawk it, and slapped two 1/4" plates up there and called it good. Easy, it ramps you up over things, andi t took half an hour per diff.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=74347&stc=1

I'll do it this way again when I replace the bent rear housing. :)