You dont have to take the engine off the gearbox to replace the carrier. You remove the rear mount plate and both side carrier supports where the axle seals are. When you do a major it doesnt hurt to take the carrier supports out to replace the o-rings anyway.
True enough. I assume you could get away with it because you won't have to adjust the pinion depth will you. If you're just replacing the carrier, and you are not replacing the gears, just taking the crown out using again, there shouldn't be any adjustments. And if there were small adjustments, they could be made with the shims on the diff. Right??
Only backlash needs to be checked and adjusted if required. Quite often when I replace carriers here at work I dont need to adjust the position. I consider myself lucky when that happens but I usually assume I will. If so then the shims need to be measured, make a calculation and recheck the backlash. I would like to say its a 5 min job but its not, nothing good comes easy.
Potentially, this could take about an hour, due to the way the shim pack is set up. On one side, there's a shim under the carrier output bearing (which is in under a light press fit). On the other side, there's a large shim under the side cover. So, between the bearing preloads and the backlash adjustment, particulalry if you're replacing the stub axle bearings (highly recommended), this operation can take some time to "get it right". Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great picture. Is the weld on the visible side in the pix? In this case, this is the improved carrier, so no weld? Thanks.
Ill be running off a small batch starting tomorrow. Turn around is 4 weeks and the price is $3300 cdn each unless I commit to a large quantity that might be difficult to sell. This would lead to profuse sweating and lack of sleep on my part. The material will be NIMAX which is a pre-hard low carbon steel from sweden, 40RC which is superior to the original in strength and quality by far - you wont break it. The stainless option was ruled out due to cost, sorry. The unit will be identical dimensionally as well as appearance except it will lack the welded end. It will also have a production report showing all the specs such as material make-up and critical measurements. Thanks.
I have to believe the majority of the machining cost is in setup and tooling, not in actual machining time. The per unit cost could come way down just going from 1 or 2 units to 10 or so. Perhaps ask the job shop to quote on quantity 10, post a price here and see if there are enough buyers here who are willing to place a substantial deposit on a unit. If the price is right I'll buy one just to have on hand. I could always sell it on eBay if I decide not to install it. (Hint, hint.)
Believe me I havent left any stone unturned or any question unasked. There are still some variables that im ironing out to make it the best price possible with the highest possible quality. Im not interested in gouging anyone, more focused on an amazing component at an amazing price so be patient, you wont be disappointed.
$6600 CAD is about $5500 US. Guess it's a consideration if you spend the $5,500 plus install -or hope that the OEM part doesn't fail and it costs you $20,000. plus a tow bill.
The carrier is $3300 CDN and the gears are $5000 CDN. I dont understand your numbers. The $3300 CDN is around $2700USD. The gears can be ordered in a different ratio if desired. The carrier or the gears can be changed independantly from each other and are not a package deal just to clarify.
Very cool project. From pics looks like they don't have the tabs on the thrust washers like the 308 diff's have which I speculated were contributing to the diff failures to begin with. Is there a reason you didn't want to use one of Guard's diffs? Seems like a reasonable solution considering it includes all the internals. I think they can offer standard LSD's or torque biasing diff's to boot. No affiliation or anything ... I just had a lot of great input from them when I was analyzing the 308 diffs and they have all the parts for them ... gonna send them a 308 diff to put there goodies in since they were so helpful. You might want to contact them about the possibility of just manufacturing the carrier assembly if that's all you want. Cheers, Sean
Because I wanted to make a carrier that was a dirrect ferrari replacement. I dont want to rely on some aftermarket internals (or another company) then deal with the headaches if people complain about a characteristic that it never had before. Too many variables out of my control. What if Gaurds goes belly up and im counting on them for support? The carrier is in my total control, I know the quality and I do the failure testing on the material. I know the ferrari differential gears and clutches are up to the task and pretty much trouble free. The carrier will slip right in, no other gears or parts needed and away you go. My carrier with ferrari proven internals means no hassles.
All good points ... they might be a good source to make the carrier to your spec's still using the Ferrari internals. They had replacement internals for the stock 308 diff and I'm pretty sure they told me they had all uprated internals for the TR diff. Since they're already in the biz of making diff's/carriers/gears they might be able to make 'em out of stainless in the $$$ range you're budgeting. Just a thought. If you're cutting that piece yourself good for you!!! I was trying to find a reason to make a new 308 carrier but I can't seem to break mine LOL. Very nice machine work on the gears BTW!!! Cheers, Sean
The 308 carrier is actually better built than the boxer/tr unit. I doubt you'll ever break it, just wear it out. Maybe if the 308 had more power we would see more failures in general.
I really like the sounds of this Paul. You know is this works you will known as a "SAVIOR" Good work!!
Hey Paul as an upgrade (pre-failure) is it just a matter of pulling the carrier and swapping the innards and reinstalling or is there more to it? I assumed that when guys do this upgrade they buy the 512m carrier and do the swap. Is that how it works? The only stories we hear are the failure instances and not the proactive measures that should have been taken. I was considering getting it done when I do my next major. Who knows I might be able to find a buyer for my factory unit as it has gone 50k without any issues. Excuse the ignorance.
Yes you can swap it easiest during an engine out for some additional labour. Swap the internals from yours and put it in, check backlash, button it up. You would need 2 O-rings, best to change axle seals while you're there, fluid and away you go. You could ebay your old unit too. P.
The carriers are under way. Here's where we're at, a nice solid high quality tootsie roll of steel. The thin discs are the end caps. Once the machining is complete they will be case hardened and we will be doing some destructive testing to see how much force is required to shear the bearing support off the carrier. Considering the material being used I suspect it will do quite well Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
More shots, they actually look like carriers! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I haven't been keeping up with posts. I started a thread in the fall over same subject, just after Brent had gotten his rotten gear box. Sorry to hear that he got screwed, but glad at the same time. Otherwise, he would not have gotten pissed off enough to persue this. So CHEERS! Since, I've been out kicking every bush to find a solution, all falling short. This news absolutely makes my day. Rather than an "unfortunate" fire I will get to dry my car again! Mr. Newman, where or how do I get in line for a layshaft/crown set?
