muttaburra

i scored a XF ute diff for nothing and have just pulled the thing apart. the axels appear to be 25 spline.
my question is, do the XG's use the same diff as the EA/EB or did they stick with the diffs from the XF's. the reason i ask is because the XG was a bit of a bastard child that had a bit of everything in it.

other question is can i convert the LSD to fit a 28 spline diff? i have done a search but didnt get a diffinete answer.

failing all that i will have a XF 25spline LSD for sale with 2.72 ratio

__________________
No longer driver a oil burner, bought me a real car

XG S-Pack Longreach. Manual
boy am i happy

XG PanelVan

I'm currently (tomorrow) fitting an LSD from an EBII into my XG, to the best of my knowledge XG's have a 28 spline but i can tell you for sure by tomorrow arvo.
I'm not sure about this but if the XF had discs then you might be able to use both the cetre and the axles together, but i've also heard that the 2.72's have such a different offset that you can't shim them to get the backlash right.

If you get to the point where you're going to swap the centres put something up on this thread and i'll let you know how it went for me.

Also, just for interest i got the EBII LSD for $200

xgdude

Panel Van are you changing it yourself? If so what is involved in doing it?
I ask becouse I have been given an EBII LSD and want to fit it but not sure how hard it is to change.

XG PanelVan

Sorry in advance for this essay-length post...

I was changing it myself and i'm stoked to say that last night i took it for a test drive and all appears to be well.
It's definitely not a small job, you have to take the entire rear axle out of the vehicle and i wouldn't attempt this without the Gregory's Workshop manual, but i could scan the relevant pages and e-mail them to you if you like.
There are a couple of critical points to take note of:
1. You need the axles as well as the diff centre as the LSD centre is wider and the corresponding axles are shorter. That was the case with mine anyway.
2. You need to swap the crown wheels over because they are matched to the pinion, and they're probably different ratios anyway (I'd imagine the XG is 3.27 and the EBII is 3.23). When doing this keep in mind that the retaining bolts are LEFT HAND thread and torqued to about 150Nm so you'll probably need to take them to a workshop with a rattle gun and get them to do it for a small fee or a few beers.

Once you get the diff out of your car you need to get the centre out of your diff, this is not as easy as it sounds. The diff centre is actually a few thou's wider than the gap it has to fit into so it's well and truly wedged in there. Technically you're meant to use a diff housing spreader for this job but they're expensive and hard to come by.
I've heard of a few 'alternative' techniques like using a jack to flex the entire diff, and even the professionals I spoke to said that they just used crow bars, but i had the feeling that these had the potential to cause problems rather than solve them. I ended up putting some light chain around the diff centre, attatching it to a chain haul, and then raising it while standing on the housing and it came out quite easily but make sure you've got the axle shafs out so they don't get in the way. Also you MUST keep track of which side the shim and bearing cup were in and make sure they go back to where they came from.
Getting it back in involves a lot of gentle tapping and even more patience.
If it drops in too easily that means you need wider shims and don't use the diff untill you get it right.
Lastly fill the diff with the correct grade of lubricant, Castrol LSX 90 for example.

After all of this work the backlash will pobably be wrong, but there is a chance that it will be alright, lucky for me mine was. I've been told by a diff specialist that if it's wrong you'll know about it
(grinding/whining/clunking etc.) and if this is the case you'll have to get it set up by a specialist, i was quoted $100-$150 if i took the diff out and over to them myself.

You'd want to be a moderately competant home mechanic to attempt this but with no experience in diffs other than a workshop manual i managed to get the job done in one (fairly busy) day.

If i can work out some way to send you a private message I'm happy to give you my mobile number and you can give me a call when you're attempting the job, and i can tell you it's definitely worth the effort, driving my car is a whole new experience.

RPO-083

Can I ask why did you pull the assembly out? I do them in the car with two very large flat blade screwdrivers.

Ask your local Ford mechanic how they do them. There is actually a special service tool designed to spread the housing a couple of thou' (only) to make it easier. Most of them don't use it, because if you over-spread it, then the housing is a throw away.

XG PanelVan

I took it out of the car for two reasons, firstly i wasn't keen on levering against the edge of the housing, and secondly i'm not sure what it's like in a sedan but in the PV there just didn't seem to be enough room under there.

And because it was my first attempt at something like this i figured it was best to make it as easy as possible for myself coz' i needed all the help i could get.


...oh, and the tool would be the diff housing spreader i made reference to in the earlier post, expensive and hard to come by.

SLR5000

A hint for getting the Centre back in... put it in the freezer overnight. It shrinks ever so slightly, but just enough to make getting it in a lot easier. You'll probably need gloves to handle it though, but cheap (clean!!) gardening gloves are enough.

I also have lynig around, if anyone's interested, a 25 spline LSD centre and axles, currently in an XF sedan housing and a 28 spline hydra-trak LSD centre and axles as used in the Longreach utes. PM me if you're interested.

RPO-083

Oops, I missed that the first time 'round....