[Letterbox]

Hi guys,
wanting to buy some chromoly axles for my widetrack.
I have 33" tyres and 5.?? diffs (bought it like that so not sure on the origin of the diff centres). It's been suggested to me that they might be vitara diff centres.
Plan to put a lokka (of some description ... suggestions please) in the rear and front (maybe). Will I need to change side gears?

Also have a standard transfer case which isn't low enough in Low (but perfect in High range). Tried a 6.5 transfer case and it seems WAY to low for my intended use (Victorian hard tracks and bogs - Otways, Toolangi etc). I'm thinking 4.? transfer gears might be better. Some wisdom on this would be appreciated.

Considering importing from Trail Tough, Lowrange or somewhere else.

Thanks in advance
I've done a fair bit of reading on this so far. Many people have 6.5 transfer gears but with standard diffs. Not many running 33's

[Shansh]

mate you cant really beat Lowrange on prices, you would be hard pressed to find s upplier in aussie who can beat them

[Letterbox]

Thanks Shansh,
I figured as much but worth asking before actually spending the money. Also couldn't remember which had the cheaper freight charges. I remember reading a thread once about this but can't find it again now that I'm actually ready to buy stuff.

[BlueSuzy]

I would get the HD axles for the front, Im not sure if the rears would be worth it. Few reports of braking them on 33's. No matter what gears you get, they all reduce highrange. So either be happy with the 'highest' aftermarket gears, 4.9, or change your diff ratio's back to most common sierra 3.7,3.9

I ran 1.6efi,33's,6.5's but stock diffs=3.7 ,welded Locked rear, open front. The only time i snapped a rear axle was when the diff crown dropped out of the carrier..I have twisted splines though and its a common thing. Never snapped a front being open. was always abit scared. I drove it hard at times, but tried to limit hopping and skipping under high revs. On Rock.

Lowrangeoffroad.com is the place to go.

[GRPABT1]

I know it's a big job but with those diffs I would consider going a vitara auto and transfer to a sierra transfer setup. What motor are you running? I know from experience if you did a GTi G13B motor swap and installed the transfer gears it wouldn't mind the extra revs so much, may with a small step up in tyre size. Seeing that you're spring over too, there is no reason you couldn't go a bigger tyre to justify your lift.

[Letterbox]

I'm running a 1.3 engine with a vitara 1.6 carby (again, bought it like that). I'd love an auto but would like to spend some time actually driving it on some tracks.

Still not sure whether the
Front Rock Assault 4340 Chromoly Axle Shafts from Lowrange suit the WideTrack front axles.

I'm thinking the 4.16 transfer gears might be best.

[BlueSuzy]

Yep thats them! NT sierra's /Samurai's were not common in the US.

WT only, And even they were hounded upon due to "unstable and rollover" claims.

[Letterbox]

Thanks heaps BlueSuzy

[steve125]

jack up the wheels and spin a tyre and count how many times the drive shaft turns, should give you an idea about what ratios are in the diff.

I run a mini spool rear, 6.5s and 31s and I'm happy with that, but it's not my daily driver. If you put a spool in the rear then you will have a set of 26 spline side gears to go in the front to match the 26 spline CroMo front axles. Lowrange also sells side gears to suit.

I bought some Double Tough front axles from Trail Tough a few weeks ago, ordered Wednesday or Thursday and they arrived the following Tuesday, $396AUD delivered (the axles were $245 US in January, now they're $280)

[rpmwrx]

It sounds like you have one of joeblows 4play built sierra's. He built mine years ago and it sounds like very similar specs to yours. You should start up a build thread and post up some pics...

I'm running the rock assult chromo axles upfront with the Calmini HD axles in the back. I'm on my second set of chromo's now. Snapped a crommo axle just recently. I'm running 5.1 diff gears and 4.16 transfer gears and am very happy with the outcome for vicco conditions. The only problem is it revs very high sitting on the highway... about 4200 or 4300 rpm... it doesn't really bother me too much as it's not my daily driver. Hope that helps...

[Letterbox]

thanks for all the replies - very helpful. Will keep you posted on how it all pans out......

[Shansh]

when you buy the cromos from Lowrange, what do you actually get? By that i mean do you get everything shown in the photo, ie CV's plus both axles?

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.ph ... axles.html

as shown in the pic?

[SierraDan]

Yep. CV's and axles.
Take the knuckle off slide them into your 26 spline side gears. put it all together go wheeling.

Im buying another set soon.

[Shansh]

[Built4thrashing]

PJzook has the rear cromo axles for sale. Dont think he's sold them yet.

And he's in melb

[Letterbox]

Okay, bit the bullet this morning and ordered
4.16 transfer gears
Powertrax lockright (with side gears) and
chromoly front shafts

from Lowrange
......
waiting.......

[Letterbox]

An update.
Everything arrived last Tuesday (28th) so pretty good - 18 days from placing order to having them. I was out of town till Friday so couldn't do anything till the weekend.

Step 1. remove transfercase and swap out the gears. There were no instructions with the kit but I sourced a good set of picis on the net
www.trail-gear.com/pdf/suzuk-tcase.pdf

it's not rocket science - especially with step by step picis.
I tapped a 1/4" BSP thread into the breather hole so I can attach a proper breather

Step 2. put transfer case back in car.

test drive - excellent.

Sunday
Step 3 remove rear diff to put locker in. Note the side geears that come out will be used in the front diff to mate with the chromoly axles

Again a step by step process. I cam a bit unstuck trying to count turns on the sidegear preload dials/screws. I don't have any dial guages etc so rebuilding was a 'feel' thing (sorry to all the proper mechanics out there). Who knows I might be posting up something about collapsed bearings etc ....
Anyway - put it all back together - test drive ..... beautiful (a few clicks and clunks but all good)

Step 4 Pull apart front end drive train to remove front diff. Milky oil in front diff suggest water ingress at some time. Wheel bearings seem okay. Grease seems a bit lumpy. King Pin bearings rooted (one is brown with mud).

Once the front diff is out it's again pretty straight forward. I take extra care with preload dials but it never seems to go back the same (despite filing marks everywhere to not swap parts). replace side gears with 26 spline ones from rear diff (also use one set of spider gears from rear)

Step 5 Install new front diff.
Step 6 Install diff breathers and transfer case breather hoses

Tuesday
Step 7 rebuild front drive train - two tubs of grease etc etc.

All back together and runs great.
Time to update my profile..... thanks for the advice and encouragement guys