[ms1991]

Alright guys so i done a quick search and im a little confused as to EXACTLY whats needed to complete the alloy to steel change over.

I have a 97 swb vit with a g16b 5 speed.

What year Grand Vitara do i source the steel diff housing from and is there any other parts I need from the GV, such as mounts,carriers?

Is it a matter of just removing the GV diff centre and installing my original diff centre in?

What is the 3rd member?

Sorry for the noob questions, hope you guys can shed some light on this for me.

thanks, Mark.

[got_bar_work]

U want the housing the diff carrier
The pinion mount
I used a Sierra hemisphere in the gv carrier so I can use a Sierra rear locker

[christover1]

My steel diff, axle housing and mount came from a 98 GV V6 Manual.
Ratio was 4.3 in the GV,
my 5;12 Vitara diff bolted in easily..
Need to fit the Vit Ring and Pinion with its carrier into the gv steel housing.
I blocked the air line hole to keep crud out.
The gv has a vaccuum operated free wheel thing.

[ms1991]

thanks for the info guys, cleared things up for me.
Might look into locking it whilst its all out:)

[thesupervisor]

make sure you get the right bracket from donor car the one that goes onto the snout of the difff

[ms1991]

thesupervisor wrote:

make sure you get the right bracket from donor car the one that goes onto the snout of the difff

yeah that shouldnt be a problem, i was planning on grabbing all the brackets to be safe.

cheers mate

[DarkHorse]

Early V6 manual GV, up until I think about 01 they had a pinion (3rd/snout) mount that is the same shape as the Vit, after that it's a different shape but the bolt pattern to the cross-member is exactly the same, so either will work. Just make sure you unbolt from the cross-member so the mount comes with. The other two brackets will fit, but you'll only get three bolts each side - I've been running like that for over a year, it's fine.

Atari has a good pic of the two styles of mount...

[atari4x4]

christover1 wrote:

My steel diff, axle housing and mount came from a 98 GV V6 Manual.
Ratio was 4.3 in the GV,
my 5;12 Vitara diff bolted in easily..
Need to fit the Vit Ring and Pinion with its carrier into the gv steel housing.
I blocked the air line hole to keep crud out.
The gv has a vaccuum operated free wheel thing.

^^^ what he said, CBF'd typing

pics of different pinion mounts, closest one is the later style of mount... broken on is the earlier GV type/Vitara


being a 97 vit, it should already have 26 spline axles & cv's i'm assuming it's got the type III dashboard (rounded with moulded gauge cluster the same as mine)

[got_bar_work]

The new shape pinion bracket is better to run diff drop brackets as well
U can weld the holes up and drill new ones on a angle so that there is no load on the pinion

[Ashley]

I'll be starting my swap tomorrow. When swapping the diffs over do I need to get the back lash reset?

[christover1]

Ashley wrote:

I'll be starting my swap tomorrow. When swapping the diffs over do I need to get the back lash reset?

Yes that is the best thing to do.

But I never did.
I adjusted it by feel.
Thats the risky way.

[Ashley]

Just in the process of swapping mine over at the moment. The bloke at the diff joint left the 26 spline side gears in so now i need to buy a drivers side CV joint. Which model Vitara should I buy one from?

Also the diff guy is convinced it has a font locker installed already. I read earlier that they come with some kind of air actuated free wheeling hubs. Ive uploaded some pics, can anyone confirm what it is? He decided to leave it in there.

[atari4x4]

standard GV front diff assembly

[Ashley]

So its no air locker? some people just cant be convinced.

[got_bar_work]

If u have a 1.6
Then u need to find a rhs cv out of a 1.6 1996 with the new shape dash
Or better yet get a lhs axel cut down and resplined and run lhs cv on both sides
And that is a gv diff
Just plug the hole with a bolt

[Ashley]

I have a feeling i need to take it back to the diff place. Without any air presure on it the diff is just in free wheeling mode. More money down the drain.

[atari4x4]

he should have ditched the air operated GV Hemisphere, Crownwheel & Pinion & used the 5.12:1 Vitara Crownwheel, Pinion & Hemisphere in the Steel GV diff

[shandy92]

mate all you need is the housing, i have almost thrown everything else in the bin. all ur doing is swapping ur ring and pinion etc into the new housing. forget about the air operated stuff, its completely irrelevant for what you want and wont work in ur car anyways.

i used my original axles and side gears, nothing from the gv diff

[Sweenz]

Just want some clarification on the 22/26 CV spline differences. It's just the end that goes into the diff that's different right? The end which goes into the wheel hub is universal right throughout the different year model vitaras?

[atari4x4]

yeah hub end is standard across the range, the LHS axle that goes in the diff will either be 22 or 26 as per the RHS (year dependant)

[Sweenz]

As for getting the 26 spline side gears that go inside the diff housing does anyone know where to source them locally? I know that i can use rear sierra side diff rears but haven't been able to find any of them either. LROR is the only pace Ive seen so far that has them. There a bit to pricey though and I need them nowish.

[oohsam]

Hey mate about to do.the same thing I see its been about a month, care to share any info of progress and results and anything To look out for