Diff pin mounts

[davidc]

I currently have the diff and rear suspension off my 6 to replace the bushes. I'm taking the opportunity to clean off the chassis and body and treat any rust and paint/underseal.

 

Thought you might like to see the attached picture - it's the front offside diff pin mount which has a crack across the metal (hope it comes out clearly in the picture). Everything else related to the mount is intact.

 

 

Any thoughts on the best way to repair?

 

David

[Barry]

Hi David,

That is a common sight,I have seen worse.

Arm yourself with a grinder and get rid of the whole bracket and buy or fabricate another one and weld it in.

while you are at it you might as well strenghten both of them by boxing them in,but don't forget to drill drain holes in the side plates.

 

Barry

[davidc]

Thanks Barry.

[Richard Crawley]

David

I’m not sure if you are repairing the diff mounts with the body on or off the car? You need to check there are no cracks in the top cruciform (spring) plate. The top (or bottom depending on how you look at it!) of 2 of the diff mount pins is welded into this & mine had an almighty crack which I had to weld up from both top & bottom; to be safe, I also added a 100 x 100mm approx reinforcing plate to the top of the cruciform over each pin; this could be difficult if you are doing it on the car!

 

As Barry says, box them all in; just buy new pins & make up the rest from steel plate, it’s cheaper. It’s important to do this otherwise they will almost certainly crack again. Without the boxing, the brackets flex between the top & bottom of the mounting pins where they are welded & sometimes the pin punches right through rather than just cracking the bracket

 

I made up my own brackets & boxing plates & then cut off each corner at 45 degrees to give a triangular hole of around 8mm in each corner; this also helps to prevent stress concentration in the brackets that can build up during welding.