Front Differential Sectional View
| ITEM | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| 1 | Left halfshaft drive splines |
| 2 | Sunwheel |
| 3 | Planet gear |
| 4 | Differential carrier |
| 5 | Planet gear |
| 6 | Sunwheel |
| 7 | Engine oil pan |
| 8 | Halfshaft support bracket |
| 9 | Angular contact ball bearing |
| 10 | Right halfshaft drive splines |
| 11 | Crown wheel |
| 12 | Input flange |
| 13 | Input shaft |
| 14 | Bevel pinion gear |
The differential case comprises two halves with machined mating faces. When assembled, the case halves are sealed and secured together with 10 bolts. A breather is fitted to the case which prevents the ingress of water when the vehicle is wading.
The left case is fitted with a drain plug and fill/level plug. The front differential unit contains approximately 0.295 liter (0.51 pint UK) of oil for a dry fill.
The differential is a conventional design using a hypoid gear layout. This employs a hypoid bevel pinion gear and crown wheel, with the pinion offset above the centre line of the crown wheel. This design allows for a larger pinion gear to be used, which has the advantages of increased gear strength and reduced operating noise.
The differential comprises a pinion shaft and hypoid bevel gear, a crown wheel drive gear with an integral carrier, which houses two planet gears. Two sunwheels are also located in the carrier and pass the rotational drive to the halfshafts.
The pinion shaft is mounted on two opposed bearings; one taper roller bearing and one angular contact bearing, with a collapsible spacer located between them. The spacer is used to hold the bearings in alignment and also collapses under the pressure applied to the pinion nut. This allows the bearing preload to be set without the use of selectable shims.
The pinion shaft has an externally splined outer end which accepts and locates the input flange, which is retained by the pinion nut. The opposite end of the output flange provides positive location for the front driveshaft. An oil seal is pressed into the left casing and seals the input flange to the differential unit. The pinion shaft has a hypoid bevel gear at its inner end which mates with the crown wheel drive gear.
The crown wheel drive gear is welded onto the carrier. The carrier is mounted on taper roller bearings located in each case half. The bearings are press fitted into the case and a spacer is located on the outside face to set backlash and apply preload to the bearing.
The carrier is fitted with a shaft onto which the two planet gears are mounted. The shaft is secured in the carrier with a roll pin. The sunwheels are located in pockets within the carrier and mesh with the planet gears. Thrust washers are located between the carrier and the sunwheels and hold the sunwheels in mesh with the planet gears. Each sunwheel has a machined, splined, bore to accept the drive shaft. A groove is machined in the bore to locate the snap ring fitted to the drive shaft, providing positive drive shaft location.