Preferred Chassis Diff support installed

[motley1987]

So I just installed the differential support tonight. I wasn't able to start it until about 7:30 so I only had maybe 45 minutes of daylight to get it done. Other than the bolts being super tight, it came off pretty easy. I read that I didn't need to support the differential when I removed the support but it was a little unnerving when I knocked the support loose and the diff dropped a little. I got the new support in with some help from my floor jack. I used the nut that came with the new support for the center bolt and for the time being hammered the nut that was used for the old center bolt and is attached to the diff out of the way. Is there an easy way to remove it? Also, how tight do I make the center bolt? I just caveman'd it for now but want to get it right so I don't screw up the new bushings. I didn't get a chance to take pics of the old one or do much else other than take it for a quick drive since it was 8:30 by then. Tomorrow I'm going to look at the old diff support and take some pics to post. The new support looked and felt so much better so I'm hoping it cures that clunk I get whenever I slow down then hit the gas. Now I just have to get the drivers side bumpstop in (took me a half hour last week with no success), new steering shaft bushings, outer tie rod ends, and possibly the ball joints once I check to see if they're bad.

 

[PreferredChassisFab]

The factory nut is attached to the top of the diff carrier pad by the means of a retention tab and is held in place by a torx headed screw, I believe it is a T10. The thick washer replaces the factory concave washer and goes on the bottom of the ScorpWorks bushing assy. The 1/2x13 grade 8 bolt should be torqued to 100-108 lb/ft. Remember to properly torque the 4 frame to crossmember bolts! Loose frame mounting bolts have caused crossmember cracking.

 

[motley1987]

Thanks for the info Dwaine! Any idea on the torque of the four mounting bolts? I'll check the center bolt today. It was easy getting the order of the washers since you had everything zip tied where it should go. Even I couldn't screw that up!

 

[Bigunit]

The 4 mounting bolts torque spec is 50 lb.ft. You really really can't over tighten those as you want them tight.

 

[Hayden]

Any updates on it curing that clunk? mine does the same thing

 

[Best4x4]

Are u guys talking about a clunk when on/off the throttle? It's a common noise on AWD rigs due to all four wheels having power being sent to them. If our H3's had a viscous coupling type AWD setup you'd never really hear or feel it due to the viscous vs a geared transfer case. Both my H3's have it, but I notice it more on the Adventure vs Alpha. I had the same noise on both my Land Rover Discoveries that had a transfer case setup simular to our H3's.

 

[zackcrum]

Yep that's the noise. I have it too.

 

[motley1987]

Thanks for the torque info. I haven't had it out much today but I think I still felt it, mostly when going over speed bumps then hitting the gas to speed up. I re-torqued all the bolts and got that torx screw out to get the old center nut out. Would have been easier had I waited for the oil pan to cool down. Of course as I got into a rhythm and was about to go on to the next thing, it started raining. If I'm lucky it'll slow down enough to at least get my other bump stop in. I think I've done them 4 or 5 times between the two H3's I've had, but this last one is killing me.

 

[Best4x4]

Yeah I only hear/feel it when on/off the throttle. It's basically just the slack in the driveline being taken up upon throttle response which is perfectly normal for an AWD rig. Now if you were to hear a clattering sound along with that (very noticable clatter) then you'd have a transfer case chain with slack in it which as we've all seen the post isn't good at all and it will eventually grenade the transfer case.

At least we don't have Axle shafts like 95-02 Range Rover's or 99-04 Discovery Series II that clicked along with the driveline clunk!!! They had so many people complain about the clicking when going from D/R that the only solution Rover could come up with was to place Green Loctite in the hubs to fill the void where the axle shafts had play and would click. Worked like a charm until you were out on the trail trying to repair a broken hub/axle shaft!! Had to use a torch to break that Green Loctite free!!!

 

[Tdavis]

I also installed Dwaine's cross member due to a low speed clunking noise. My oem bushing was shot and he has a great product. The clunking persisted, although not as bad. Solution was replacing the high speed cv joint on the front propeller shaft. No more noise, but the cv boot keeps tearing. ??

 

[Best4x4]

Haven't torn my replacement boot on my Alpha yet. I used Lucas Red & Tacky II Grease, and when I installed the boot clamp I made sure it wasn't pulled tight. Zero issues with close to 2k on it so far.