[Sockman]

I discovered some damage to the front differential mounts.  Both of them pulled upward at the front, tore through the top of the front mounting tabs, and then stretched out the rear mounting location bolt holes, and moved the rear mounting bracket forward.  This must have happened when I was in 4wd.  Seems as though the force of front wheels spinning caused the damage.  Didn't take any pics.  Believe to repair it, would have to take all the front suspension off, take the front diff out, weld in stronger front mounting tabs, and then bend the rear ones back into place.  Not sure if warranty would cover this or not (have the extended warranty).  Really don't want to go thru the hassle of taking it to the dealership just to have them tell me it's not warrantied, but it is going to be a bit of a pita to repair properly.  Any thoughts?

[doug80638]

Call the dealer and explain. Send pics. Get the answer before you make the trip.

My guess is that unless there are indications of "abuse", it would be covered under warranty.

[cr2crf]

I discovered some damage to the front differential mounts.  Both of them pulled upward at the front, tore through the top of the front mounting tabs, and then stretched out the rear mounting location bolt holes, and moved the rear mounting bracket forward.  This must have happened when I was in 4wd.  Seems as though the force of front wheels spinning caused the damage.  Didn't take any pics.  Believe to repair it, would have to take all the front suspension off, take the front diff out, weld in stronger front mounting tabs, and then bend the rear ones back into place.  Not sure if warranty would cover this or not (have the extended warranty).  Really don't want to go thru the hassle of taking it to the dealership just to have them tell me it's not warrantied, but it is going to be a bit of a pita to repair properly.  Any thoughts?

Definitely get pics and talk to dealer.  Warranty everything until they tell you it's not.  Then fight about it until they pay.

[REDRIDER]

probly won't cover it but it is certainly worth a shot. I have a write up ont he R/R of the front diff in the how to section. It isn't hard.

[Sockman]

probly won't cover it but it is certainly worth a shot. I have a write up ont he R/R of the front diff in the how to section. It isn't hard.

Thanks, I'll look for that.  I really do trust that I would make a better, stronger repair than the shop, so that's why I threw the question out.  It did actually crack the rear mounting point on the differential (although I think it'll hold up).

[REDRIDER]

once it's out there should be plenty of room to make alterations. My write up has pictures.

[Sockman]

Here's some pics of the damage.  That's some flimsy steel.

[NMKawierider]

Good, got it to upload. Yeah although their steel is second-rate and soft IMO, there is a lot of torque stress on those few mount bolts and if they can even start to move, they will egg and pull out the holes. They need at least one more mounting point and we..need to add about 8ftlbs to their torque specs. Mine are now so tight they are at the stretching point. If that doesn't hold it..guess I'll be building my own brackets...and getting some American bolts

 

[Sockman]

Here's the best pic of the damage.  I can't upload the original I guess it's too big.  Have to snagit and then save it under a different name.  Kind of a pain, but at least there's some progress!

Anyway, pulled through both front tabs and really distorted the rear mount.  The front tab repair I'll show in another post.  The rear was a pain to get back into place.  That was the most difficult.

[NMKawierider]

Wow...what a bummer. At least it's fixable. Hay, sense your diff is out, on the very front of the actuator, where the plug is, is yours showing any signs of oil leakage coming from that connection? Took another look at mine it it looks like mine is..just a little.

[Sockman]

The repair consisted of cutting off the tops of the torn tabs.  I just cut them halfway through the eyelet.  I took some 1/8" (or maybe 3/16") steel and made a dome looking tab that fit inside the existing tabs.  Easy to weld that way.  In order to make the back side of it mate up with the thickness of the existing tab, I cut some washers in half and welded them to my repair tab.  Looks kinda goofy but it works.  I welded those in place and then drilled them to accept the mounting bolts for the differential.  Beat and pried and whatever I could to get the rear mount back into place, and it was still a bit of a wedge job to get the diff put back in, but it's there, and with the stronger front tabs, I don't see how it's going anywhere. 

[NMKawierider]

Looks good.

[Sockman]

Repair process photos.  The tabs, and then the tabs in place before I welded them in.

Also the damage to the differential itself.  It was just to the mounting area.  I took it to a weld shop and had it fixed.  They did a crap job, but it is welded, so there's that.

[Sockman]

And lastly a pic of it all back together.  You can kind of see the differential weld repair.  I dremel'd it as best I could and even put some JBweld in there to smooth out the crap weld job. 

THis was all done last fall.  And no, I didn't notice any leaks in the diff NWK. 

[Sockman]

Looks good.

Thank you.  It took some doing, but glad I did it myself and didn't try to waste time with the dealer.  You know durn well they would have denied it under warranty.

once it's out there should be plenty of room to make alterations. My write up has pictures.

Yes, it wasn't that bad of a job.  Just time and beer consuming.  Which is just fine with me.