RADO's Off Road Rig- Build Thread

[VXorado]

Wow, side by side really shows the difference in size between the 10 and12 bolt diffs.

I know!!! The 10 bolt is tiny and makes me a little worried about overall strength when locked. I'll be very "selective" in using the front locker.


Per Jo's Advice, I decided to get started on the diff swap this last weekend. Feeling ambitious, I dropped the front axle and swapped the 10 diff. It was a pretty straight forward process, but I did have a couple notes.

Indy4x did the gearing & locker install on the 10-bolt. The diff came with a U-joint drive shaft flange which needed to be swapped to fit our CV drive shaft. The drive shaft flange bolt requires a 30mm socket and an impact wrench for removal. Here's a pic to compare the open diff vs. ARB diff.


The diff drop procedure in the how-to section states the steering linkage needs to be removed. The pic below demostrates that the diff dropped can be completed with the linkage in place. Skip dropping the linkage to save time & effort during a diff drop.


BartManS4 was nice enough to give me a hand on Saturday. His newly painted VX looks great and I had a blast driving the 5-speed to the autoparts store. Thanks Scott.

[JoFotoz]

...........

IPer Jo's Advice, I decided to get started on the diff swap this last weekend. :

...not sure if it was advice, sage or otherwise......

....., or a simple "Hey..dont do what I Idid !!"

Two fully locked VX's this year...Look Out!



Jo

[bartmanS4]

BartManS4 was nice enough to give me a hand on Saturday. His newly painted VX looks great and I had a blast driving the 5-speed to the autoparts store. Thanks Scott.

Thanks for letting me hang out and learn my way around the VX drivetrain.
Unfortunately, I had to leave to help out a friend whose Land Rover Discovery overheated heading up to Blackhawk. It turned out to be as easy as bypassing the heater core since one of those lines blew. I told him not to push his luck but he went on up to Blackhawk anyway. Got stuck in traffic for an hour or two and then promptly lost $300 when he did get to the casino. He should have realized that when your car breaks down going to the casino it's a bad omen.

Scott

p.s. Don't get a friend with a Land Rover!