Hi chaps

How much is safe to remove from the rear mount sticking out of a standard sierra diff?

I need to cut as much of it off without creating a hole ;
when i had the back plate off i noticed it was hollowed out slightly between the 2 threaded holes, unfortunately I didnt measure how far back the hollow went. doh!

i wish i'd waited till it was in the car before i put the back plate on! (although that would have made removal impossible later on!)

any ideas?

use a depth gauge (stick) to measure the depth of the rear mounting holes. You can safely cut this much above the top hole and below the bottom hole. I don't know about in between.

cut from the top down, from front to rear at about 45° from where the rear mounting lug meets the rest of the back plate.

Remove the rest of the material little by little unil you can just fit the diff into the car.

like this?



or cut even further towards the bolt heads?

[Edited on 8/6/05 by Dillinger1977]

yup, be careful i tried this and cut a hole in mine

I cut across the green line and it was OK.
Rescued attachment diffplate.JPG

to be honest, looking at it again i dont think theres a hope in hell of me fitting this complete, even with parts sawn off.

i think im going to have to take the whole backplate off, fit the dif (theres room to swing it in with that removed), and then fit the backplate once its in. shouldnt make much difference really.

i'd have to take the backplate off if i need to remove the diff later, but thats not the end of the world

move the red line forwards a bit so that it it closer to the torx bolts, otherwise the diff won't clear the lower circular tube.

To get a more pricise line for the cut, offer up your diff to the chassis, nose first, as far as it will go. Mark the diff where the chassis tube touches the diff rear mounting.

thats the wierd thing, ive got the nose bit in touching the handbrake cable mounts, and i cant get it any further forward as the casing around the halfshaft area hits the actual mounting bracket on the chassis.

but the mounting bracket is still a good few inches behind the lower chassis bar.. no amount of sawing will get that in.
i think the backplate's going to have to come off. easiest way i think

You should be able to get the nose in under the handbrake cable mounts. If you remove the back plate then it will fit in no problems. You just have to be able to loosen all the bolts and be willing to replace the oil.

if anyones interested, heres the dimensions (the inner hollow is a bit rough in shape but the depth should be right)