A method of strengthening the Rover differential.
If you are heavily off roading your Rover one of the first mods you will need is to change the diff centre for a stronger one be it either Detroit locker, ARB or other, once you have the diff centre up rated you may still experience a failure of the crown wheel and pinion gears.
The reason for the ring and pinion failing is because when the diff is shock loaded, the pinion will push the crown wheel away as the diff centre flexes, once the pinion teeth start to ride up the crown wheel teeth this can allow the pinion to spin and take some teeth off either gear.
We “Peg” the diff to hold the gears in constant mesh by putting a thrust pad behind the crown wheel, opposite the pinion, this means the pinion cannot push the crown wheel away. Historically this was done by welding 2 plates on the outside of the diff housing to add some material and drilling and tapping two M16 holes through the plate and through the diff housing. We then fit 2 dog point screws in these holes and two Nyloc nuts on the outside. We fit a phosphor bronze thrust pad inside the diff, which locates on the screws then fit the diff centre back in. We have now made new diff housing which include this additional material for the 2 screws so we no longer have to weld the casing. Once the diff centre has the backlash and preload set we then adjust the thrust pad in so it lightly touches, then back the screws out a quarter of a turn.
It is a good idea to adjust the thrust pad to allow for wear every 6 months or so.
This mod is extremely effective, we very rarely see them fail.
We are now able to offer a DIY kit for diff pegging. Alternatively we are able to supply, on an exchange basis, a pegged diff housing for you to build your own diff.
In addition to this you can opt to have your diff pegged when opting for us to supply a rebuild differential.