Front axle change imminent - advice

[Liam L]

Hi all, I am about to replace the complete front axle on my disco for a 2nd hand replacement as mine has a broken radius arm mounting, which is doing wonders for the handling I can tell you...Is there anything to be aware of, or any special order of doing things.  I haven't had any Land Rovers before although I am fairly handy with the spanners but would appreciate any advice  :D
I have stripped most of the easily removable stuff from the new one (calipers, steering arms, etc) but should I remove the hubs and discs as well, I figured it would get a bit messy doing that, although it looks like at least one swivel will need replacing??

I have no haynes manual so will be 'winging it' so to speak, may well be on here for more advice half way through the job...  :)

Also meant to ask also is there any difference between RR and disco axles, in terms of gear ratios?

[Niel]

http://www.rangie.com/articles_topic.php?cat=16&subCat=99

gives some idea, pull everything off and just swap the casing???

[Lostboy]

I found out this when doing mine; put the panhard rod back on before the springs, makes it a lot easier when trying to line it all up!

[chuggaman]

Hi all, I am about to replace the complete front axle on my disco for a 2nd hand replacement as mine has a broken radius arm mounting, which is doing wonders for the handling I can tell you...Is there anything to be aware of, or any special order of doing things.  I haven't had any Land Rovers before although I am fairly handy with the spanners but would appreciate any advice  :D
I have stripped most of the easily removable stuff from the new one (calipers, steering arms, etc) but should I remove the hubs and discs as well, I figured it would get a bit messy doing that, although it looks like at least one swivel will need replacing??

I have no haynes manual so will be 'winging it' so to speak, may well be on here for more advice half way through the job...  :)

Also meant to ask also is there any difference between RR and disco axles, in terms of gear ratios?

get a tis

will help a lot
 

[Range Rover Blues]

Given how heavy all the parts are I'd suggest stripping the axle on the car down first then replacing the centre section before building it back up.  You'll also need a b****y good pair of axle stands to reach up to the chassis.  The RRC and Disco1 axles are the same thing but some later cars had anti-roll bars which you may want to look for.

[Liam L]

Given how heavy all the parts are

You're not kidding, I had the full axle, with diff, springs, shocks and all the steering and radius arms in the back of a Saab 9000.  Not much suspension travel left with it all that in the boot... :shock:

I have two sets of axle stands just to be safe, and a big jack!!  Might need some larger sockets though, big car = big nuts  :P

Thanks for the tips by the way  :D


Just to add to my already VERY long list of jobs to do, when I parked up at McDonalds last night and pulled the handbrake on.....er, nothing happened.  Something has broken somewhere  :(