diff guards

[sleepy straven]

Probably been asked many tmes before but what are peoples opinions on what diff guards to get. It appears that the choice could be £15 bolt on, the QT oes or the Southdown one. it is for a 110TD5 with a steering guard fitted
thanks

[burgerman]

 Qt type fittd to both of ours, seem to work a treat  :)   

I like the way they go under the diff rather than just a "bash plate" on the front face

[V8MoneyPit]

Yep, the QT style is a much better design.

[Saffy]

other than lowering the clearance under diff? pain in butt in Wiltshire's ruts, I have a QT style front diff guard but took it off because of clearance reduction, if I was living and laning mostly in rocky places like mid wales I might put it on. Same with steering guards, I'd rather have heavy duty/protected rods than a plated guard when in ruts.

  Isn't the casing the strongest part and doesn't really need to protection whereas the pan face is pretty thin?

[clbarclay]

The type that clamp onto the existing diff pan can potetially crack the pan where its weled onto the rest of the axle. This is the most likely expliantion for why mine cracked after a while off road. Other wise I didn't have any problem with the £15 cheapies I use to have.

I changed to a southdown axle guard which is the ultimate in pure protection for diff pan as well as steering, though it was also the ultimate mud trap and although the clearance under the lowest point was about the same as a QT guard its the lower clerance under the rest of the guard which caused grounding out.

I then got round to fixing the cracks on the diff pans and sorted the diff pans out propperly. They are now 6mm thick, made from pressure vessle end caps and the only damage to them are some shallow scratches inside the rear one from when the diff when bang. Its solved the weakness without reducing clearance.


I have seen reports of QT guards getting bent when the going gets very tough, though that may just be the older style QT quards. Latter ones were extended to cover more of the diff pan, which may have made them stronger as well.

[V8MoneyPit]

other than lowering the clearance under diff?

By the thickness of the metal? I seriously doubt that 8mm will be a noticable difference to ground clearance. Certainly, that is all that mine would lower by.

[clbarclay]

8mm can make enough of a differance when your seeing who can drive a line off road that others can't follow with friends :dance: Its similar to having tyres which are 5/8" taller.

Genreally though there are other more pressing issues to deal with before worrying about 8mm of diff clearence.

[sleepy straven]

Thanks for that. I do not do anything daft with the landy. I use it off road every few months or less normally at a local site at Drumclog. The clog is a big peat bog but the odd rock does peer out and it is normal to see the trench of your diff pan through the mud. It is looking like the QT ones are the answer.

[Range Rover Blues]

You can now get a QT style diff guard with the clamp on front face too, best of both styles if a little heavy.

Get yourself to Donnington next Sunday and have a look.