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My front ARB keeps coming apart. There are 6 screws on the non-ring gear end of the case. These 6 screws keep coming out. The screws coming out is no big deal, they fall in the bottom but the case is held together by the bearing pre-load on the diff. The problem is when the screws all come out, the case end plate can turn - the pins that retain the cross shafts can then escape through the screw holes - then the cross shafts work thier way out - they start hitting on the end of the pinion gear - lotsa parts get buggered up then.
Last summer I heard a clicking sound in my front diff - when I opened it I found the cross shafts hitting the pinion were making the noise. I pulled the diff out and did a complete repair. ARB was very helpful and it only cost about $100 in parts to fix it, The ring and pinion were dinged up some, but not in the tooth contact area so I am still running them.
Before my Moab trip this year, I was checking the jeep over and noticed most of the screws were gone again. ARB supplies little metric bolts (about the same size as a #10 screw) and clips that press on the heads to hold them from coming out - not very effective. Fortunately the case had not spun and the cross shafts were still in place. This time I replaced the screws with socket head screws, cross drilled the heads, used locktite blue, and safety wired the screwheads together with stainless steel wire. That should hold.
It didn't. After one week in Moab of hard wheeling, I pulled the fill plug to look inside and again most of the screws were out. The safety wire was broke, and about half the screws were laying in the bottom. I hunted around Moab and found some more socket head screws and installed them using locktite red. I would have used wire again but did not have the tools to drill the heads with me.
Last weekend I finally got around to checking the Jeep over again, and the screws were all out again! :x The case end plate had turned some, but the pins had not come out yet. Looks like my only alternative is another ARB. The new ARB is redesigned since I bought mine 7 or 8 years ago. The new case is 2 peice and held together with the ring gear bolts - no 6 screws to come out. The old locker is still working fine and I have a hard time pulling it and throwing it away for another $600 to $700 locker that will work the same. So I decided to weld it.
I welded the case in 6 places, letting it cool completely between welds. I also shot the welds with compressed air to help cool the case each time. I did not want to melt any o-rings since it would be very difficult to replace them now. Here's what I wound up with:
Last summer I heard a clicking sound in my front diff - when I opened it I found the cross shafts hitting the pinion were making the noise. I pulled the diff out and did a complete repair. ARB was very helpful and it only cost about $100 in parts to fix it, The ring and pinion were dinged up some, but not in the tooth contact area so I am still running them.
Before my Moab trip this year, I was checking the jeep over and noticed most of the screws were gone again. ARB supplies little metric bolts (about the same size as a #10 screw) and clips that press on the heads to hold them from coming out - not very effective. Fortunately the case had not spun and the cross shafts were still in place. This time I replaced the screws with socket head screws, cross drilled the heads, used locktite blue, and safety wired the screwheads together with stainless steel wire. That should hold.
It didn't. After one week in Moab of hard wheeling, I pulled the fill plug to look inside and again most of the screws were out. The safety wire was broke, and about half the screws were laying in the bottom. I hunted around Moab and found some more socket head screws and installed them using locktite red. I would have used wire again but did not have the tools to drill the heads with me.
Last weekend I finally got around to checking the Jeep over again, and the screws were all out again! :x The case end plate had turned some, but the pins had not come out yet. Looks like my only alternative is another ARB. The new ARB is redesigned since I bought mine 7 or 8 years ago. The new case is 2 peice and held together with the ring gear bolts - no 6 screws to come out. The old locker is still working fine and I have a hard time pulling it and throwing it away for another $600 to $700 locker that will work the same. So I decided to weld it.
I welded the case in 6 places, letting it cool completely between welds. I also shot the welds with compressed air to help cool the case each time. I did not want to melt any o-rings since it would be very difficult to replace them now. Here's what I wound up with:
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