Discovery Front Axle

As you know, I have all but finished the Salisbury rear axle for the conversion, with just the callipers to rebuild with stainless steel pistons.  With a little help, I have removed the Discovery 200Tdi front axle from my Sankey trailer ready for cleaning and overhaul.

The front axle seems generally in very good condition, with a healthy layer of “honest” gunge covering sound paint – there is very little surface rust on the axle case at all.  The inner swivel housings have absolutely no pitting or rust, but will be treated to new seals as a matter of course.

The brakes clearly need new discs and pads, and the callipers will be treated the same way as those on the rear axle; a clean up, wire brushing, strip down and rebuild with stainless steel pistons.  The discs were like this prior to my storing the axle in the trailer, so it looks like the donor vehicle had been laid up for quite some time.  You can see the domed drive flanges, common to 200Tdi Discoveries and most Range Rover Classics.  No doubt I will get a lot of mistaken jibes about fitting free-wheeling hubs despite my well known hatred of FWH due to the different appearance of these flanges.

The coil spring and panhard rod brackets will be cut away completely, and the bump stops will need to be re-orientated so that their tops are parallel to the tops of the swivel pins, just as on the Series front axles (a step usually not undertaken on these conversions, but an omission that results in reduced articulation and damaged bump stops).  Then will follow the tricky job of fabricating and attaching the spring saddles.  This will be done in a similar fashion to the rear axle, but with new mountings that are taller than standard to allow for the shape of the diff housing and to keep the track rod clear of the tops of the leaf springs.

One area of mild concern is the dented diff pan.  The axle has obviously hit something fairly hard in the past, but the pinion can be turned without any roughness or noises from the diff, so I think it’s probably OK.  The diff will be removed for inspection and the dent beaten back out while the swivels are off for their seal replacement, so I will have the opportunity to check for any internal damage.  The QT Services diff guard on the current front axle will be transferred to this axle as it nears completion to prevent the possibility of this happening again.