Hey all, after recently undertaking a swap of the front diff in my 2G auto, I thought I'd offer some helpful tips for those who are getting stuck at one point or another during the install. I started reading the guide posted here, but I have a few tips that werent mentioned in the guide that make the process much easier.
GETTING THE DIFF OUT
-The cover is a very snug fit. If you dont have chisels or something similar, an easy way is to carefully tap a flathead screwdriver into the edge, and put something behind it to pry on. We used two, put one in, then put the next one as far away from the first as it would go, then pried on that one, and walked them around the cover that way.
-The hole in the center of the shaft is threaded. Put a bolt in there and grab/pry on that. Way easier than trying to grab the splines, and safer. We used a small prybar pivoting on a little block of wood.
REINSTALLING THE DIFF
-If possible taking the output shaft out makes the install tremendously easier because you will only have to line the splines and the gear up.
-Put the car into neutral so you can change the orientation of the gear in the transmission for the install. You have to line that AND the two sets of splines up to get it to seat all the way back in there. You can just rotate the brake rotor to move the gear around.
-On the same token, once you get the diff on the first set of splines, you should be able to turn it to get the second set to line up.
That's about it really. You should also be able to turn the diff a little to nudge it around when on the first splines. Good luck, I was honestly surprised how easy of a procedure this is.
GETTING THE DIFF OUT
-The cover is a very snug fit. If you dont have chisels or something similar, an easy way is to carefully tap a flathead screwdriver into the edge, and put something behind it to pry on. We used two, put one in, then put the next one as far away from the first as it would go, then pried on that one, and walked them around the cover that way.
-The hole in the center of the shaft is threaded. Put a bolt in there and grab/pry on that. Way easier than trying to grab the splines, and safer. We used a small prybar pivoting on a little block of wood.
REINSTALLING THE DIFF
-If possible taking the output shaft out makes the install tremendously easier because you will only have to line the splines and the gear up.
-Put the car into neutral so you can change the orientation of the gear in the transmission for the install. You have to line that AND the two sets of splines up to get it to seat all the way back in there. You can just rotate the brake rotor to move the gear around.
-On the same token, once you get the diff on the first set of splines, you should be able to turn it to get the second set to line up.
That's about it really. You should also be able to turn the diff a little to nudge it around when on the first splines. Good luck, I was honestly surprised how easy of a procedure this is.
