Remove front diff without removing control arms?

[burntkat]

Title is the gist of it...

WHY?
I want to swap the front diff for a 4:10 unit. I see the front diff is held in by something like 6 bolts, and would ordinarily require the front two to be removed AFTER the control arms are, because they are inserted outboard to inboard (ie, nuts inboard, bolt heads outboard, requiring control arm removal)

I am of the 'forget that noise' mentality, those bolts are going to go inboard to outboard when I reinstall, so this is no longer an issue. Yes, I would have to cut the bolts shorter. Shouldn't be an issue for me....

Heres my plan. Cut those bolts out. Remove the nuts, push the bolts as far outward as I can get them so I can get a cutting wheel (Dremel) or similar in to attack the shaft. Cut the head off. Push the shaft inboard til it pops out.

Replace with suitable sized, Grade-8 (or metric equivalent) bolt, inserted inboard to outboard with just enough shaft so it has 3 or 4 threads showing. Threadlock of course, that is pretty standard on anything I touch.

I have heard of folks reusing the stock bolts, swapped around like this. Not sure this is exactly the bolt they refer to, but it seems to make sense to me.

Anyone who's taken out a front diff see a problem with this?

 

[CheddarGau]

I'm looking at the procedure and it doesn't say anything about removing the control arms, just one of the cam bolts. Below is the procedure.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[RussellG]

I have a 2007 Jeep Liberty and wish to inspect (bad noises) the front differential. The first obstacle I can see is the front skid plate. The front 2 bolts are hidden behind the lower control arms. Is there any way to get these bolts out without removing the lower control arms?

 

[klc]

That sounds strange. I put an engine skid plate on mine and there’s no bolts near the control arms. The front bolts are inside the two round holes at the front of the plate.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[CheddarGau]

That sounds strange. I put an engine skid plate on mine and there’s no bolts near the control arms. The front bolts are inside the two round holes at the front of the plate.

You must be registered for see images attach

They are recessed in order to protect them from hitting a rock and sheering off, or being a pain to unbolt if they are rounded from said rock. Thats pretty normal for most manufacturers to have recessed bolts. Sorry meant for the post above yours.

 

[CheddarGau]

I have a 2007 Jeep Liberty and wish to inspect (bad noises) the front differential. The first obstacle I can see is the front skid plate. The front 2 bolts are hidden behind the lower control arms. Is there any way to get these bolts out without removing the lower control arms?

The post below is pretty typical of skid plates. A lot of times they are recessed in holes in the skid plate. They should be pretty easy to access with an extension. They don't generally make them very difficult to remove.