So, you've got the TR6 up on ramps, you've renovated the differential
unit (in my case, changed the oil seals and cleaned it up) and you're
all set to put it back with new mounts and a reinforced front plate.
It's nicely full of oil and weighs about 50 lbs. So the task is simple,
lie on your back on the floor and lift the whole thing up about 2 feet,
then whilst holding it in place with one hand (about 50 lbs, remember?)
use the other hand to fit the washers and mounting nuts!
I was faced with this problem recently and having no local friends to
assist, and a trolley jack that would only lift it about 10 inches, when
precariously balanced on the cradle, I was at a loss to work out how to
refit the unit.
So, on Saturday evening, halfway through watching Titanic it came to me
- use four ropes! (just like the lifeboats in the movie..?!)
I pushed the unit under the car on top of a sturdy box, giving about 6
inches of lift to it. I attached a rope to each mounting point and to
the frame above and carefully removed the box. The ropes held and the
differential was suspended in mid-air.
It was then a case of lifting it with the jack in stages, shortening
each of the four ropes in turn. The point being, that had the unit
slipped off the jack, there would always be a minimum of 3 ropes holding
it.
I found the whole process could be carried out in three stages, the last
involving the positioning of the front of the differential onto the
frame, whilst lifting the rear up onto the two mounting studs. This may
sound long winded, the whole job took no more than 15 minutes.
Once the rear mounting nuts and washers were in position, it was then a
case of simply lifting the front up to mate with the front mounting
bushes.
One piece of advice - fit the front bushes in place and hold them there
with a cable tie or tape- otherwise you will not get them located when
the unit is lifted up.
Richard Hartley
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