t18 diff

**spoon** · 11-09-2006, 10:55 PM

just replaced the bearings on my t18 axles in my t18 housing. the problem i have is that the drums have been replaced with r31 skyline disc setup. i just removed the axles on thursday night everything seemed to be fine but when i went to reinstall the newly replaced bearing/axle assembly, things dont seem to fit. the retainer plate which holds the bearings in doesnt sit flush against the axle housing anymore... as the bearings seem to protrude out about 3mm, i dont remember having any spacer plate in between, (cant remember throwing them out). so whats going on? how come there is such a big gap? i thought the problem might be the bearings arent in far enough but when i measured with the depth verniers, there isnt enough room in the housings for the bearings to sit flush anyhow. The bearings are exactly the same (part numbers etc) as the ones i tool out, and have also tried using another set of t18 axles to compare with the same result... anyone else had the same experience? how come its only happening now and no problem before, and how do i fix it?!

attatched are some pictures to help explain the problem...

**takai** · 11-09-2006, 11:09 PM

The gap which you can see there is normally filled by the backing plate for the drums. Under compression it ends up being about 2mm.
Either cut the back of the drums out, or machine up some plates.

Also the structural integrity of that caliper mount seems quite dicey to me, i woudl want to be reinforcing that significantly. Also with the caliper mounted vertically are you going to be able to bleed the caliper properly, or will you run into the same problems as CrUZida here : http://www.toymods.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11129

**slide86** · 11-09-2006, 11:57 PM

are you sure that there werent some shims that went in there. i have pulled out axles from various models of cars and lots of them have shims that sit between the axle housing and the bearing retainer thats in your hand.

once i left them out on an rx2, had exactly the same problem you are having. once i refitted them, it was all good.

also what takai said, that backing plate is pretty thick and would fill that gap nicely.

**takai** · 12-09-2006, 07:38 AM

On a T18 diff you dont have shims, you have small thin gaskets which could look like shims, but certainly arnt. They are only there to seal the oil in in case of weeping.

**spoon** · 12-09-2006, 12:43 PM

i dont think the pictures do the brake bracket justice - they are pretty secure - weolded all the way round and solid as - plus they are only taking rotational load - not lateral...

I just dont understand how it could have worked before but not any more. ah well ill go make up some spacers - it should be pretty easy to do... just get a sheet of steel and cut a hole in the middle big enough for the bearings and 4 bolt holes... should work!

thanks fellas