I was in some deeper mud letting it fly in 4Low then Bang!  Here's the picture.  It's disappointing because I don't think I was doing anything to hardcore and I definately didn't hit any rocks.  Just gunning it with my modest 30" AT tires.  I just got that diff in February! It was one of the first times putting it in 4Low so I wonder if there was something wrong with it to begin with.  Anyone else have this problem? That is not a cheap part to keep breaking! 

John

Your diff looks like mine.



I blew mine out in 4low trying to get out of a ditch.  I have 30's also, though mine are Destination MT's. I think I grabbed too much traction for it to handle and boom!  I doubt mud could do it, I ran some sick bog bog events and I didn't break nothing...did you put gear oil back in after you changed diffs?

Search, my friend, search.

There are many tales of woe about broken front differentials out there - seems as soon as you start raising the vehicle and putting on over sized wheels, they'll break.

There are a couple of different approaches to deal with the problem but it seems the best way to deal with it is to hunt down a steel diff casing and third member (most are aluminium) and swap them in.

Question for both of you - if you can remember - were you in reverse when it broke?

Nope, 4low first gear, gunning it...lol.  You blow yours out in reverse?

Nope. I was going forward in 4Low.  I was gunning it more than I needed to probably, and the only thing I can think of is the ground was possibly frozen under the mud so it might have grabbed some traction all of a sudden .  Gear Oil was synthetic. Maybe I should use 4High for that stuff and only use 4low when I'm stuck. I might look into reinforcing if I get another aluminum one. Disappointing as i said before.  I think SAS will be the way to go next time around. Twas fun while it lasted and I was impressed as were others.

Curious, did you have taller (5.12s) ring and pinion gears installed in your diffs?  I'm thinking if you were running stock gears possibly the aluminum diff turned into an expensive "fusible link" of sorts in your drive train when you hit the heavy mud and the tires began biting the stock gears weren't up to the task and the resistance flexed the aluminum housing until it popped.  The reason I asked is I ran a gear calculator to calculate ratios on my 2 liter Tracker (with manual transmission and stock 4.62 gears) and it reflected I would need to jump up to 5.12 gears in order to return my power train to near stock ratios to run a 30" tall tire and a set of 5.36 gears to pull 31 inch tall tires at stock trim, all else being equal.  Just a of thought.  

I haven't broken mine - I was just exploring a theory that the break results from the nose of the differential pulling up and away from the mount holding to the crossmember, which occurs when you're going backwards.

Curious, did you have taller (5.12s) ring and pinion gears installed in your diffs?  I'm thinking if you were running stock gears possibly the aluminum diff turned into an expensive "fusible link" of sorts in your drive train when you hit the heavy mud and the tires began biting the stock gears weren't up to the task and the resistance flexed the aluminum housing until it popped.  The reason I asked is I ran a gear calculator to calculate ratios on my 2 liter Tracker (with manual transmission and stock 4.62 gears) and it reflected I would need to jump up to 5.12 gears in order to return my power train to near stock ratios to run a 30" tall tire and a set of 5.36 gears to pull 31 inch tall tires at stock trim, all else being equal.  Just a of thought.  

No the gears were stock.  4.88's I believe.

This is a very common problem. I have just come back from a Suzuki only event this weekend - 5 front diffs in Vitaras blown to bits, most of them were 1600's. Mine ( 2.0 V6, NZ spec ) however appears to be crown wheel and pinion ( 33's will do that on a V6  )

I have a GV 2.5 V6 running 32's and the front is all steel. This thing has taken some abuse and no problems so far, steel seems to be the way to go 

All techno babble aside did you really expect everything to run trouble free with stock after uping the tire size while blasting through mud???

Since you said you recently bought it I hope it has a warranty maybe you will get lucky.........

Haha good point.. I guess I just expected a little more than that!  But, yes I'm trying  to get it warrantied.  Fingers are crossed. I'm thinking an xl7 front and sidekick rear will be the way to go, however.  I'm glad it broke while I was playing with friends and not on a solo mission in the middle of nowhere. Now it's an opportunity to build it better. It's a very reliable vehicle, and I do tend to rely on it..4wd included.. so the lesson has been learned.  Thanks for the responses folks.

John

Looks like i have to thread more carefully with my aluminium 4.88s..

Looks like i have to thread more carefully with my aluminium 4.88s..

You can actually do more than that - get real familiar with Google and start hitting the Suzuki off road forums - there are threads detailing ways to reduce the chance of breakage - Here's one that's focused on the earlier model Vitaras - which is a very similar design - the basic difference between this and yours is the air actuated free wheel mechanism.

There's alot more Suzuki off road sites than i am awake off! thanks

Here's onethat's focused on the earlier model Vitaras - which is a very similar design - the basic difference between this and yours is the air actuated free wheel mechanism.

Sorry if this is slightly off topic but I've been wondering, what does the air activated free wheel mechanism do?