Grease Monkey

Well I got to do some serious grease monkey work today on the MG. Rather than just swap the entire rear end I decided the easiest thing would be to just replace the differential. It unbolts as a unit once you remove both axles. I removed the diff from the parts MG and put in in the other one. With out putting a load on the vehicle the only difference is that the old one had a touch of slop. The replacement one is pretty tight and smooth. I still found no source of grinding and clunking. All bearings look and feel great and are within specs of movement. The outer wheel bearings on the MG had been replaced and still feel very good. Not sure where the problem is. Hopefully the differential swap will clear up the issue. All gears are clean and show no sigh of wear and nothing looks out of place. Neither had any metal in the oil. If it does not work I will replace the u-joints but they look and feel good too. No slop and smooth. I have new ones coming but have ones off the parts car still. Maybe I will have to replace the driveline altogether. I have a spare that turns smoothly on both ends. The one installed is also smooth and tight. We shall see. It is going to be a hunt and peck for that clunking and grind on right turn only but had started to show signs of the same while going straight. So something must give. I did find out that the passenger side has bad brakes. The wheel cyinder is toast and the shoes are soaked. I will have those replaced tomorrow with new parts. I purchased both sides and installed one. So in goes the new tomorrow then button it all up and take it for a spin to see what happens. Below is what I swapped out. Simple and easy to change and if new bearings are needed those are easy to replace too. Four bolts on the inside to release the carrier and its component gears. I also used the same axles from the parts car so the axles are in the same differential. I figured since the ration of gearing is not the same I'd keep it as matched as best as possible. Actually it is matched only as needed. The case need not be the same. The wheel bearing need not be the same as those can be removed too. It is so simple. This is the firs differential I have ever had to open up. I never even opened one up for fun either. Dang, so simple.