A very foolish bongonaught with a fried front diff :-(

[keycare]

Yes, I messed up the rolling radius when I changed the wheels. I misread the tyre sizes on the front wheels and managed to fry the front diff. On the motorway, whining followed by lots of smoke and quite a large clunk when pulling over to the hard shoulder.

This was our first camping trip and we had to turn around (via a call to the AA and a low loader) and swap cars.

Having now read the forums I feel extremely foolish and annoyed with myself for not checking before I fitted the wheels.

Needless to say, I now need to get it repaired. But before I do that I need to get to a garage. The front wheels lock up during each revolution, so it sounds like something has broken off. My local bongo specialist in Swansea (Target Mini whom I have not used before) said that my best bet is to disconnect the front drive shaft, this may allow me to tow or even drive the car to the garage.

I can handle a spanner and have a trolley jack and axle stands, but could do with a couple of pointers and perhaps some help in finding some replacement parts.

[mister munkey]

Bummer.

There is a factsheet in the members area for converting 4wd to 2wd but this may help in the meantime . . .


http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... &hilit=2wd

[mikeonb4c]

And try calling Bellhill Motors, who are renowned Bongo breakers (or Bongobits - they break them too) to see if they have a decent 2nd hand one going?

[skater]

Hi, really easy to remove front propshaft.
4 bolts on diff , 2 bolts on middle support bearing thing
then whole lot slides out of VC ( splined ).
Don't need to blank anything off.

Watched my garage do it first and have since done it myself for
various reasons.

Expect it still wouldn't be drivable though because the front diff internals
would still need to be able to turn as wheels roll .

good luck

[keycare]

Thanks for the info.

I will have a go when the weather dries up a bit and post some progress.

If I have to remove the front diff as well just to get the car moving, is that an order of magnitude more complex or does the 4wd to 2wd factsheet make it straight-forward.

[skater]

not sure about removing whole diff, probably wouldn't be straight forward.
maybe just the half-shafts(?) could be taken out ?
have you trawled through the Lushprojects site?
lots of links to it in loads of topics.
if you like technical drawings it's interesting.

edit: just looked at Lush drawings ( link near top of Techie Stuff ), don't think whole
wheel assembly will stay on if half-shafts removed. 2wd has different bolt-on arrangement,
as you would expect

[thedogsbollox]

Thee AA will relay your bongo to the garage for you. When i blew up my head the garage told me that all i had to do was convince the AA that the bongo required a specialist mechanic and he was my nearest. Relayed it 25 miles for me. Don't let them fob you off either, girl on the phone tried to convince me that it was not thieir policy but i insisted on speaking to her superior who sorted it out. Would save you a lot of spanner work

[keycare]

thedogsbollox, did you have home start when you did the AA trick or just roadside relay which is was I have?

I removed the front driveshaft this evening, started her up, into gear and...move about 3 feet and she sounded like a box of bolts. So something has sheared off in the diff. Engine off and back to the forums.

I looks like I may have to remove the front diff just to get her towed to the garage. So, can it be done? Any tips? Or should I just hire a trailer and borrow my friends landrover to tow her there?

[mister munkey]

thedogsbollox, did you have home start when you did the AA trick or just roadside relay which is was I have?

I removed the front driveshaft this evening, started her up, into gear and...move about 3 feet and she sounded like a box of bolts. So something has sheared off in the diff. Engine off and back to the forums.

I looks like I may have to remove the front diff just to get her towed to the garage. So, can it be done? Any tips? Or should I just hire a trailer and borrow my friends landrover to tow her there?

As its 4WD & just over 2 tonnes, it needs to be lifted on a flatbed anyway. don't waste time or money trying to sort that.

Ask around your mates, someone else in the RAC may well offer to be in your car when it failed & get you towed from A to B.

[keycare]

Wisdom and clarity...thanks. Mister Munkey. At least it only took an hour to remove the drive shaft. I'll leave it up to the garage to re-fit it.

Better get ringing around in the morning.
Cheers.

[thedogsbollox]

thedogsbollox, did you have home start when you did the AA trick or just roadside relay which is was I have?

I removed the front driveshaft this evening, started her up, into gear and...move about 3 feet and she sounded like a box of bolts. So something has sheared off in the diff. Engine off and back to the forums.

I looks like I may have to remove the front diff just to get her towed to the garage. So, can it be done? Any tips? Or should I just hire a trailer and borrow my friends landrover to tow her there?

Dunno mate, i just got my AA through my Bank. Don't think it has homestart.

[keycare]

Just a follow up really.

I got my Bongo recovered to the garage by a local firm for £50+vat. I got a replacement front diff from Bongobits - great service, prompt delivery. The garage fitted the new diff and put it all back together (cos I removed the front drive shaft to see if it would move) in about 1.5 hrs - so total cost was £420 ish.

The front diff casing had a huge crack in it and was in a hell of a mess. They replaced the oil in the back transfer box as well.

I have ended up putting the same size tyres all round (225/55/16 which are the same rolling radius as the stock 15" rear wheels) and I feel that the car is running noticeably quieter and smoother. So the oil may have needed changing anyway.

We managed to finally christen the bongo by camping locally. Hopefully there will be many more trips to come.

Only one other mechanical thing to check now but that's for another thread.

Thanks for reading.
Rich.

[mikeonb4c]

Just a follow up really.

I got my Bongo recovered to the garage by a local firm for £50+vat. I got a replacement front diff from Bongobits - great service, prompt delivery. The garage fitted the new diff and put it all back together (cos I removed the front drive shaft to see if it would move) in about 1.5 hrs - so total cost was £420 ish.

The front diff casing had a huge crack in it and was in a hell of a mess. They replaced the oil in the back transfer box as well.

I have ended up putting the same size tyres all round (225/55/16 which are the same rolling radius as the stock 15" rear wheels) and I feel that the car is running noticeably quieter and smoother. So the oil may have needed changing anyway.

We managed to finally christen the bongo by camping locally. Hopefully there will be many more trips to come.

Only one other mechanical thing to check now but that's for another thread.

Thanks for reading.
Rich.

Glad its sorted - Hurrah

Lashings of ginger beer all round everyone