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Front Diff Drop

6K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  MI_Ghost 
#1 ·
So after 4 months of being on this site and scouring 100's of build threads I have a question I don't think that has been covered hear before. I spent a good chunk of time last night rummaging through s-10 forums and heard whispers of it being done.

Soooo.... whats up with doing a diff drop on our vans. I have lifted a lot of trucks where dropping the front diff was super easy. But in these vans in order to drop the diff you need to cut off the driver side diff mount because the diff basically sits on top of the front sub frame, and then I presume make your own mount and bracket, but it seems like you would have to drop it several inches before you would have the room again to install a bracket.

I could only find this thread that said its possible and has been done, but its old, and im hoping some of good folks out there have been busy.
viewtopic.php?f=40&t=17190

This maybe an exercise in futility, but my mind wonders when it gets bored. Thanks in advance.

-Blake-
 
#2 ·
Several s10 lift kit vendors make kits with diff drop brackets. The diff is interchangeable between these vehicles. I talked to rough country customer support about the diff bracket in this kit: http://www.roughcountry.com/gm-suspensi ... 242n2.html and the diff bracket is 1" drop, requires cutting the diff up a little and can be purchased separately...

Code:
Chat URL:	http://www.roughcountry.com/gm-suspension-lift-kit-242n2.html
Referer URL:	https://www.google.com/
Name:	Visitor

Chat Transcript
09:50:17 PM [Spencer] Hello, how may I help you?
09:50:51 PM [Visitor] How far does the diff drop bracket lower the diff on 242n2?
09:53:05 PM [Spencer] It is about 1" drop in that kit
09:54:28 PM [Visitor] Is it possible to purchase the diff drop bracket separately if I call during business hours?
09:55:01 PM [Spencer] It is. If you call and ask for Jimmie, he can do that for you
09:55:31 PM [Visitor] Thank you.
Manual with pictures and instructions on how to install: http://s3.amazonaws.com/roughcountry/in ... 42N200.pdf
 
#4 ·
This looks very interesting
 
#5 ·
You would have to modify the rear drivers side saddle for the lower control arm in order to drop the front diff in our vans. After that its an easy mod.
 
#8 ·
tanvanmanwithaplan said:
Can you explain what you mean by that? Is the driver's side control arm in the way or something? Do you mean for the 1" drop or the 3" drop?
Yes the drivers side saddle extends below the diff. You can only get about 1/2" drop out of it as it is. I don't know if there is clearance to cut and plate the saddle yet with out it interfering with the control arm. You might have to go around it and have the back of the control arm exposed. I am going to pull a clip out of a parts van this summer and play with it.
 
#9 ·
97cargocrawler said:
Oh nice. Is someone finally going to try the cradle lift?
There are a couple guys looking into it.
Unfortunately it would be a total custom fab job for the RWD. Well within your abilities I'm sure!
Make 2 and you just might convince me to lift instead of lower my van!
But then I would have to have a full length subframe with integral rock sliders and full exo-cage with built in platform!

tanvanman
This will give you a better understanding about what the cradle style lift is about.
viewtopic.php?f=40&t=107073
The driver side rear differential mount needs to be removed because the housing is moved down into that space. The rear mount on the differential is on the bottom of the housing.
 
#10 ·
I do not think you have to modify the differential at all from my preliminary investigation. The saddle for the rear bottom control arm bushing is the only thing stopping the diff from dropping down, the question is, is there enough room between the back of the control arm bushing saddle and the differential once the back of the mount on the frame is out of the way?
 
#12 ·
Rinny said:
I do not think you have to modify the differential at all from my preliminary investigation. The saddle for the rear bottom control arm bushing is the only thing stopping the diff from dropping down, the question is, is there enough room between the back of the control arm bushing saddle and the differential once the back of the mount on the frame is out of the way?
The differential housing should not need to be modified. Only the frame where the mounting bracket is attached. I can see your point and we need some good close up pictures and measurements to be able to look at it to see what trimming and plating needs to be done to give the clearance needed.

The link Corsemoto gives a good start but the drop is limited to 1.75". It looks like the top of the control arm mount can be trimmed and angled a bit more.
How much further can the differential be dropped before interference with housing occurs??
How far is the differential mount offset from the back of the control arm mount??

If you look at akforceten's subframe rebuild the 7th picture shows the differential mounted in the stock subframe. viewtopic.php?f=40&t=53586&start=60#p699426
If you get at the original pic (they are huge) and look at the differential mount you can see that the differential is well inside the back of the control arm mount in stock condition. I believe the trimming that racrx7 shows should allow full clearance of the differential.

I am tying this back into the cradle lift post for relevance.
 
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