fixing the track/kick front housing BEFORE it breaks...

[raging squirrel]

 well here goes. first off, i would like to explain why they always break at the pass side diff bracket. as you go from forward to reverse and back, the bracket and housing cam back and forth against each other. like placing your hands together and rotating them opposite directions. this loosens the bolts. after a bolt backs out far enough, these forces will chunk out the aluminum boss where the bolt is (more like was, now). well there is a cheap fix. it does require some skill though, and an hour or two of your time. well worth it to avoid this...

[raging squirrel]

first you want to clean the threaded holes out completely with brake cleaner or a non-oily carb cleaner. you will be gluing a set of studs in with epoxy. you will also need 3 head dowels like used on the 1.6 8v. these will fit over the studs just right. now using a uni-bit, drill down till you have a 1/2" dia. pocket started in each of the holes. you start with a unibit since they are self centering. follow up by using a standard 1/2" drill bit. you want each hole only deep enough to insert the dowels to their half way point. the dowels should go in with light taps from a hammer. check the fit and then remove them. next, mix up some high strength epoxy. coat the threads of the studs and install the studs. you did make sure they were long enough for the thickness of bracket and nuts, right? don't be too sloppy, extra epoxy has to be removed. after epoxy sets for an hour, carefully clean excess from pockets or the dowels won't fit later. allow to cure overnight.

[raging squirrel]

 ok, it's tommorow. so far so good. now check those pockets for epoxy build up one more time. if there is some, it can be scratched out with a micro screwdriver or dental pic. tedious but effective. now install the dowels. this is where we hit a fork in the road. those of you who still have your stock bracket can now drill matching dowel holes in it using the same procedure used for the housing. those with the calmini lift will find the holes way too sloppily spaced for this. my cousin's tracker (the guinea pig for the article) has this system. we open the holes in the bracket with a carbide dremel bit until the bracket just fits over the dowels. now is where the skill comes in. if you aren't a steady handed welder with calm nerves, get someone who is for this part. place the bracket over the dowels making sure it is held tight and flush against the housing's mating surface. now tack weld each dowel to the bracket with 2 tack welds, 180 degrees apart. now remove the bracket/dowel assembly BEFORE welding any further to avoid melting the housing. carefully weld dowels to bracket, trying not to fill the inner hole. doesn't need to be pretty, grinding is next. now grind surface flat. use the unibit to clean any accidental build up from the dowel openings and also to debur from the grinding. follow up with a little paint to prevent rust.

[raging squirrel]

well it's time to install the bracket to the housing. here it goes into Eli's tracker. we use thinner nuts and double nut each stud. no more re-tightening bolts on a frequent basis. no more breakage because you didn't know the bolts worked loose (it used to plague me weekly when i used 4x4 on a daily basis). he is wheeling hard and having no more diff trouble. those are 35's.

[raging squirrel]

the total cost of this mod was less than $20 since i had spare dowels laying around. just make sure the dowels fit tight, or they won't do their job. hope this helps many of you. it's a load cheaper than an anvil housing.

[Whitfield]

Thanks Raging Squirrel ~ Well Done

I went ahead and got all the pics in place full sized.

                                        Whitfield

[Trevinator]

Awsome Mod! 

This would be a good idea on the steel housings as well. My bolts backed out every trip! Even with lock tight! 

[Trevinator]

Oh yeah...

This is worthy of a sticky! 

[raging squirrel]

thank for the kind words, glad i could be of help.

[4wheeler]

A similar mod thats  a little stronger. Use a grand Vitara front housing which is all steel, or even a Kia housing which is steel as well, they both bolt right in.

[cwm7089]

A similar mod thats  a little stronger. Use a grand Vitara front housing which is all steel, or even a Kia housing which is steel as well, they both bolt right in.
Hey, I'm currently going through this same delima. Which years & models are the steel housing Kia's.

[cwm7089]

A similar mod thats  a little stronger. Use a grand Vitara front housing which is all steel, or even a Kia housing which is steel as well, they both bolt right in.
Hey, I'm currently going through this same delima. Which years & models are the steel housing Kia's.
Also, what year model housing are you using on the this rebuild? It's got an extra mounting hole. I've made a stub axle that will use the driverside cv. So, this won't work for my particular set-up. Darn good one though!!! Great idea that works! I have already welded on some trusses to the driverside of the housing to keep that end from breaking. But this is the second time I've broke the pass. side. I'm about to fun out of places to weld to. Ha Ha!

[Truckasaurus44]

Cool idea.  I've heard that strengthening the rear mount on the 3rd member helps alot too, because it limits the axles ability to move around.  The shifting of the mount that you describe may be why locking down the rear mount helps so much.  Is this the only change that was made to the axle mounting on the test rig shown? 

Also, why not just drill out and retap the holes for larger bolts so that you don't need to epoxy anything?  This way a junk yark housing could be bolted in if you somehow did break a modified housing.  Does this issue happen with the stock axle brackets?  I don't remeber the bolt holes be so large on them when I last pulled the front axle, but that was a while ago.     

[4wheeler]

I personally used a 98 grand vitara houseing for a V6 model. It was $230 brand new.
This route was cheaper and easier then amything I`ve found.
I was not only breaking the bracket as shown on this thread, the deflection broke the entire case.
Usually from a steep climb when the front was making and breaking traction.

Now I only break CV shafts and thats rare..

[cwm7089]

Which years, auto, or manual that has the steel axle housing on the Kia's? I've been looking for the XL7 stick. I might have more luck with the Kia.