Diff removed and checked

Well I decided that I may as well completely strip the whole rear axle down so at least I know the state of everything...

I'd already removed the drivers side wheel, drum, hub assembly and half shaft without too much bother so thought I'd do the same with the passenger side. Unfortunately this didn't appear to have every been off before and 4 of the 5 drive member bolts sheared off as soon as I gave them any welly :( This then took 2 of us nearly 4 hours to remove :(((

Anyway, got that off and checked all that side. It seemed fairly ok but the brake cylinder did appear siezed on one side. The half shaft etc was then removed on this side too so we could take the diff out.

The diff was fairly easy to remove as it just needs the rear prop bolts to be undone and prop moved out of the way. The bolts were pretty knackered though so I'll have to get some new ones that aren't rounded! Then there are just a load of bolts around the diff housing which came off without any bother once cleaned up. After that then the diff just came straight out and we checked it on a bench and all was well with no real wear on it at all.

Now I'm completely confused as there doesn't appear to be any real reason for the lock up which is worrying! At least I now know how everything works on the rear axle and have cleaned, adjusted, and renewed bits where needed - just have to put it all back together when I get some new parts...

Rear brakes/bearings check

Ok, taken it all to bits using the guide at Rear wheel bearings renewed to try find the problem...

It looks like the brakes are all fine, nothing loose, nothing jammed etc and even the shoes are ok... I then dismantled the hub and removed the bearings (what a pain that was!) and they are both fine too!

I thought I better get a second opinion as I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination so I chucked all the bits in a bag and have just been to see my local friendly Landy garage.

He says that the brakes are fine and the bearings are too. The only thing he can think of is the diff now even though he said he'd have expected both wheels to lock if that was the case.

Anyway, next job is to drain the rear diff oil and see if any bits of metal come out...