Front Axle and Differential; Spring Dowels

Today, the final disassembly of the front axle components. U-bolts off (had to cut one with the angle grinder), axle removed, and differential taken out of the axle.

Here, bottom and top view of the axle, after a little light cleaning, along with the spring bottom plates (one being used for support).

And another view, with the differential removed, and the axle upended to drain out the few drops of remaining oil. When removing the differential, there was a forgotten pocket of oil in the casing which happily poured out onto the floor. Now the whole house smells vaguely Land-Rovery from the subtle sulpherous odour of EP90 - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. : )

 Now the bad news: note the broken teeth on the differential wheels. Whatever caused the halfshaft to break apparently also caused damage elsewhere. This probably means sourcing a replacement differential, as I do not have the tools to correctly disassemble and reassemble this. In spite of this damage, the differential turned very easily by hand and without any noticeable indication of a problem.

Removing the axle casing revealed the dowels for the front springs. I don't know if these are both original; it may be necessary to order replacements. Why?

This is why. The head may be the right size, but clearly the threaded part on this one is not, extending a good two inches below the spring! (The other appears to be a correct length.) And while both heads are identical, they are both somewhat smaller than the holes in the axle supports that sit over the dowels. I'll have to see what the head sizes are on the originals, and take it from there.