Ba Falcon - What Else To Change When Dropping Diff Cradle

[El Andrew]

Hi everyone. My BA xr6t with approx 140k km developed a rear end clunk during a recent Canberra - Mt Gambier - Adelaide - nsw south coast - Canberra family road trip. Loud clunk on take off or sudden acceleration. Got it checked out a couple of times during trip as was worried it was a uni joint and didn't want a failure in the middle of nowhere.

Diagnosis on both occasions was outer bushes on upper control arm in rear end.

My question is, what else is worth replacing while the diff cradle is dropped? Obviously the main cost in the job is the labour to drop the cradle. I don't want to replace stuff that is unlikely to ever need it, but common issues I may as well address now.

When I bought the car last march, it needed the centre diff bush replaced as it was split. Knowing what I do now, I would have had the front bushes done at the same time, so they would be good candidates on this occasion.

[BenDoCo]

Replace ALL bushes while it's out coz that Murphy bloke will make sure the centre one goes again in 3 months if you don't

Edited 06/01/16 12:24 AM by BenDoCo

[Ralph Wiggum]

Change everything that you can't access while the cradle is in.

Diff Bushes

Inner Upper control Arm bushes (suggest camber corrected if car is lowered)

Inner Lower Control Atm Bushes

same for all the outer lower rose joints

Diff oil/axle seals/diff hat sealant.

[El Andrew]

Thanks, that's a useful list.

Over time I've replaced every single bush, and shocks, in the rear of my EL XR6 myself. Piece of cake in comparison - don't feel like dropping diff cradle in my driveway, so makes sense to save future labour costs now.

[HI PSI]

Change to an Independent Motorsport dual bush diff hat. This will eliminate the diff bush problem.

Change the direction of the L/H upper control arm bolt, as it sits next to the tank and cannot be removed unless the cradle is dropped. Btw, you may need to trim a little length off the bolt...

Edited 06/01/16 10:24 AM by HI PSI

[El Andrew]

Turned out to be a cheap trip to the mechanic! The new diff bush installed last year was in upside down...

One hour's labour sorted it out. Inclined to take the invoice back to the place that fitted the bush.

Thanks for all the tips though - will be useful when I do need to drop the cradle sometime.