Hi Morgan,

Replacing your bearings will depend on their condition. You will have to look at them first. Even if they are OK, it would probably be easier to put new ones on the LSD rather than remove them from the old diff and try to re-use them.

Check with the dealership parts department. Many of them will sell parts for less than MSRP.

And you thought we got everything first <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />

actually, the first year the Sportage was sold in the US was '94, on the west coast only, then '95 in the central US and slowly over the '95 year, across the rest of the US. they were going it slow because production numbers weren't very high at first.

this is great news about the level of interchangability. had i known this, i may not have swapped the rear axle, granted, now that i have, i have a higher level of availability, but nonetheless, it still has cost me an extra 5-600 bucks.

as ron said, provided i have the time, i will start dismantling the rear axle friday night and, hopefully, have the LSD ready to put into the front 3rd member by saturday morning. i will post pic and news about whatever result i get. this will mean a couple things that have been mentioned, either in my phone call with ron, or in this thread- that the Miata Torsen Type 1 LSD (which may have a better lock-up than the Eaton LSD) will fit. it also means the variation in parts ARB would have to make just got cut in half. now, i am anxious for you guys to see a locker, and to be honest, it may be a possibility for me too, once i get my full-tube Kia buggy plans going, instead of welding the diffs as i had previously decided.

maraguez,

Do you still have the 26 spline open rear diff that you took out when you put in your Eaton?

Yes, I do. On the issue of bearings, always go with new ones, safer.

Hi maraguez,

Since Dave has a 26 spline [color:"blue"] FRONT [/color] open diff and you have a 26 spline [color:"blue"] REAR [/color] open diff, it would be great if we could get the two diffs in the same place to see what is really different about them. It's possable that the rear might have a little stronger internals or maybe dimension "A" is just machined to accept an ABS ring.

Here is a list of diffs that we have available to measure and their owners:

26 spline rear - open.....maraguez
28 spline rear - open.....Logansportage
26 spline rear - LSD......Dave Scott
26 spline front - open....Dave Scott
26 spline Torsen T1.......Ron Schroeder

Did I miss any?

Hey Dave, that sounds like a great idea. My kids wanted to go to San Antonio, hill country, this weekend, so if you are not too busy, I can come by and drop the rear 3rd member. I know you might be busy, so I'll be brief. I really don't mind the trip and the information we get can be of great help to the group. What do you think?

sure, my address is different:

342 east rampart drive
san antonio tx 78216

across mccullough from north star mall (if you know where that is).

call me for directions if you need them: 210-366-4044

disclaimer- i don't mind my personal info being displayed like this as all my business info is the same as my home info and it's plastered all over the net, anyway.

Hi maraguez,

What time do you think you will be at Dave's? I would like to call on the phone while you are there.

By the way, do you have any pictures of your Sportage on the web? I am rather fond of olive green.

Ron

[quote

Wow. That's interesting. I had no idea. (I just thought you were making consistant typos. Or... you were crazy. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />) [/quote]

Hi Morgan,

Yea, I am crazy, just ask my wife. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The Sportage is older than most people think and started in off road racing in the very beginning. I think it was in 1992 when a Sportage came in second in it's class in the SCORE Baja 500 and was first in its class in the SCORE Baja 1000

Here is what I have found out about it's performance in off road racing:

1992 2nd Place, SCORE Baja 500, Class 6

1993 1st Place, SCORE Baja 1000, Class 6
1st Place, La Rana, Class 6

1994 1st Place, SCORE Baja 1000, Class 6

1995 1st Place, FIA Baja Espana, 2WD Class
1st Place, SCORE Baja 1000, Class 3

1996 Seeded by FIA for Cross Country Rallies

1997 1st Place, SCORE series, Class 3
1st Place, Vegas to Reno, Class 3000
1st Place, SCORE Baja 500, Class 3

1998 Completed the Paris-Dakar Rally
1st Place, Best In Desert, Class 3000
1st Place, SCORE series, Class 3

1999 1st Place, SCORE Lauglin Desert Challenge, Class 3
1st Place, SCORE San Filipe 250, Class 3
1st Place, SCORE Baja 1000, Class 3
1st Place, SCORE series, Class 3

2000 Completed Paris-Dakar-Cairo 2000, Class T3
1st Place, SCORE Baja 500, Class 3
2nd Place, Nevada 2000, Class 3000
1st Place, SCORE Baja 2000, Class 3
1st Place, SCORE series, Class 3

Not bad for using a stock automatic tranny with a cooler added and an almost stock engine stroked to 2.3 liters. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

all this info applies to the 26 spline front and 26 spline rear for years '94-'97.

alright, here we go:

the rear axleshaft necks down about 6" from the inner end. at that point it is 26mm thick, not 27, but due to the rolled splines slightly increasing the thickness, it is given a 27mm thickness at the splines.



before the neck-down, it is 30.5mm thick.



the rear 7.5" ring gear (confirmed) will NOT fit the front carrier. both the center diameter of the ring gear and the bolt spacing is different to compensate for the added 1/2 of total diameter in the rear ring gear. ALSO, the rear ring gear and front pinion do not mesh, they will not turn together.





and now for the good and the bad news:

the entire rear 3rd member will fit in the front housing.



removing the tone ring is not as important as it sounds, but it was simple anyway, just pops right off. the reason for removing it is because the rear housing has a notch for it, but the front doesn't. it doesn't even look like it would hit though, but since it serves no purpose, might as well remove it. the axleshaft holes line-up perfectly, the depths are the same at something like 3-3/4" to the outside edge of the seal on the aluminum housing and to the end of the exposed axleshaft before the CV cup. there is a recess for the front shaft snap-ring on the rear EATON LSD side gears, so, no problem there, but here's the bad news:



the rear third member does not have this. it can be built onto it, or another form of mount can be built, but it needs SOMETHING to stabilize axlewrap.

.....................................................

interesting, while removing the driver's side (2" shorter) rear shaft, i noticed this:



must have been tweaked on of my trips, glad it didn't let go, though, i didn't ever carry a spare.

good to know it can handle 32" tires, low pressure and an LSD, though.