I put a 28 spline diff in my 96 Kia, when I put in the shaft, it rotated freely. This means that the 26 spline shaft is smaller than the 28 spline.

well, that measn that the spline diameter is different. did you happen to notice if the shaft necked-down at all or was it the same all the way across?

That's a good sign. The axle shaft is over 30mm if I remember correctly so it must neck down to about 27mm for the 26 spline and I am hoping that it necks down to ~29mm for the 28 spline.

Why did you put a 28 spline diff in your 96???

By the way, 28 splines by 28.8mm is the splines on the front of the Mitsubishi Montero which ARB makes a locker for..........hey Gary, more spline matching questions for ARB <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I would be putting my money on a Ford 8.8" 28 spline x 30.5 mm (1.20") as found in the Mazda B4000 and pick-up (RD 82). I would assume there was a circlip holding the axle into the sidegears on the rear of the 28 spline Kia??? If so then looking at the specs, this would be the most likely donor for us (if in fact it isn't a drop-in replacement for it).



Mitsubishi may be a second choice, may need to find out from the Mitsu forum guys what they know (ALL relevant dimensions of the standard diff, etc.). Someone over there should know or have one out that they can help us with. BTW all rears are listed as 28 spline, 30.5 mm (1.20") dia, (RD05, RD25, RD46). The spline diameter is not listed for the IFS front (RD110), but it is also 28 spline..

Hi Gary,

I would suspect the Mitsu splines would be a closer match than the Mazda B4000 since the Mitsu is metric based and the Mazda is an inch based Ford rear end that came off of the Ranger assy. line with Mazda badges.

The Mitsu is listed at 28.8mm somewhere on one of the lists on the ARB site. If you scale the 26 spline Sportage axle up to 28 splines, the major diamiter would be about 28.8 if you keep the same spline pitch. It's also more likely that the pressure angle with the Mitsu splines is the same as KIA but not the same as Ford.

nope, not possible. the rear Sportage diff is a thrid memeber drop-out- how would one ever remove the c-clips?

more than likely, ARB will have to build SOMETHING for this diff. i said maybe look at the 7.8, but it's a c-clip too. reason i said that- if the ring gear is 7.5, the carrier might just be the right diameter and may have the same bolt pattern, but i really don't have a clue. this is beside the fact that Ford owned a portion of Kia at the time of the BroncoII's demise and may have been looking for a replacement and possibly, some parts may be interchangeable, although i am not holding my breath.

Mitzu axles will be too large for the Sportage. the Montero is heavier, has a v-6 available and was expected to handle more severe off-roading than the Sportage, to a degree. the rear of a Montero is rumored to be almost as strong as a Ford 9". i seriously doubt the Sportage is on that level. on that note- i also thing the Suzuki parts will be too small. i think if we start with items about the right size, we will find something that can be lightly machined to fit.

sorry to be a downer, but you gotta be realistic, for some reason, nothing on this vehicle seems to fit the vast amounts of junk out there and if that's the case, might as well go with that assumption here as well.

the Miata diff fits, but again, some light machining will be required to build the groove for the snap ring on the short side inner axleshaft. nothing is bolt-on.

Dave and Gary,

I am thinking in terms of the Mitsu [color:"blue"]FRONT [/color] diff into the Sportage [color:"blue"]REAR [/color]or at least the splines.

I suspect that ARB does all of it's machining in house except for making the tooling it's self. If they have the tooling for either the front splines and/or the rear splines whatever the carrier that they came from, they could somewhat modify what ever other carrier that would fit the ring gear and bearings to the proper dimensions for the Sportage and spline the side gears to fit.

The key is whether they already have the tooling that matches the splines of the Sportage in house.

Checking locally, making a broach for cutting splines is many thousands of dollars but the rest of the carrier and locker is a matter of programming the CNC Mills and Lathe.

When I put the shaft into the differential it rotated freely.

So what did you do with the 28 spline diff? Did you exchange it for a 26 spline one or do you still have it?