Offroad-Express

Hey all. im in need of a vitara front diff with the ratio 5.125 for my v6 manual escudo. i have loojed at the wreckers and they only have the diff head for sale aroubd 250 mark. Could anyone point me in the right durection. could i use a 2003 lwb gv front diff and swap my gears over? Thanks

Most GV diffs have vacuum free wheel in the diff head itself so not really compatible. The diff head is slightly off set due to the free wheel assembly so you need different length axles as well as the vacuum generation unit. The vacuum disconnect has been known let go sometimes so up to you if you keep it. You can swap the centre from yours into GV head and it will get rid of the vacuum disconnect and give you the right offset and spline count. The only special tools you need to set up the ring gear is a DTI and a side adjuster socket thingy for your torque wrench.

What you can also do is use a 5.125 from a 1600 and swap the side gears over from 22 to the 26 splines (or swap the centres over). This should fit then fit straight in. The only special tool you need to setup the ring gear is a DTI.

Pretty sure you can get a 5.125 26 spline if you hunt hard enough.

All the diff sizes between the 1600 and the 2006 GV look to be the same. There are slight differences in setups e.g. vacuum disconnect, spline count etc but the ring gear size is common to all. Crazy considering to 1600 would break diffs fairly easily, the heavier more powerful GV's must eat them if you not carefull.

Try Shelfie form Te Puke Parts World, he has a big selection there.