Rear axles leaf ute

[bucko]

I have a 91 gq ute with leaf sprung rear axle, drum brakes and big 4.3 diff. i need a replacement axle as thread is damaged. What is the best way to go about repair as axles are very hard to find without buying new? Are these axles usually trouble free or is there a rear axle/ housing conversion that is practical that may have benefits of disc brakes ? Is the preload method of shimming one axle against end of other axle infereior ? thanks first time i have posted a question but have found this site invaulable thanks to all
Bucko

[growler2058]

Gday bucko welcome aboard mate, gotta good friendly mob here full of great info and advice

[YNOT]

Leaf sprung GQ should have a semi floating H260 rear diff. Which thread is damaged? If it's only a wheel stud they can be replaced seperately.

Tony

[bucko]

thread on axle that tensions bearing inner race against shoulder of the spacer on wheel end of axle

[YNOT]

OK, you could try taking the axle to an engineering shop to see if it can be repaired or continue to look for a replacement. I've not heard of this fault before so I don't think it's very common.

Your options for rear axle housing conversion are very limited. The H260 is the heavy duty diff and swapping to the smaller H233b is not legal due to its lower load carrying capacity. H233b is also wider and has brackets for coil springs.
H260 options are either the full floating GU ute diff (narrow track, leaf spring and drum brakes) which should be close to a straight bolt in fit, or the semi floating diff (wide track, coil spring, disc brakes) from early GU wagons that had manual gearbox - except 4.2 diesel. Major work required to fit this diff due to its coil spring configuration.

Tony

[bucko]

if it isn't a common problem i don't mind sourcing one out of nissan even at hefty prices as the benefits of big diff are well noted. i was surprised at the scarcity of axles as both left and right are the same and wondered if unreliability was an issue. i think lack of maintanence and collapsed wheel bearing has caused damage on this ute sometime in the past. thanks for the responseTony

[GUtsy ute]

AsTony said, take it to an engineering shop.
Any worthwhile engineering shop could either repair the thread or get it sprayed(built up) and recut a new thread.
Be interesting to see how much this cost as opposed to the cost of a new axle.