On the IFS lift kits, there are a couple of brackets that are bolted to the top of the diff, and to the side of the diff. I was wondering what these brackets do.

I took mine off because they are broken and I was wheeling, and then BOOM my front end kind of jerked. And now my axle popprd off out of the boot.

So my question is would the brackets being taken off lead to this?

 

i think those are your diff drop kit. the diff drops drops the front diff so you dont havy crazy angles in your front suspension, such as your cv axle. so when you took those pieces out it prolly put you front suspension at such a angle it couldnt take.

 

Those are the torque brackets... Were...

they keep the diff from rotating in place once torque is put on it from the shaft...


you don't need them It's just like the extra nuts and bolts you have once you put an engine or braking system back together... It's just extras that aren't used...

 

Yes it would.

 

Absolutely. You must have those brackets. Torque will do nasty things to stuff that isn't bolted down.

Good thing you didn't end up having the entire diff rip out.

 

I see. Thanks for all the advice.

I think you do need them. I ran without them for literally two days. Some people had gotten stuck on my grandmas's property, and i tried to pull them out. And BOOM my driverside axle pops out. lol And the thing that the diff brackets bolt up to were completely smashed. Smashed so bad, its almost touching my oil pan.

Any advice on this? I was told to go get new brackets, but the thing that holds the bracket down to the diff isnt there, its SMASHED. lol

I was thinking about welding a pice of metal from the frame to the bracket and bolt the bracket onto the diff. What do you guys think? I need help. Its almost spring break for me, and I dont want to just drive around town.

I will post picutres asap

 

Here are two pictures.





I took off the end part of the axle shaft, and pounded out the axle bolts, gonna replace it with new ones. this is on the driver side


This is what i meant, this THING right here was smashed up. this is on the passenger side









A better view of the THING the brackets are bolted onto

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but don't start taking "things" off your truck if you don't know what purpose they serve!

 

Yup. That is toast.

To be honest, this would be the perfect excuse to SAS that beast. Its gonna take some welding and cutting to repair that mess. That bracket is essential for 4wd use. It keeps the diff from doing exactly what yours did.

Cut it off.

Good luck.

 

I started taking things off because they were broken/bent. But yes I know not to touch things that Im not familiar with. I usually ask around first. lol Thnks for the advice


Yes exactly. lol SAS would be very nice. I gotta keep it on the down low, so my girlfriend wont say anything. lol So far I've managed to do things that she doesn't notice. Truetrac front, LocRite rear, Marlin 4.7 in the T-case. And thats what counts. haha Thnks for the advice