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DJ Mod Question

458 Views 13 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  GeorgeF
I finished installing the DJ mod 2 days ago on an 06 C50. Drilling out the 3 holes was a huge pain in the you know what. One of the hardest most frustrating things I've ever done mechanically. Drilling / filing of the holes is the only part of the process that's not precise.

I started off with a round file in a power drill as suggested, but that was taking forever. So I drilled them out with a half inch drill bit like the instructions say, but it still didn't fit so I had to do more filing after that anyway. I eventually got it in and everything reassembled.

The only problem that concerns me, is when I inserted the axle through the new differential, it didn't line up perfectly with the frame hole on the other side. It was slightly off center. I'm guessing that's because I was flying somewhat blind drilling out the holes for the differential. Is it possible that the differential turned ever so slightly during that process? So that the far end of the axle didn't line up perfectly with the hole?

I use a floor jack to raise the tire into place anyway, so I jacked it up a little bit higher until the axle lined up and then tapped the axel in with a hammer. It wasn't off by much, but it wasn't perfect like before. So that concerns me. I don't recall anybody reporting this kind of issue in any of the comments I've read on the many posts here.

I took it out for a 20 mile ride and it seemed to ride fine, but the axel alignment is lingering in the back of my mind.

I would appreciate knowing what you all think. Should I be concerned or not?
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I don't recall any axle alignment issues with mine, but when Dan did the conversion, he used a step bit on the drill which meant all my mounting holes remained concentric and aligned. I would assume you took a little too much off of one section and not enough off of another to land in this scenario.

To answer your question, yes the axle needs to be flush and square with the swing arm. If it is off, it will bind and it will cause mechanical failure.
9/16" is the proper hole size if your drilling. I use a step drill bit and it goes thru like butter.

I would think alignment is important, I usually tighten, then crack everything one turn lose and rotate the tire a few times, then retighten.
Thanks. The original instructions posted by OregonLAN back in April 2009 (pic attached) states a 1/2" drill bit. I wonder if that can be fixed to 9/16 after all these years? Sure would have saved me this hassle and perhaps others in the future.

I guess I'm gonna have to take the tire off and file away some more to get it right. It never even occurred to me to check the axel alignment while going thru the filing process. That might be a good step to include in the instructions as well because it's easy enough to do.

Appreciate the response 😊

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In 2008 I had a thread where the owner of my company was selling high performance 9/16" drill bits for this mod.

Always been 9/16" from the creator of this mod DJ himself.

Not sure how it was changed to 1/2"
Well the one I referred to was added as a "sticky" a while ago so it's what everyone sees now.
Would you mind linking the post?
Never mind, I found it.


I'm happy to edit the post to say 9/16" if someone who's done the mod before can confirm that's what it needs to be. He's talking about enlarging the holes, so it sounds like he started with the smaller bit and just ground on the sides, not a simple drill in and out. I've never done it, so I'm not positive and don't want to make an edit that could cause issues.
Yes, that's it. The other administrator Capt Cruiser (see above) seems to have done it. Something about butter 😊

Wish I had knew. I can tell you I used 1/2" and still had to file away lots more.

Thanks for following up.
I have done at least 6 DJ mods on mine, as well as others bikes. 9/16" is the magic number for drilling out, for sure.

Never looked at OregonLans thread to be honest with you. I had experience before he posted that thread.
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I've updated it. Sorry for the confusion, George, but thanks for pointing out the mistake so we can correct it.
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Post 17 in the sticky mentions the 1/2" hole is too small.

Thanks for correcting Whiskey
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See my write up for many details. 1/2” didn’t work for me either and had to file additional clearance.

Also had some binding on initial torque up. Loosening and retightening helped.

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Yeah, wish I had known.
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