Thread: Does fixing driveline slack, fix jerky throttle?

As a repairer, my comments are generally through observation..

*On a Defender TDCi (puma), the stock axles wear far more than the stock drive flanges.
*Anyone (such as myself) that has done any hardness testing will come to the same conclusion that the TDCi (or prolly all replacement genuine axles to suit TD5 onwards) axles are soft by comparison to axles of old (300tdi axles or earlier)
*at 10,000km I can pretty well say that any Defender TDCi (puma) will have wear showing on the axles and drive flanges, I suspect there is free play already there from factory.
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*All splines will suffer fretting wear, regardless if they are the splines on the axle or the splines on the hub flange. What has an effect on fretting wear is the hardness of one or both the splines that are in contact, the misalignment angle of the two splines (relative movement between splines), vibration and cyclic rubbing. Also as the fretting wear occurs, the fine particles oxidise which in turn causes more wear (the oxides being harder than the parent metal).
*Lubrication has the greatest effect on reducing fretting wear on splines, the main purpose of lubricating splines is to reduce the occurrence of oxides.
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*Early Defenders and County models didnt suffer this issue as much (very rare), as there was no axle seal so axle & drive flange splines are kept lubricated by the diff oil, the axles were far harder/tougher.
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Why I fit "heavy duty" axle / drive flanges such as the HTE (brand) to new Defender TDCi (puma):
*Better quality material in both the axle and drive flange.
*As they are a tolerance fit there is less relative movement between splines (but keep in mind are still considered a floating spline).
*The screw on end caps allow removal and grease to be applied to the inside of the cap, as the cap is screwed on, the grease is forced into the spline area, I do this as a regular service item.
*I wouldnt be replacing axles, drive flanges on new Defender models if I didnt have to, the kits are expensive, the supplier doesnt do a good trade price, if I could buy elsewhere I would (Ashcroft prices are the same, by the time I've shipped to Aust), the price I sell the kit for covers my labour and nothing more, from a business point of view only its a waste of time.
*As posted all over AULRO there are other reasons why Defender TDCi (puma) models do the clunk clunk, faulty clutches on early 2.4, worn out centre diff shims (on the side gears) caused by poor factory setup of the selective shims on either side of the centre diff, the intermediate shaft between the gearbox and transfer case (again another dry spline).
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Some added things to ponder.
*A longer spline really shouldnt have any noticeable effect on how long it lasts, although fretting along its length will take longer to get end to end.
*Number of teeth on a spline, while its widely accepted that the greater number of splines on an axle seemed to make it last longer, it shouldnt ring true, as in a bigger tooth more load bearing, smaller tooth but more teeth to carry load.
*Old series Landies of old were prone to breaking axles due to poor quality rather than the number of splines used.

All of the above is a rather simplistic explanation, and doesnt do justice to metallurgy or engineering.

Regards
Daz

Originally Posted by Beery

Yeah heavy duty steels Daz.

I can't really explain it, but I've just always been fond of the landy axle hubs, its one of the things that makes the vehicle look good to me.

I can...you are odd, only someone that owns a series Landy or has grown up with series Landys could say such a very odd thing...

When I was a small boy (back in the good ol days) myself and my cousin used to stand up in the back of my dad's trayback series 2A Landy while driving through the bush and I did used to look over the edge and watch the "pokey out hub" assembly turning round.

Regards
Daz

Haha, you hit the nail on the head Daz.
Spent much of my childhood either on the bonnet, in the cab, or on the back of the old man's Series 2A swb. Still got the damn thing too. It came with us from WA in the 80's when we moved back east. Along with 2 semi loads of farm gear.

Its something that you cant get out of your blood.

Here's the culprit. Still at work.