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Thread: Puma Drive Flanges

  1. #1
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    Puma Drive Flanges

    Hi all,

    I know much has been discussed, but I am just shy of 30000 km with significant drive flange issues on a 2015 Puma...The usual flakes of metal and almost copper-coloured rust is present on the polyurethane caps. Lots of play is present, and LR will have to replace under warranty. Also there is movement between the top and bottom of the wheel. I suspect the idiot assembling didn't pre-load the new spaced bearing...I would assume all four wheels are the same.
    How ironic. A production change to speed up assembly has resulted in more failures of such a basic item with more time spent re-doing all the work anyway.
    I was at the wreckers today for another vehicle I own and curiosity got the better of me. I saw two discovery 1's, so I poped the front axle caps off to check out the flanges. Low-and-behold, the damn splines had been lubricated, with no obvious signs of fretting wear, even at half a million kms! Why the hell didn't LR implement this change to the Defenders! I suspect that because the flanges fail after warranty, there is no reason to implement a production change...Such a cheap, simple part and they can't even get basic mechanics right. ALWAYS grease splined shafts with an EP grease! . Alarmingly, how the hell can a disco 1 last half a million kms? Must be a millionaire to go that far...Thankfully, it's LR's issue now. New bearings the whole bit if required. All within warranty! Huzzah!

    My question is this. Why are HD flanges from Ashcroft's etc. so much better than standard flanges that have been assembled and lubricated correctly? The part is so cheap and it deflects potential driveline failure to these simple, cheap, easy to replace parts. I pity the fools who buy Defenders as status symbols who know nothing about twirling ratchets and so forth...They're gonna have a bad time...

  2. #2
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    Ashcrofts etc are Cad plated. Much shine!
    -Mitch
    'El Burro' 2012 Defender 90.

  3. #3
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    and, apart from the bling, Ashcroft's and HTE IIRC use SAE4340 steel instead of cheddar cheese for the flanges so they're a tad harder and more resistant to fretting corrosion.

    Lubricate the splines (and bearings) with oil, a la Land Rovers up to about 1990 and they never wear rather than having to be lubed every 30,000km or so if greased.

    At any rate, use hub seal RTC3511 and you won't get water ingress during creek crossings, etc either, and remove the axle tube seal and let the oil flow freely !

  4. #4
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    Mine is at 60k with 2 months of warranty left.
    When they had it at last service i asked them is there anything they can do about the play and they said no :/
    I ended up changing to bearmach HD flanges and it made it maybe 20% better.

  5. #5
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    I've changed out standard axles / drive flanges with as little as 10,000km, its hit and miss if a dealer will do warranty, you get the same quality level part, even more hit and miss is if they will do the job properly.

    Issue with the standard are:
    *Assembled dry.
    *Way too soft on the hardness scale, both the axles and flange. (likely have either changed suppliers to cheaper or have screwed down existing supplier on price)
    *None existent Land Rover R & D
    ---
    The last of the Defender production, as in the last couple of months have a one piece rear axle / drive flange.
    The Ashcroft caps allow for unscrewing and regular applying grease that gets forced down the splines.

    Regards
    Daz

    P.S Front axle / drive flange dont suffer fretting wear to the same extent (still recommend doing an aftermarket drive flange on front) and Discovery 1 on the rear are a 1 piece axle drive flange
    Regards
    Daz


  6. #6
    DiscoMick Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by DazzaTD5 View Post
    I've changed out standard axles / drive flanges with as little as 10,000km, its hit and miss if a dealer will do warranty, you get the same quality level part, even more hit and miss is if they will do the job properly.

    Issue with the standard are:
    *Assembled dry.
    *Way too soft on the hardness scale, both the axles and flange. (likely have either changed suppliers to cheaper or have screwed down existing supplier on price)
    *None existent Land Rover R & D
    ---
    The last of the Defender production, as in the last couple of months have a one piece rear axle / drive flange.
    The Ashcroft caps allow for unscrewing and regular applying grease that gets forced down the splines.

    Regards
    Daz

    P.S Front axle / drive flange dont suffer fretting wear to the same extent (still recommend doing an aftermarket drive flange on front) and Discovery 1 on the rear are a 1 piece axle drive flange
    Can I ask is it possible to retrofit the one-piece units from the final examples to earlier Defenders? Is this a good option?

  7. #7
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    I'd rather carry a spare drive flange or two than a whole set of axles.
    -Mitch
    'El Burro' 2012 Defender 90.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by DiscoMick View Post
    Can I ask is it possible to retrofit the one-piece units from the final examples to earlier Defenders? Is this a good option?

    Last time I checked they were not available and likely to be dearer than going the Ashcroft way and still poor quality

    Regards
    Daz
    Regards
    Daz


  9. #9
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    Worried

    I just checked mine at 32000km and they have no play, so applied anti seize grease and keep an eye on them.

  10. #10
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    I had my Puma done by Dazza and it's much better with little driveline slack.
    When I had a new transfer box fitted under warranty I asked the service foreman to make sure the connecting shaft was greased... his answer "It is not a service item"!!
    It really doesn't give you any confidence at all in their level of service and an otherwise good product suffers for it. But that's been fixed by the above as well so it's good for many more kays in hopefully a new owners hands as I've now got a D4.
    Selling it for health reasons only but why I'm bothering I don't know as the Cooks going to kill me anyway for doing it!
    AlanH.

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