Dead Prop Shaft

[alexturner]

Hey Guys,

Driving home at 1am in the morning (now) and after hitting a bump in the road my car began squeaking quite loudly. After popping the bonnet and finding nothing out of the ordinary I began looking underneath the car. It was then I discovered that I have killed my front propshaft. I'm heading away to the Simpson Desert on Friday and need to sort myself out quickly (in Sydney).

I think the reason i killed it was my 2" lift. Where can I find the spacer from or am I better off installing a double cardon shaft from a D2?

Thanks guys,
Alex

[cols110]

What did you kill, the actual prop shaft or is it just a UJ that failed?

Were the UJs & sliding coupling regularly greased.

If it is just a UJ replace them.

My 110 has a 2 inch lift and cops loads of abuse in the desert but I regularly grease the UJs & sliding joint & have had no problems apart from twisting the rear shaft like a pretzel after a hard landing with the power on.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/09/1025.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/09/1026.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/09/1026.jpg

[rainman]

I second cols110's opinion - a 2 inch lift shouldn't have caused you any problems. The sqealling sounds to me like a dried out dead UJ. Rip the shaft off and take it to a driveline/driveshaft place. They will be able to replace it (hopefully quickly ;)). I could recommend a place in Brisbane, but......

Once the shaft is out lock your CDL and at least you still have rear wheel drive.


James.

[rainman]

.... actually, lock your CDL before you take the front shaft off, especially if you're parked on a slope :eek:. Ooops.

[Loubrey]

Alex,

Your's a Puma? The slight change in the location of the T'case seem to cause prolems on some Pumas when lifted. Now, there many chaps out there with no issues, but there has been a few threads of people having difficulties after doing lifts. We all know that they are individually unique in many ways!

Double cardon prop might be the best option, but if you go that way you might as well get a good aftermarket (uprated) one. I'm sure some good advise on options will be posted soon!:)

[alexturner]

Hey guys, thanks for the quick reply.

I'm quite sure it's a U-joint - even though I've got the UJ's sitting in my garage I thought it safer to buy a new bar for $200 pickup tomorrow in Sydney. I just don't have the time to dick around :P

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Suggest you get over to Hardy Spicer.

37a Heathcote Road
Moorebank, NSW 2170

Tel: 02 9600 6333

I recently took my front double cardon prop over to them. They worked there magic whilst i waited.

Credit where its due - fantastic service.

hth
Jon

[LoveMyV8County]

Yep, 2" (maybe a bit more?) lift killed my front prop, the already slightly worn UJ didn't like the operating angle. I was doing about 90km/h on a country road at the time; had fun hammering the floor straight again...

Now I listen for squeaking, grease fanatically and have dropped the car back to normal height.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

If you put the lift back on you should seriously consider either an "extreme wide yoke" or an "extreme double cardon prop" from baileymorris.co.uk (not the disco one).

They are excellent units and we sold many when we were in the UK.

[alexturner]

Land Rover Accessories | 15mm prop shaft spacer kit | Defender | Discovery 1 | Range Rover Classic - Britpart - The Quality Parts for Land Rovers (http://www.britpart.com/Accessory.asp?pageref=4&AccessoryRef=2767)

Shouldn't cost more than $50...

[rainman]

If your problem is with the angle that the UJs are running at, a spacer is going to increase the problem because the shaft will be shorter and therefore running at a greater angle (when it's not horizontal). The spacer (as it says in the blurb) is for issues with running out of spline length.

Are Puma's more prone to problems with lift because of transfer case positioning? I've been running a 40 - 50mm lift in the front for about two and a half years and 25000km in a Tdi with no issues.

Can we confirm you have a Tdi Alex?

[Loubrey]

Rainman,

not 100% confirmed, but a couple guys have posted issues with the front prop after a lift (Pumas only) and it might be the new T'case alignment.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

The issue is, as others have said, to do with the position of the output flange on the transfer box relative to the diff flange once lifted. A simple double Cardin doesn't necessarily solve the issue, the key is to get wide angle yokes so you arent running the uni's at max travel.

Don't forget, just because it drives ok on the flat doesn't mean your ok. You need to put the diff to it's two extents of travel and make sure the Uj's aren't binding.

Jon

[LowRanger]

With a 50mm lift in an early Tdi you will be fine,the later the model Defender the greater the problem seems to become.200Tdi defenders are less prone,than 300Tdi and 300Tdi are less prone than TD5's and Td5's are less prone than Pumas,it all seems to come down to the position of the transfer case in different models.

Wayne

[alexturner]

200 Tdi is my RWD weapon of choice ATM.

Damn, I have this spacer in the mail.

[Tombie]

Guess what else the spacer does at full compression!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[isuzurover]

As mentioned, the spacer is a bad idea.

UJ failures are not uncommon - even on standard height vehicles. I had 2 UJ grease nipples rattle out on a recent trip (CSR, GRR, etc), followed by rapid UJ failure. UJs are not that hard to change in the field.

If it was me I would change all offending UJs, loctite all grease nipples in place and carry a couple of UJs as spares.