Front Prop shaft and 2 inch lift.

[Bohica]

I need a new front prop shaft, Most likely the Hardy Spicer, one supplier states that this prop shaft is unsuitable for vehicles with a lifted suspension. First I've heard of this.
Comments?

[d2dave]

No idea on the hardy spicer, but I have a Tom Woods Shaft and it works fine with a 2 inch lift.

My guess is that Hardy Spicer don't want to warranty it with lift, so they just say unsuitable.

[Tins]

No idea on the hardy spicer, but I have a Tom Woods Shaft and it works fine with a 2 inch lift.

My guess is that Hardy Spicer don't want to warranty it with lift, so they just say unsuitable.
Quite likely. The lift does put the unis on non standard angles. But I have a stock shaft and it’s been fine, or would have been if I had greased it properly.

[d2dave]

But I have a stock shaft and it’s been fine, or would have been if I had greased it properly.

Supplied by V8 Ian and delivered by me.[smilebigeye]

[AK83]

thing to be mindful of is that a 2" lift is not equal to a 2" lift.
It depends a lot of where was the 2" lift(springs or whatnot) sourced from.

in my case, the 2" lift I removed from the D2 was replaced by a 2" lift from LRA.
I dunno what brand of springs and shocks the old lift kit were, they were all yellow. I can't remember any branding.

But with front of car lifted by chassis and front wheels hanging in the air, I had no trouble with front prop binding, or touching anywhere.

I installed LRA supplied springs and shocks(old shocks were totally gone and old yellow springs had sagged a bit relative to each other).

With new LRA supplied suspension, I couldn't get tyres in the air now, with the same jack setup.
My jacking setup is two airbag jacks and off cuts of sleeper timber to raise the start point of the jack.

ie. the LRA setup had just a smidge more static height sitting on the ground, but a heap more down travel than the old yellow setup had.
I found that brake lines were then stressed(got longer ones fitted) and also ABS lines had to be readjusted too. What I wasn't expecting was that prop then rested onto front cross member one full travel was reached.

ARRGGHHH!.

LRA sells a cross member drop kit(two types). Of course being cheap I went with the cheaper kit [bigwhistle] Never got the chance to fit it yet. The cheaper kit consists of two flat steel 'flanges' that get added to the cross member.

And to be sure the prop wasn't stressed in extension at full drop, I removed it from front diff to see how much more extension it had too. That is, be sure that the sliding sleeve wasn't topping out at full drop. I had a few mills of more travel.

Haven't done any off roading since suspension had been replaced, and in normal road use it looks fine, it's only going to be a problem when it flexes fully. Will get onto it in a few months to fully sort it, and undo my cheapo-ness and get the more expensive cross member drop kit, which doesn't just drop it, it rotates it by a few degrees as well, so overall less drop(more clearance) and clears the front prop.

But my front prop is just a normal type, just rebuilt all the joints, to be sure

[Bohica]

Thanks guys, this supports my viewpoint on this.

[Tins]

Supplied by V8 Ian and delivered by me.[smilebigeye]

That one is still in the car, new unis fitted. That double cardan joint is challenging, first time.....

And it was a bit of a swap, for an ACE pump I sent him via Mario Mail.

[Colmoore]

Speaking of D2 front prop shafts - can anyone tell me the size and specs (HT rating) of the bolts and nuts for 2004 d2?
I think they’re about M8 x 45 or so…..
Want to get some new ones but I’m out and the old bolts are at home.

[Bohica]

Speaking of D2 front prop shafts - can anyone tell me the size and specs (HT rating) of the bolts and nuts for 2004 d2?
I think they’re about M8 x 45 or so…..
Want to get some new ones but I’m out and the old bolts are at home.

3/8 UNF bolts are about 35mm long, or an inch and a half. The nuts are nyloc.
Yes 3/8 imperial. I think land rover bought a huge amount at a good price at the end of the war and has been using them ever since. WWII that is.

[Tins]

You can even get a special tool....... (https://www.britpart.com/all-parts/da1065) Although I find my Milwaukee 3/8" drive socket set has just what I need. Beats the hell out of the cheap shifter and pliers I used on the side of the Western Ring Road ☹️

Course, at the TC end the bolts are held captive by the flange design, so be careful of them or you'll be removing the flange..[bigsad]

[Colmoore]

UNF - ah LR you funny buggers…..
I’ll see if I can buy new nyloc unf nuts…..
Thanks folks

[Tins]

UNF - ah LR you funny buggers…..
I’ll see if I can buy new nyloc unf nuts…..
Thanks folks
My local small bolt shop has 'em. Bit far for you to come but.

[Bohica]

Well, I've shelled out and bought a GKN, greaseable front propshaft. No 'lift issues' :-)

[FNQLR]

thing to be mindful of is that a 2" lift is not equal to a 2" lift.
It depends a lot of where was the 2" lift(springs or whatnot) sourced from.

in my case, the 2" lift I removed from the D2 was replaced by a 2" lift from LRA.
I dunno what brand of springs and shocks the old lift kit were, they were all yellow. I can't remember any branding.

But with front of car lifted by chassis and front wheels hanging in the air, I had no trouble with front prop binding, or touching anywhere.

I installed LRA supplied springs and shocks(old shocks were totally gone and old yellow springs had sagged a bit relative to each other).

With new LRA supplied suspension, I couldn't get tyres in the air now, with the same jack setup.
My jacking setup is two airbag jacks and off cuts of sleeper timber to raise the start point of the jack.

ie. the LRA setup had just a smidge more static height sitting on the ground, but a heap more down travel than the old yellow setup had.
I found that brake lines were then stressed(got longer ones fitted) and also ABS lines had to be readjusted too. What I wasn't expecting was that prop then rested onto front cross member one full travel was reached.

ARRGGHHH!.

LRA sells a cross member drop kit(two types). Of course being cheap I went with the cheaper kit [bigwhistle] Never got the chance to fit it yet. The cheaper kit consists of two flat steel 'flanges' that get added to the cross member.

And to be sure the prop wasn't stressed in extension at full drop, I removed it from front diff to see how much more extension it had too. That is, be sure that the sliding sleeve wasn't topping out at full drop. I had a few mills of more travel.

Haven't done any off roading since suspension had been replaced, and in normal road use it looks fine, it's only going to be a problem when it flexes fully. Will get onto it in a few months to fully sort it, and undo my cheapo-ness and get the more expensive cross member drop kit, which doesn't just drop it, it rotates it by a few degrees as well, so overall less drop(more clearance) and clears the front prop.

But my front prop is just a normal type, just rebuilt all the joints, to be sure


I'm sus on that front X member. Mines in the bin (half the welded nuts were missing anyway)

I really don't see how that cross member could be doing anything structural with those tiny bolts holding the crossmember to the chassis, not to mention the light weight chassis brackets it's attached to.

I reckon it's there just to catch the front prop when it fails, kinda to stop the D2 from doing a Hollywood style pole-vault stunt.

[Tins]

I'm sus on that front X member. Mines in the bin (half the welded nuts were missing anyway)

I really don't see how that cross member could be doing anything structural with those tiny bolts holding the crossmember to the chassis, not to mention the light weight chassis brackets it's attached to.

I reckon it's there just to catch the front prop when it fails, kinda to stop the D2 from doing a Hollywood style pole-vault stunt.

Tend to agree about the X member. Mine passed its RWC without it as well. As for the "pole vault", well it's nearly always the rear, double cardan joint that fails. This usually takes out the transmission. I guess it could do a backflip as well.