Rotoflex or U-Joint conversion

[Urban Panzer]

Just looking to see who has and who has not converted the rear prop on the D2 to a U-joint when you "lifted" the vehicle ?

For those that have, was it due to failure of the couplings, or you did it before it happened ?

For those that have not, any problems with the rotoflex couplings on your lifted vehicles ?

[Rudolf]

Slunnie!!!

[disco_thrasher]

i had roto flex coupling for a fair while and had no problems with a 3" lift i have recently changed to a classic rangie rear drive shaft which has a uni at both ends ,but this was only done due to fitting 4:14.1 diff ratio and one pinnon bolt was to big so needed to convert to a uni
cheers kelvin

[Blknight.aus]

I convert them to unis every time I lift them.

[Redback]

Me when I fitted a Maxi Drive Locker'

Baz.

[Andyb43]

Hi,

Ours has been going for 150 000 km from the UK via Iran Pakistan & India then twice around Australia all with the original donut on. I carry a spare and check it constantly but even with a 2 inch lift and total weight of 3.5 ton we have had no worries. So "if it aint broke"
:D

Andy B

www.landroveradventure.co.uk

[Piddler]

Hi,

Ours has been going for 150 000 km from the UK via Iran Pakistan & India then twice around Australia all with the original donut on. I carry a spare and check it constantly but even with a 2 inch lift and total weight of 3.5 ton we have had no worries. So "if it aint broke"
:D

Andy B

www.landroveradventure.co.uk (http://www.landroveradventure.co.uk)


True

[Hendrik]

I can second to that, have had the lift in for a while now and it is still good. Do have a spare though. Only time i had trouble in that area was when I lost a bolt on Fraser Island and had to drive home doing 80 as the vibrations were too bad. Luckily stopped at British offroad and got a bolt off them, and it was all sweet then.

[Cap]

Hi,

Ours has been going for 150 000 km from the UK via Iran Pakistan & India then twice around Australia all with the original donut on. I carry a spare and check it constantly but even with a 2 inch lift and total weight of 3.5 ton we have had no worries. So "if it aint broke"
:D

Andy B

www.landroveradventure.co.uk

Sounds like yours lasted longer than a Uni would anyway :eek:

[Mundy]

I replaced my rotoflex a couple of months ago with a standard cardan joint having had two of the rubber units fail in 15 months. The original unit lasted about 18 months after a 2" lift (total of 3.5 years) and 70k km on the clock, with noticeable warning; second one failed catastrophically without warning 15 months later in the Simpson with about 85k km on the clock. I don't use my Disco for day to day use but mainly for holidays and trips, so its usually loaded up. My view is that if you have a lift, are doing a high proportion of offroad work and are heavily loaded, the rubber units are a liability.
Mundy

[redrover3]

Mine still looks fine after 370k. Been lifted 2"-2.5" all it's life. BTW this is a '95D1 I'm talking about here. I understand there are quality differences between the original and replacement/aftermarket ones though.

[p38arover]

Oddly enough, a few of us (Redback, DiscoWhite, & p38arover) were discussing this over lunch on Sunday.

As Phil (Discowhite) pointed out, if the Rotoflex does fail, at least it will still provide drive and you can replace it on the roadside without special tools.

[Slunnie]

Disco2 geometry is way different to the other land rovers and the rotoflex isn't significantly affected by lift such as in the others.

The advantage of changing the rotoflex out for the uni is that it is a much stronger setup and shock loading wont induce a failure.

The disadvantage is that you lose the "cush" absorbtion of vibrations and shock loadings.

In my opinion, if you are not breaking rotoflexs in a Disco2 and if the 3 bolt flange is compatible with your aftermarket pinions, then don't swap out the rotoflex. If you are breaking rotoflexs or running pinions with the big nut on the end, only then swap out the rotoflex for a uni.

I swapped mine out for unis.

[Redback]

Disco2 geometry is way different to the other land rovers and the rotoflex isn't significantly affected by lift such as in the others.

The advantage of changing the rotoflex out for the uni is that it is a much stronger setup and shock loading wont induce a failure.

The disadvantage is that you lose the "cush" absorbtion of vibrations and shock loadings.

In my opinion, if you are not breaking rotoflexs in a Disco2 and if the 3 bolt flange is compatible with your aftermarket pinions, then don't swap out the rotoflex. If you are breaking rotoflexs or running pinions with the big nut on the end, only then swap out the rotoflex for a uni.

I swapped mine out for unis.

I agree with Slunnie, the only reason I changed mine was because I had a locker fitted (it was recommended I do) otherwise I would not have changed, I had 130,000k on mine when I changed, still looked brand new.

Baz.

[Mundy]

Oddly enough, a few of us (Redback, DiscoWhite, & p38arover) were discussing this over lunch on Sunday.

As Phil (Discowhite) pointed out, if the Rotoflex does fail, at least it will still provide drive and you can replace it on the roadside without special tools.

Its clear from the replies that there's quite a range of experiences. In my case, I could not install the spare I was carrying as, when it failed, it sheared 2 of the high tensile bolts (I didn't carry spares of these) and mangled both the shaft flange and diff pinion flange.

Mundy

[Urban Panzer]

I agree with Slunnie, the only reason I changed mine was because I had a locker fitted (it was recommended I do) otherwise I would not have changed, I had 130,000k on mine when I changed, still looked brand new.

Baz.

Interesting, I Will be adding a rear locker at some point, so may do this conversion then if the advice goes that way :)

Thanks for all the replies so far guys......... ;)

[Andyb43]

We run an ARB Air locker in the rear and weigh 3.5 ton traveling mostly in you outback with no problems. :D

Andy B

www.landroveradventure.co.uk