Addressing the Problem with a Worn Prop Shaft

Dmdigital gave his a thorough inspection before he left Gove and all looked and felt fine. Just Nth of Alice and with no warning it let go, punching a hole in his transmission.

I estimate that I have probably changed in excess of 500 uni joints in my life.
Now I am only talking single joints here and I have seen 'em all. Many a joint I have changed, when doing a clutch, and upon removal of the tailshaft, found the universal joint to be in poor condition with no symptoms showing. (partially seized but no drive vibration)

However I have never seen one completely let go without lots of prior warning that something was not right.

Now it does have me wondering whether a DC having two joints so close together, will not show up early developing symptoms and then go bang.

Cardan Joint:
Cardan joint - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Double Cardan Joint
Constant-velocity joint - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:

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Originally Posted by d2dave

So if there are no grease points how is maintenance done?

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I've read heaps of valuable information on here about this subject, including all of the monster post that Pedro started (to quote Georgesadlik: "that's normal, right?)
I don't think that just 'inspecting' from under the car has proven a reliable method of determining whether they are about to come to pieces.
My car has done almost 120kks and I'm going to buy four rebuild kits, strip both prop-shafts, press out the old bearings and replace them all.

• When the old ones are on my bench, I'll know whether they were cactus.
• When I put the shafts back in, I'll feel confident that they are not about to die (I don't have any lift or unusual power characteristics).
• If they do die inside the the next 100kks, I'll be mad as hell and buy replacement, heavy-duty, bits from the US

Maintenance of UJ is not juts greasing them. It is also checking their play and checking the seals. UJ with some play or worn seal must be replaced.
But lot of people told me, that no grease point = no maintenance needed. But the only difference between UJ with grease point and without is the grease inside and mud seals. The rest is the same. And when the seal is gone, grease is washed out quickly and the internals of UJ is rusting. So it is good idea to check the UJ.
2 day ago a get a phone from friend with D2 - his car makes some unusuall noise, after some quick check, he found UJ one front diff worn and rusty. So he removed the fron shaft for repair and found all UJ worn - without grease. He was able to detect this problem with shaft still on car - just carefull look on and test with a pry bar for excessive play. The shaft is still originall - after 12 years and more than 200 000km. I think, this is wery good result. Standard cheap UJ normally survive 20 000km or less. UJ with better seal, more than twice longer at least. But they are a bit more expensive and not in stock, so we have to wait for them for a few days.

I need to check these joints on mine. I had loose drive shaft bolts so think checking everything for wear is a good idea (326000 kms and not sure if its ever been replaced in its life :))

Guys (and girls).
Lets keep this on topic.
Some posts have now been removed from this thread.
Keep in mind that when dealing with items or practices of a technical nature, the correct terminology is important to ensure you get accurate advice.
That said, lets keep it friendly.
There are no points given out this round, but if it continues or spills into other areas that may change.
Cheers
Muppet