How important are U-Joints

squizzydisco · 15th July 2016, 07:06 PM

Hello all,

I'm looking at buying a 2000 Discovery 2 td5. I'm heading out to have a look at one on Sunday. I've had a good read and believe I'm aware of most things that need to be checked.

Was wondering if the previous owner hasn't replaced the U-joints with grease-able ones, do I walk away ? The car is a 2000 model with 200,000km on it. 16 years is a long time for some thing to have gone wrong with them if they're original.

Thanks for any advice you can offer

Squizzy

**AllTerr** · 15th July 2016, 07:13 PM

They've probably been changed at some point. Still, you can always swap them for greaseable ones when you can. Easy way to check is to get under the car and give the prop shafts the ol' wiggle test.

**Slunnie** · 15th July 2016, 07:50 PM

It's just a part that can be changed. If it's still got the original shaft then it's probably been treated with a great deal of respect and probably a better buy.

**p38arover** · 15th July 2016, 07:56 PM

If you have a reasonable vice and some skill with tools, they are relatively easy things to replace at home. There are sure to be YouTube videos on how to do it. Even if you had them done by a mechanic, I wouldn't expect them to be that expensive.

Buy quality UJs, though.

I was talking to Brad at KLR Auto about this recently and he indicated they've seen quite short life on even some of the better brand names, even Japanese. He did tell me their preferred brand but I can't remember......

Having said that, my P38A had 250+ thousand Km on the originals and they were still good. I did grease them.

squizzydisco · 16th July 2016, 07:03 AM

Thanks for that. Puts my mind at rest. The car looks like it's been used as a " toorak tractor" with a gentle life. I'd be looking at using it off-road so rims and tyres would be the first upgrade, along with the u-joints .

Getting quite excited for the test drive now.

**p38arover** · 16th July 2016, 01:45 PM

I just thought of something. Does the D2 have a double Cardan joint at the front?

Does the rear have a Rotoflex coupling like the D1?

Slunnie, you'd know these things.

**Tins** · 16th July 2016, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by p38arover

I just thought of something. Does the D2 have a double Cardan joint at the front?

Yes

Originally Posted by p38arover

Does the rear have a Rotoflex coupling like the D1?

And yes.

At least, mine does.

**Tins** · 16th July 2016, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by p38arover

Does the rear have a Rotoflex coupling like the D1?

Hang on. Like the D1? My D1 doesn't have one. Did someone pinch it?

**p38arover** · 16th July 2016, 02:13 PM

My D1 had a Rotoflex for the rear diff "UJ".

**discorevy** · 16th July 2016, 03:12 PM

Diesel d1 rotoflex
V8 d1 u/j, of course these could have been swapped on individual cars over the years
Ron , are you talking about 250000 k out of a d2 original double Cardin ? cause they weren't greasable
Squizzy if the d2 your looking at has 16" rims then you'll only need tyres for off road

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