Thread: D2 front drive shaft problem?

got mine all apart today except for the ball joint which ill need some help with.

b4 pulling it apart i checked all the caps by rotating the joint in all ways to check if any where ceased and turning within the yolk, they where all ok.

so with that and by visual inspection of the circlip grooves etc id say mine is ok for rebuild

heres a photo of the offending UJ

Just got the centre bearing from Hardy Spicer in Newcastle at trade rate 54! Rather than 90 ... now just to get the old one out

mechanic wanted 5$ to take the ball bearing out so i gave him $18.

jst finished putting it back together.

didnt have a vice but did have a large g clamp which fitted the hole pefectly which worked well as did tapping them with a hammer to get it started.

just have to watch out with clamp as it has swivel head, if it seems hard or jammed, turn it around as the bearing cap is likely going in off alignment and thus jamming.

couple of times i didnt have the uj lined up with the caps correctly when squeezing together and knocked a pin over on the way into the cap. luckily could tap the uj with a hammer to reverse it back out.

so watch out for that, as there's a bit at the start when both ends of the uj cant be in a cap at the same time so i would slide it to the end/side i was pressing in and each bit i went in i would stop and then slide the uj from one side to the other between the two caps and check it was lined up and i hadnt knocked a pin over.

also just remembered that i was able to press/tap the caps in at the end with the clips in place ready to click into their grooves when in far enough.

also a couple of times the caps went in too far and made the joint too stiff, so i would check the clips wth my pliers to see whihc side was the loosest then carefully tap the center of the uj towards that one to take pressure off the jammed side.

Big thanks the the bulk load of info on this Thread .

A small vibration on acceleration developed into a bad clicking noise on deceleration i ripped the shaft out and some numb nut installed only one new uni @ transfer end and the ball joint is flopping around like its fitted to a shirt sleeve .

I have ordered complete set of uni's and a ball joint using part numbers from this thread ill see what arrives tomorrow. Also the nuts have been rounded so ill take a trip to the bolt shop tomorrow also .

Cheers
Rhys

Hi All,
hope you are all well...

...mine has had the dreaded crickets for the last week (only intermittent) and from my read through this excellent post, my gut tells me its the same prob so want to nip this in the butt.

Is there someone who could recommend a business in the South Eastern (outer) Subs of Melbourne that is able to recondition my original one? Not sure if its the front or rear yet.

Also, any comments on those who have had them reconditioned ....how much did it cost? We can take it out and put it back in ...so just after someone who can do the reconditioning bit. Other priorities so I don't have the time for us doing it all at the moment.

Appreciate the help,

Thanks
Lp

Interesting read guys.

I see about one failure a week, even had it on my own D2 after a long run across the northern tier from Denver in the US to Canada. All mostly motorway work at 80 mph, loaded with wife 'n kids 'n kid crap

Now all the D2's running "up n over" here are V8's, and the reflected heat of the cats in the Y pipe are the culprit.
Remember the internal cat temp is somewhere near 500 dgf so reflected heat is going to be at least 400 dgf onto the prop.

That will cook the grease for sure and in almost every case its the forward U/J on the double joint which partially seizes and cracks the cup.
Greasable joints help, stay away from stuff made in China, and I overhaul my prop every three years or 60K miles sending it off to a specialist where it gets balance checked following joint change.

For sure you don't want detachment, it makes a right mess of the transmission and floor.--Can in fact ruin your day!
Dennis
zedcars

Stock 2000 auto v8, 142,000km. Had been a country car and had towed horse floats in its previous life. Minimal off road.
Got MR automotive at Redcliffe to fix it. They did a couple of other things but probably came in under $300 for greasable unis.
Started as a mild vibration under acceleration. I stopped driving it for a month until I could get it looked at. On the way to the mechanics (highway trip) it started getting worse and was making banging noises under acceleration.
I had no idea what the problem was until they diagnosed it otherwise I would probably have pulled the shaft out and locked the transfer case before driving it.