L322 Rear Tailshaft Removal and Refurbishment

Also the benefit of sharing power fore and aft constantly.

Great info and tutorial Gav!☺☺

Jc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Homestar

Yes, it is the size you'd expect on a car, not a heavy 4WD, but it's held up for 13 years. Given that it doesn't move bugger all, it's transferring its power in a straight line - is probably why it's fine in this application.

The part number for the TD6 and V8 tailshaft is identical so it's common to both models and must have been deemed up to the task (like the transmission... ;))

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Gav
Remember the drive is shared with the front too.
AWESOME write up.
Well Done:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
Andrew

Yes, they share the load, but so do the uni joints on my 101 from 1977 ot my RRC from 1986...

They both have heaps bigger joints, and both are considerably lighter vehicles, but both of those vehicles also ask a lot more of the uni joints as well as far as movement is concerned - particularly the 101! :D

The repair should last a lot longer than the original as this one will be greaseable. The new owner will certainly be able to rest easy about this. :)

Got the parts today, the Uni joint was quite expensive at $100 but much cheaper than a new driveshaft. ;). From the couple of phone calls I made, there may be a cheaper version out there, but certainly no one that stocks one - Bursons said they could look at sourcing one, but my timeframe wouldn't allow this - Hardy Spicer in Sunshine had 4 on the shelf, and were excellent to deal with.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/07/385.jpg

Uni joint installed easiy and will work well - there's always that wave of relief when the final cup reaches the correct spot and you know for sure that you haven't dropped a needle in one of the caps. :D (been there, done that...). Snap rings sit in the right spot and there is no lateral play - it feels like it was made for it. The cups sit slightly lower than the originals, but the cup is fully supported along its whole length - the yoke is quite deep and the original was supported in a slightly different location. The needles and trunnions are the same size.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/07/386.jpg

New centre bearing installed and ready to go.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/07/387.jpg

The uni joint is now fully greased, and the whole shaft is reassembled ready for installation, but it was too dark to do this by the time I was ready, so hopefully installed tomorrow and test driven. :)

All in all, not a difficult fix - only an hours work from start to finish once the shaft was out.

I note that from MY07 the tailshaft is only shown as 1-piece in Microcat but may still be able to be dismantled.

Everything's back together now. Just one more tip for players at home. Once the driveshaft is back in and all the bolts - including the centre bearing nuts - are in position but still loose, tighten the 2 ends of the driveshaft first before tightening the centre bearing into position. There is no movement in the shaft end to end like on live axle vehicles so leaving the centre bearing until last will ensure that it isn't any strain on it one way or the other.

I have test driven the vehcile and everything is smooth and quiet once more. :)

Just waiting on the Mechanic to call me back so I can get it back for its RWC.

Just a quick update - I've done about 300KM now with the rebuilt tailshaft. Everything is smooth and silent. No vibration at any speed up to prolonged highway work at 115KPH. One blat a lot faster than that just to check everything - all good. :)

So, the entire arse end of this vehcile is pretty much new now. Should be good for another 200,000KM!

Great Job Gav,,:cool:

Nice thread. Very helpful for those of us who don't mind turning a wrench every now and then.