Ok, so now the tailshaft is out, 2 things need to happen - the first is to replace the centre bearing and the second is to replace the uni joint in the middle. Neither of these jobs are as straight forward as I would have liked.
Ok, the centre bearing just requires the tailshaft to be split in 2 - there's a bolt that holds them together behind the unit joint - easy enough to remove - it's 18mm and comes out with a bit of effort - it had a lot of loctite on it. Once that and the washer are out the way, you can see that the 2 parts connect via a spline, this is where it got interesting as they are stuck fast!
The only way to press them apart is to remove the uni joint first - more on that in a minute. Once the 2 bits are apart, then the old bearing will come off no dramas - this will be self-explanatory once you get this far. The centre bearing is readily available in Aus from multiple suppliers which leads me to think I'm not the first one to have this problem. I will have that on Monday.
Now to the Uni Joint. While it was not destroyed like I first thought, it definitely needs replacing - there is a small amount of play in it, but worse than that, is that it binds quite badly - when in use, the shaft is almost straight the entire time, so the uni only moves a tiny amount which I think is what has caused the wear in a very small arc and caused the issues it has.
Anyway, this is where the real work starts as it's deemed not serviceable by Land Rover and the Uni joint itself is not available as a spare part - it is also staked in the yolks, not clipped. The prices I have been quoted for a whole new shaft are between $800 to $1,400, so obviously I'm happy to stuff around a bit here and rebuild this one.
Soooo, onto the next job - which will happen tomorrow so I'll post more pics then - is to remove the uni joint and find a replacement. Now, replacing staked uni joints with serviceable items isn't difficult - a lot of Japanese vehicles in the 80's and 90's used these and I've done them before - once the stakes are broken out, the uni can be removed like a standard unit. The replacement items need to have a spring clip fitted to the inside of the cup. While this isn't the place to start if you've never done uni joints, it's not that much harder, you just need to find the right replacement.
I've copied a bit of data from Hardy Spicer catalogue so you can see what I mean and also the unit that I think I'll need - it's attached below.
As I haven't got it out yet, the measurements I've taken are only rough, but they line up almost perfectly with a couple of readily available items. The cup diameter measures bang on 25mm - a very common size, and the internal spring clip dimension where they will have to sit as best as I can measure is around 44 to 45mm - the B2 dimension of 44mm is a common size by the looks of it. You need an R1 style cap to make all this work - I'll take plenty of pics when I do this so you all understand what I mean.
Oh, and the rose joints on each end of the shaft are in very good condition - again, they do almost nothis as the shaft stays almost dead straight the whole time.
So, tomorrow I'll remove the old Uni joint and clean everything up and I'll press the yoke off the shaft in preparation for the new centre bearing. When the new unit joint is in, I'll make a small hole in the heat shield so a grease gun can be inserted to grease it periodically. Should be able to make it last forever then.
Lots of fun to be had - I know the new owner who is buying this off me will be watching closely so I better get this right huh?
A couple of pics ofthe tailshaft and uni joint.
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