Propshaft - repair or replace?

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Originally Posted by Wallydog

$175.00 AUD for rear prop shaft from Paddocks UK , thats delivered. Id say a front prop shaft would be much the same. Its worth getting a quote from Paddocks and asking the local players if they will match it. They sometimes do.

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LRSeries.com have part 553001 from Hardy Spicer for GPB46.99, say $A74. Add $45 for shipping by DHL or FedEx and you're looking at $120.

Seems like a good price to me.

Peter

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Originally Posted by Warb

I ended up ordering new front and rear shafts, together with all new fittings (nuts, bolts, boots etc.) from LRSeries. Total delivered cost was about $100 less than the best local price that I found.

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Looks like we crossed over in posting . . .

Have you looked at LRDirect.com?

The prices are about the same, but their web site seems to handle Verified By Visa better.

Peter

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Originally Posted by peterg1001

Have you looked at LRDirect.com?

The prices are about the same, but their web site seems to handle Verified By Visa better.

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Funnily enough I was looking at their website only a few minutes ago, I have an axle that has been run with a loose drive flange (no pin in the nut!) and has reamed out the flange and destroyed the shaft.

Equally, I had a problem with Verified by Visa when I ordered from LRSeries, though I've ordered from them before without issue. I contacted the bank who reported that Verified by Visa throws errors regularly for no apparent reason but seemingly only for people who aren't enrolled. After I enrolled it let me pay with no further drama!

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Originally Posted by Warb

I couldn't see any particular reason for the propshafts being in a given orientation, but my "official" 1963 Land Rover manual is very insistent that the splined sleeves are at the transfer box end of both shafts. Perhaps if the sleeve is on the axle side it allows water ingression because it would be angled up?

I too have been told that propshaft work needs to be done at an approved workshop, but I've never managed to find any written documentation to confirm this, or to establish exactly what "approval" is required. Whilst I have no doubt (this being Australia) that it is true, I'd like to find the actual legislation, just out of curiosity, and discover exactly what is required!

In this case I've just ordered two new shafts, as the rear one had a fair amount of play in the splines as well - I don't think either had ever been lubricated!

My manual shows only the front shaft having a protective boot on the splined joint. Is there a reason why the rear shaft doesn't have one?

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My Haynes manual for my IIA is adamant that the splined end is "forward" on each shaft... i.e. at the transfer case end for the rear prop and at the axle end for the front prop. The front shaft only is shown with a protective boot, presumably because the relatively lower position of the splined portion is more likely to be exposed to water and grit than that of the rear shaft.

I'm pretty sure that Defender propshafts sit differently: splined portion close to transfer case front and rear. I remember working in another country where having the front shaft on Defenders oriented as I described above for the Series vehicles was all the rage, but I always kept the splined joint at the transfer end as I was working in a very wet environment: constant wading and sand.

Interesting, isn't it? I have a 1st edition (December 1963) LR Series II and IIA workshop manual that states clearly that the splined SLEEVE should be at the transfer box end of both prop shafts. It then shows the front prop shaft as a long "sleeve" with a short male splined shaft at the front axle end - the rear prop shaft is shown as a short sleeve at the transfer case and a long male section to the rear axle. This arrangement puts both joints at the "front", as suggested by Haynes, but still allows both sleeve sections to be at the transfer box end.

However the 1968 parts book, whilst showing the same arrangement for the rear shaft, shows the opposite for the front - i.e. a short sleeve with a long male section, and if the diagram is taken to have the correct orientation, it shows the splined joint at the axle end (as suggested by Haynes) which puts the sleeve on the axle, the reverse of what is stated in the 1963 manual!

My front prop shaft is built the way the parts book states (the short section is the sleeve) but fitted according to the 63 LR manual i.e. sleeve end at the transfer box. The result is that the splined joint is at the transfer box, which all three books state is wrong!

The new one will be fitted with the joint at the axle end....