Thread: S2A bit and pieces.

Originally Posted by TimNZ

Is it possible that the stub axles and/or the sleeves on your LR are aftermarket? The replacement sleeves I've ordered are OEM, (not blue box), ......

Hello from Brisbane.

There has been a bit of recent traffic in a couple of threads about the dire 'blue boxes' and 'blue bags' although this is both longstanding and global if the international fora are any guide.

I'm definitely no fan of Britpart sourced parts, but note that while Britpart stuff is generally not OEM and reputedly of indifferent quality it doesn't necessarily follow that what comes in a particular blue box/bag is not OEM. My understanding is that Britpart are essentially a parts accumulator and source their product from wherever including at times from OEM sources. It is certainly frustrating to see a part listed as OEM, including on many of the more reputable U.K. sites, to have it turn up in a blue box/bag. More often than not on further inquiry the supplier will tell you it is in fact OEM. In a couple of recent instances I have had ex-MOD stock turn up in that blue box despite having been listed as 'genuine Leyland'.

It all seems like a bit of a pig in a poke sometimes with this stuff.

Cheers,

Neil

Originally Posted by S3ute

Hello from Brisbane.

There has been a bit of recent traffic in a couple of threads about the dire 'blue boxes' and 'blue bags' although this is both longstanding and global if the international fora are any guide.

I'm definitely no fan of Britpart sourced parts, but note that while Britpart stuff is generally not OEM and reputedly of indifferent quality it doesn't necessarily follow that what comes in a particular blue box/bag is not OEM. My understanding is that Britpart are essentially a parts accumulator and source their product from wherever including at times from OEM sources. It is certainly frustrating to see a part listed as OEM, including on many of the more reputable U.K. sites, to have it turn up in a blue box/bag. More often than not on further inquiry the supplier will tell you it is in fact OEM. In a couple of recent instances I have had ex-MOD stock turn up in that blue box despite having been listed as 'genuine Leyland'.

It all seems like a bit of a pig in a poke sometimes with this stuff.

Cheers,

Neil

Hi Neil,

You have to be pretty careful, even when it comes to "OEM", from what I've read in various online LR communities is that when it comes to OEM it can mean the part is made in the same factory that another genuine part is made. Meaning that they may have never made the OEM part before, and is still a pattern.

With regards to the blue box stuff, (and other aftermarket), I've found that if the part number has a "G" added to the end then it is the same as the genuine part, for example, the GKN prop shafts I ordered for the S3 came in Britpart bags. The prop shafts are marked GKN, and have GKN uni's in them.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by TimNZ

Hi Neil,

You have to be pretty careful, even when it comes to "OEM", from what I've read in various online LR communities is that when it comes to OEM it can mean the part is made in the same factory that another genuine part is made. Meaning that they may have never made the OEM part before, and is still a pattern.

With regards to the blue box stuff, (and other aftermarket), I've found that if the part number has a "G" added to the end then it is the same as the genuine part, for example, the GKN prop shafts I ordered for the S3 came in Britpart bags. The prop shafts are marked GKN, and have GKN uni's in them.

Cheers,

Hello again.

Thanks.

All basically correct - not sure the G is universally applied, but I do look for it. But it supports the idea that some blue box stuff is as good as anything out there whereas other stuff is not.

I try to avoid it as a general rule, especially for applications where I don't want to have to go over it all again. The genuine LR stuff should be good but for a lot of parts the price is a bit over the top. I guess you can't always be too choosy when looking for new parts for 40 year plus vehicles.

Luckily for a good many things like bearings, unis, seals etc there are often a lot of quality options available that don't specifically call for special Land Rover parts. One of the nice things about the British car industry of the day is that the same parts were often spread across a whole array of cars, trucks, tractors and motorbikes which makes for a wider array of options for tracking them down. For one trite example the Lucas indicator lenses on a Series 3 are the same as those on a Norton Commando 750 and a host of other cars of the era and the earlier glass lenses were on the sidelights of a David Brown 880.

Cheers,

Neil

OK, picked up a replacement swivel hub housing and steering arm from Rod this afternoon. Also got all four axle stubs sorted. The distance pieces I bought were marked "OEM", supplied in blue "Britpart" bags. I bought a 1m length of thick walled tube. So with an axle stub on the floor and the tube resting on top of the distance piece, held at the top with my left hand ~at navel level whilst standing, I whacked the distance piece home hitting the top of the tube with a 5 lb mallet held in my right hand. The axle stub which originally had the loose distance piece required the least effort, but the replacement distance piece was still a tight fit and for good measure I applied Loctite 620 to all four of them.

Now I have an issue with a hub (originally on the front right). It looks like perhaps the same turkey that butchered the original right hand swivel housing and steering arm worked his magic here as well.
The hub only has four out of five studs fitted. Two of those are the original screw-ins and two are unoriginal press-fit types which have been retro fitted all super-dodgy-like. In the place of the 5th and missing stud is an oblong hole so big a press-fit stud would fall right through it. So, basically, the whole hub is rooted. It looks to me like maybe someone once upon a time changed a spare tyre and set off driving again after forgetting to fully tighten the wheel nuts and thus destroyed three studs. Two were repairable by drilling out the holes and banging in the press-fits, the other was beyond hope.

So I'm up for a replacement hub. I haven't tried myself yet, but has anyone here ever managed to remove the press-fit bearing shells from one of these hubs without damaging them? All of my wheel bearings are in new-like condition and it would be nice to scrap the hub only, not the bearings with it.

Despite the fact that I originally thought my chrome inner swivel housings were passable, I ended up buying a brand new pair anyway. They turned up early so, getting all eager-like, I pressed in the bearings and bolted them up, sealing them to the diff well with OEM gaskets and aerosol hylomar. Whoo Hoo!....... ummm, wait a minute......oops....

So who can see here what I neglected? I'm sure others have done the same..... C'mon, fess up an make me feel less stupid

you can cut the plate and the seal to get them on, but better to undo it all and start again....
you wouldn't be the first to do that
re taking the new bearing cones out of your hubs, just be gentle and tap them out.

Half shaft. It is also easier to assemble the swivel housing and get the correct preload in a bench vice than on the car.

Aaron

No, the half shaft slips in afterwards. What I forgot to hang over the ends of the diff were the the swivel ball oil seals and retainer rings.