cadogan uni joint failure

[LandyAndy]

Hi Guys
I had my double cadogan fail a uni joint yesterday,this will help if you need to replace your uni joints.
The only clue to its demise was the occasional chirp under load whilst on off-road tracks,much like a fanbelt sound.I suspected the joint but "let it develop" as there was nothing I could do about it,and no real proof it was the joint.
Yesterday morning we packed up camp,headed into Wellstead(18ks) all was OK.10mins down the road to Albany,the chirping noise returned,constant and loud.Still sounding like a fanbelt.
The double cadogan was too hot to touch,removed the front driveshaft,locked the CDL and continued onto Albany to repair it.
Got 2 new uni-joints,greasable with the nipple between the lugs,the type with the nipple on the centre of the spider wont work.$42 for the pair,pretty reasonable I thought.
LET THE FUN BEGIN!!!!
Took the shaft to the mechanic next to the bearing shop,hell of a nice pair of blokes,and luckily for me not busy due to first day back from holidays.
Kevin the mechanic started to pull the joint apart,you have to tap both unijoints out in pairs,you cant do one then the other.Sofar Sogood!!!!
THEN IT WENT ASTRAY!!!!
There is a third "eyeball"joint inside the cadogan between the 2 unis,beware as it spews all its needles out as you dismantle the joint,Im guessing the eyeball is replaceable,but not available in Albany.
All cleaned up start re-assembling.Big problem,we couldnt get the last needle roller into the eye joint,the mechanics had never seen such a joint and were baffled.We then also discovered that we had to be wrong as the tailshft wouldnt go in even minus 1 roller.We flipped the eyeball around finding there was a moving part in the ball that allowed more depth for the needles,thus a larger diameter to get that last one in.Still impossible to re-assemble with that rubber seal!!!!!It has a rubber type seal that keeps the dirt out of the needle rollers that seemed to be stopping the rollers being reinstalled.In the end as it wasnt getting back together I asked the mechanic to try and get the seal out even if it got destroyed,it looked that a simple O ring would seal the needles against the tailshaft end anyway.
A WIN!!!!
As he started tapping the seal out a metal retainer ring dislodged and all was revealed!!!! Now the needles fitted correctley,BUT we were 5 short!!!!! None on the bench,none on the floor nowher to be seen.We magnetised a piece of wire and recovered them 1 by one from inside the eye joint,all present and accounted for.
To rebuild the cadogan,the eyeball then gets re-assembled then the unis go in,2 at a time and work in pairs pressing the caps on.A 2 person job,but quite easy.
5 hours later all done and re-fitted to the Disco!!!!!!
He charged me $198 labour,appologising profusely for the delay and not knowing how to do it. If you are in Albany and need one doing,Kevin at LGS Tuning and Repair on Chesterpass road is the go,he knows how they get pulled apart and get rebuilt now.
When it wasnt happening I told him I had the RAVE CD,he was computer illiterate and the lady that runs the computer was still on holidays,we started the computer but the mechanics didnt know the password
He phoned the Albany Landrover Service mechanic for advice,the double cadogan isnt a servicable item he was told,$1500 for a replacement shaft,not available for 7 days
It made for a long day,but all fixed,wasnt keen on driving 250ks on the CDL and still have the problem to deal with when I got home.
Andrew

[100I]

How many KM on the car Andy?

[LandyAndy]

229000ks,a common problem you will find.
Andrew

[tombraider]

Andy...

Do you mean a "Double Cardan" joint?

Cadogan is a 4wd journalist

[LandyAndy]

Well you beat Ron
Andrew

[davros]

Welcome to the front tailshaft club...

My post from Albany a week ago!!!

Front tailshaft...URGENT HELP!!

You'll get a laugh!

Dave