Thread: Steering box spline???

Hi all.

I'm stuck again. I had some play in the lower steering joint of my 97 Disco so I replaced the joint. But when I pulled the joint off it looks like the top of the spline on the input shaft of the steering box has worn away.
I looked on my brothers 96 Defender and the splines on his go all the way to the end of the input shaft. This confirmed my thoughts on the input shaft being worn.

But..... Today I checked out a friends 96 Defender and his looks similar to mine . Just a few millimeters of spline above the bolt groove. Now I'm confused.

What is correct? Spline to the end or not? Which one is correct?

Thankyou for your time.
Confused Chris.

Got a welder ?

DL