D2 Front Tailshaft

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Originally Posted by dobbo

I have a D2 an can see where it drips on to it but cannot see how that little amount of water could honestly contrbute to the weakening of the uni joint. If you think about it the effects would be increased with a greasable nipple in the equation.

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The water can enter the uni joint, breaking down the lubricant which cannot be renewed. If you have a grease nipple, any water in the joint should be displaced by the grease when you put your grease gun on there (regularly, I hope!). I have often seen water ooze out of a universal joint when greasing.

When I used to drive a truck for a living the boss' rules were: whenever the truck has been on a dirt road, grease it. That can get a bit tedious, but we didn't have universal joint failures.

wouldn't it be easier to re route the drain and keep the original unit?

I am just north of Brisbane.
Its so humid here that they sell a water cooler that has not water pipe connected to it, it just sucks humidity out out of the air up to 20 liters a day.
I would speculate that a constant drip or trickle o water would add up to a fair bit.
And added top that when you stop for a minute all the condensation then trickles out.
This is a real issue here and its an easy fix.
Did you know that its cheaper on fuel to have you a/c on rather that have the window open

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Originally Posted by Gavo

I am just north of Brisbane.
Its so humid here that they sell a water cooler that has not water pipe connected to it, it just sucks humidity out out of the air up to 20 liters a day.
I would speculate that a constant drip or trickle o water would add up to a fair bit.
And added top that when you stop for a minute all the condensation then trickles out.
This is a real issue here and its an easy fix.
Did you know that its cheaper on fuel to have you a/c on rather that have the window open

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Yes but not when the average trip is 3 km long it isn't, then I sit in free public transport.

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Originally Posted by dobbo

wouldn't it be easier to re route the drain and keep the original unit?

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The originals can fail at anywhere from 100 000km onwards, when used almost exclusively on road. It doesn't have to be the A/C drain that provides the water. Do you ever drive through puddles or in the rain (drought notwithstanding)?

I have seen the results of a failure - not pretty. There was a hole in the bell housing that you could almost put your hand through.

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Originally Posted by MickG

A guy in our club actually retains the standard tail shafts on his rangie so he purposly has a weak point there. Theory obviously being if it breaks there he can simply fit another. He carries a spare with him and he has broken one recently on a trip - 15 mins and back on the road.

Makes sense really if you are willing to carry a spare or at least consider where your weakest point is and cater for it. Different story mind you if it goes when on the highway or if you are flogging the guts out of it as I have heard they will make a mess if left to flail about underneath.

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I had the front u-joint fail in my rangie rear driveshaft. Was in 1st low and didn't go far when it failed, but the front end of the shaft must have dug in, because it rotated the diff back and tore most of the mount for the A-frame ball joint from the diff housing.

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Originally Posted by BigJon

The originals can fail at anywhere from 100 000km onwards, when used almost exclusively on road. It doesn't have to be the A/C drain that provides the water. Do you ever drive through puddles or in the rain (drought notwithstanding)?

I have seen the results of a failure - not pretty. There was a hole in the bell housing that you could almost put your hand through.

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The originals will fail a lot earlier than that. I get about 17,000km out of mine or 1 years worth of driving (its got a bit of lift) and have gone through quite a few shafts - about 4. I know Walkers lasted a lot less before it failed and destroyed the auto, exhaust cats etc. There have been a few that have snapped actually.

Personally, I think dust is also a major contributing factor to their failures. If they do absolutely anything unusual like vibrate, a bearing shield moves out or even just a little squeek, then get them out straight away and have them rebuild/replaced.

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Originally Posted by Slunnie

The originals will fail a lot earlier than that. I get about 17,000km out of mine or 1 years worth of driving (its got a bit of lift) and have gone through quite a few shafts - about 4. I know Walkers lasted a lot less before it failed and destroyed the auto, exhaust cats etc. There have been a few that have snapped actually.

Personally, I think dust is also a major contributing factor to their failures. If they do absolutely anything unusual like vibrate, a bearing shield moves out or even just a little squeek, then get them out straight away and have them rebuild/replaced.

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So whats the cost of an exchange unit?
Is that greasable or ungreasable?

I probably pay a bit but the guy is just down the road and is an emergency expert (ie, same day turnaround) and it costs me about $550 for a rebuild of the DC and pinion end with greasables. He charges about $100 more for a new shaft. Metropolitan Driveshafts, Granville.

An OE shaft is about $850.

Hardy Spicer in Sydney is about $1k for their bigger greasable DC joint end only.

I'm pretty sure there is somebody thats in Vic that does them dirt cheap though.

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Originally Posted by Slunnie

I probably pay a bit but the guy is just down the road and is an emergency expert (ie, same day turnaround) and it costs me about $550 for a rebuild of the DC and pinion end with greasables. He charges about $100 more for a new shaft. Metropolitan Driveshafts, Granville.

An OE shaft is about $850.

Hardy Spicer in Sydney is about $1k for their bigger greasable DC joint end only.

I'm pretty sure there is somebody thats in Vic that does them dirt cheap though.

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And you need to do both front and rear at the same time or just the front?