OK, I'll try again.
Slug burner and bee utey have offered some advice as to why an output shaft wobbles and why it does not.
Its a no brainer that it will not wobble when the wobble end gets supported ie in the input gear.
Putting the question another way. Why do some output shafts wobble when the end support is removed. To me it does not wobble simply because it 'wobbles'.
The output shaft has to be driven. To my way of thinking it has to be driven by another shaft inside the gearbox (unless is a gear arrangement). The two shafts are connected by a set of precision cut splines.
Lets hold up the zf auto and the MSA side by side, forgetting one is an auto and the other is a manual.
To my way of thinking, Land Rover either relies on absolutely perfect gearbox/transfer case alignment or they have an inbuilt mechanism that allows for minor misalignment.
Being a novice I'm guessing, but the zf may deliberately included bearings with a lot of slack. The output shaft, and the driving shaft inside the box act as a conjoined unit - they do not in anyway move independently of each other - the output shaft does not 'wobble' on the end of the shaft driving it. If there is any stress on the 10 splines because of misalignment with the transfer case then the stress is relieved by loose bearings in the gear box.
The MSA box most/all of us have on the other hand was originally designed to drive a rear prop shaft. Looking at my MSA today I find the output shaft has absolutely rock solid. This makes sense because there does not have to be an in build mechanism to allow for misalignment. The uni joins on the prop shaft take care of most issues. This takes us back to the point made earlier that you may need some other sort of stress relief if you are going to couple the MSA to a transfer case where alignment is not perfect.
Has anyone any experience with the MSA where is was used in Isuzu 4x4 trucks - was the output shaft as rigid as it was in the 2x4? Or did they give free play to the output shaft to allow for any misalignments?
So Ancient Mariners is a good solution, but not the total solution if you need to rely on floating shafts made at different times by different companies with varying opinions on how the metal should be treated. Outcast say their's is cryoed, but then many people poo poo cryo as a fad. ???? Note, Ashcroft axle shafts are advertised as cryo'd.
I would take Ancients solution over the Sheldon/Outcast type if there is any risk of infrequent breaking.
Ancient, put me out of my misery...why do some out put shafts wobble when the end support is removed...please...

