Is it safe to drive with one rear half shaft removed?

No matter how good the tools are, crawling under the truck to remove 8 bolts in tight places will never be quicker than undoing 5 fully accessible bolts holding the half shaft in. Especially with power tools! As far as I understand, the rear half shaft isn’t integral to any suspension components (like a CV with a nut on the end would be), and the diff wouldn’t have any load on it. I think I’ll risk it and give it a go. If it goes right or wrong I’ll let you all know!

JimmyOlds said:

No matter how good the tools are, crawling under the truck to remove 8 bolts in tight places will never be quicker than undoing 5 fully accessible bolts holding the half shaft in. Especially with power tools! As far as I understand, the rear half shaft isn’t integral to any suspension components (like a CV with a nut on the end would be), and the diff wouldn’t have any load on it. I think I’ll risk it and give it a go. If it goes right or wrong I’ll let you all know!

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What about diff oil loss?

I have driven mine wiith a broken halfshaft for 20 Miles to get home, stuck it in Diff lock and was fine.

But I left the half shaft in to stop the diff oil coming out.

Cheers

Si Click said:

Thank you for your dismissive post. I did read Post 1. Did you read mine? My comment was that IMHO with the right tools a propshaft can be removed faster than a half shaft. How long does it take to remove 8 bolts with an impact wrench? He says that he wishes to save time, but does not state that he would be on terrain where the vehicle cannot be jacked. Are you sure you read Post 1?
Again if you read my post, I make it clear that he would need to jack one side of the vehicle to rotate the propshaft because the CDL is locked.

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No worries, anytime!
Why do you need to use an impact wrench to remove a rear drive member? Socket, ratchet, speed brace, takes 5 minutes.

neilly said:

What about diff oil loss?

I have driven mine wiith a broken halfshaft for 20 Miles to get home, stuck it in Diff lock and was fine.

But I left the half shaft in to stop the diff oil coming out.

Cheers

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Bolt the drive member back on, and snap the little cap on.

Where I have seen more problems is with getting the inside part of the broken half shaft out.

Turboman said:

Bolt the drive member back on, and snap the little cap on.

Where I have seen more problems is with getting the inside part of the broken half shaft out.

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Half shaft and drive member are one piece on the rear . See previous piccie.

Cheers

neilly said:

Half shaft and drive member are one piece on the rear . See previous piccie.

Cheers

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Fair enough. So leave a piece of the shaft in the drive member, you could cut it off with a grinder if you were worried about the bit inside the axle.

The trouble with this thread is that the OP hasn't said what kind of use he wants to put the vehicle to.
Myself, I would have no problem with get you home, or a short trip to the pub, as you describe.
If I was planning a long trip, at speed or on arduous terrain, I would certainly fix the centre diff before departure, then no problem.

Turboman said:

Where I have seen more problems is with getting the inside part of the broken half shaft out.

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Turboman said:

So leave a piece of the shaft in the drive member, you could cut it off with a grinder if you were worried about the bit inside the axle.

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This is mine, and it would have been perfect for this...LOL, was actually surprised how easy the shaft came out, was onr of those , realy nice 10 minute fixes..

Cheers

neilly said:

This is mine, and it would have been perfect for this...LOL, was actually surprised how easy the shaft came out, was onr of those , realy nice 10 minute fixes..

CheersView attachment 196797

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Sheared off right where the splines start. As it happens, that is where the one on my Ninety went as well.

I used to drive about on tar with one half shaft out when I had a welded rear diff. did tend to pull a bit to the side with throttle on throttle off but I still had drive to one wheel.

With on open rear diff and a halfshaft out there will be no drive at the rear wheels. If the center diff is stuck locked or in diff lock you will have front wheel drive.

It'll be fine.

Turboman said:

Why do you need to use an impact wrench to remove a rear drive member? Socket, ratchet, speed brace, takes 5 minutes.

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You don't unless you want to do it as quickly as possible. I thought that was the point.
Either way I'd far rather slide underneath and whip a propshaft off (jacking helpful, but not essential), than pull out a half shaft (jacking essential).

Si Click said:

You don't unless you want to do it as quickly as possible. I thought that was the point.
Either way I'd far rather slide underneath and whip a propshaft off (jacking helpful, but not essential), than pull out a half shaft (jacking essential).

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Jacking is not needed to remove a halfshaft.

neilly said:

What about diff oil loss?

I have driven mine wiith a broken halfshaft for 20 Miles to get home, stuck it in Diff lock and was fine.

But I left the half shaft in to stop the diff oil coming out.

Cheers

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I’ll make up a little plate to cover the hole it leaves. I’ve remove it in the past and haven’t had a lot oil leak out of it so I think it should be fine.

JimmyOlds said:

I’ll make up a little plate to cover the hole it leaves. I’ve remove it in the past and haven’t had a lot oil leak out of it so I think it should be fine.

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How far are you planning on going like that?

JimmyOlds said:

I’ll make up a little plate to cover the hole it leaves. I’ve remove it in the past and haven’t had a lot oil leak out of it so I think it should be fine.

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Use a drive flange from something that doesnt have the flange as part of the shaft. Threse loads of them.

Halfshaft out/in is a damn sight quicker than a propshaft...its 5 bolts at the wheel. if your center diff is not locked you have no handbrake.....undo the last halfshaft bolt and the truck will roll away

EeEk said:

Use a drive flange from something that doesnt have the flange as part of the shaft. Threse loads of them.

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Any recommendations?

Cheers

almost all fronts, usually they have a rubber center cap on them, Disco/defender/rrc the early ones might need the holes drilled out a bit

I broke drive flange bolts on the back of my last 110 and had to run without the right driveshaft to get home and it pulled a fair bit to one side but that had a detroit rear locker and tru-trac front.

Pinion bearing gave up on my 130 recently so pulled both halfshafts and front prop on the side of the road and drove fine

You'll probably need to jack the back wheel a little when putting the halfshaft in again if center diff is locked to line up the bolts.

DaveM-sport said:

I broke drive flange bolts on the back of my last 110 and had to run without the right driveshaft to get home and it pulled a fair bit to one side but that had a detroit rear locker and tru-trac front.

Pinion bearing gave up on my 130 recently so pulled both halfshafts and front prop on the side of the road and drove fine

You'll probably need to jack the back wheel a little when putting the halfshaft in again if center diff is locked to line up the bolts.

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With a Detroit in the rear, the single wheel would be driving all the time, instead of just trailing.
I have had them before, excellent for traction.
Never needed to try it with one half shaft, though.

Turboman said:

With a Detroit in the rear, the single wheel would be driving all the time, instead of just trailing.
I have had them before, excellent for traction.
Never needed to try it with one half shaft, though.

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Yea, the locker gives amazing traction. Between that, the trutrac on the front combined with the 35x12.5 KM2s and 180odd bhp, there wasn't much that troubled it

I did find the trutrac gave a bit of torque steer on the road however and you'd notice the rear locker working against you a little if under power on longer corners or when towing but definitely worth it for the traction they gave.

I'm going ashcroft lockers on my 130 now though as will have a compressor for the air suspension anyway so might as well go air lockers.
Having the diffs open when not needed probably be an advantage anyway when it'll be on 37x13.5s for road manners and offroad to make the tame stuff abit more of a challenge as my 110 with the lockers and 35s made stuff abit boring other than the "watch this" or "hold my beer" moments

DaveM-sport said:

Yea, the locker gives amazing traction. Between that, the trutrac on the front combined with the 35x12.5 KM2s and 180odd bhp, there wasn't much that troubled it

I did find the trutrac gave a bit of torque steer on the road however and you'd notice the rear locker working against you a little if under power on longer corners or when towing but definitely worth it for the traction they gave.

I'm going ashcroft lockers on my 130 now though as will have a compressor for the air suspension anyway so might as well go air lockers.
Having the diffs open when not needed probably be an advantage anyway when it'll be on 37x13.5s for road manners and offroad to make the tame stuff abit more of a challenge as my 110 with the lockers and 35s made stuff abit boring other than the "watch this" or "hold my beer" moments

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The locker and tru trac made the steering a bit heavier on the road, but I just had 7.50 16s and low power, so it wasn't a problem.
The vehicle was mainly used around the farm anyway, I had others for the road.
I know what you mean, the lockers made most off road driving a bit boring, you didn't even have to put your fag down, just one hand on the wheel, steady revs, and it would plough through most things.