1993 Defender 90

Just put jack under axle at one side,chock other side front and rear to prevent movement.
As Defender handbrake is on the rear shaft once any one wheel is off the ground vehicle can move.

you can jack anywhere on the axle, but best to avoid the radius arms on the front, and trailing arms on the back to prevent additional stresses to the bushes. But anywhere on the axle tube or under the diff is fine. As said above make sure the wheels both front and back are well chocked as it will roll once a rear wheel is lifted.
I jack it so the wheel is only just off the floor and then laying underneath it you can use a foot to turn the wheel while you have two hands free with spanners to swear at the prop bolts which have just rounded off rather than coming undone .

dag019 said:

you can jack anywhere on the axle, but best to avoid the radius arms on the front, and trailing arms on the back to prevent additional stresses to the bushes. But anywhere on the axle tube or under the diff is fine. As said above make sure the wheels both front and back are well chocked as it will roll once a rear wheel is lifted.
I jack it so the wheel is only just off the floor and then laying underneath it you can use a foot to turn the wheel while you have two hands free with spanners to swear at the prop bolts which have just rounded off rather than coming undone .

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Thanks, Just spent two hours and even got out the breaker bar and nothing. The special tool wouldnt go over the nuts so had to use a 15mm socket which didnt work. It was just mashing the nuts.
The two nuts with their sides smashed in already had absolutely no change. The socket wouldnt even sit on them.
This is the rear part of the front propshaft. Are the nuts/bolts on the wrong way round? I thought the bolt bit would be the accessible part :-\



I dont know what my options are now. :\ Cut the nuts off but even then i cant see the bolts coming out?
Or just get it on a tow truck and get it out to a garage so they can do the prop shaft, head gasket and full service?



Oh and to top it all off tonight i replaced one indicator bulb which wasn't working. New Bulb didn't fix it so pulled out the mount thing and found one wires sheath was cut. Not sure if that would stop it working but that meant something else not fixed.
and i tried to change the back windscreen wiper blade but i'm guessing you have to get the rear spare off ? and i ain't got sockets that massive.

ill have a go at the injector washers tomorrow, surely something has to go right for me at some point!

Peat76 said:

Thanks, Just spent two hours and even got out the breaker bar and nothing. The special tool wouldnt go over the nuts so had to use a 15mm socket which didnt work. It was just mashing the nuts.
The two nuts with their sides smashed in already had absolutely no change. The socket wouldnt even sit on them.
This is the rear part of the front propshaft. Are the nuts/bolts on the wrong way round? I thought the bolt bit would be the accessible part :-\

View attachment 149188

I dont know what my options are now. :\ Cut the nuts off but even then i cant see the bolts coming out?
Or just get it on a tow truck and get it out to a garage so they can do the prop shaft, head gasket and full service?



Oh and to top it all off tonight i replaced one indicator bulb which wasn't working. New Bulb didn't fix it so pulled out the mount thing and found one wires sheath was cut. Not sure if that would stop it working but that meant something else not fixed.
and i tried to change the back windscreen wiper blade but i'm guessing you have to get the rear spare off ? and i ain't got sockets that massive.

ill have a go at the injector washers tomorrow, surely something has to go right for me at some point!

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Are you using 9/16th spanners ?

Dippypud said:

Are you using 9/16th spanners ?

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I had a 9/16th spanner on standby to hold the other side once I got one side cracked but couldn't crack one side so never got to the point of holding one side with the spanner.

Was it doing it wrong ?

Been quoted 108 quid to get the landy down to the garage. Bugger

Peat76 said:

I had a 9/16th spanner on standby to hold the other side once I got one side cracked but couldn't crack one side so never got to the point of holding one side with the spanner.

Was it doing it wrong ?

Been quoted 108 quid to get the landy down to the garage. Bugger

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Two quality 9/16 ring spanners should unscrew them no problems. If not, cut the nuts with a hammer and a sharp cold chisel.
Looks like you might have been using cheap chinese spanners from the look of the nuts. Metric won't undo them.

Tried that special tool and it wouldn't even go over the nut. It would go over the other side bolt heads but that wasnt budging either

Peat76 said:

Tried that special tool and it wouldn't even go over the nut. It would go over the other side bolt heads but that wasnt budging either

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I have heard of the tools, but never used one. The spanners always work for me. It helps if you rotate the props to get the nut and bolt at the bottom.

Yeah I spent all my effort trying the one at the bottom. I'll sharpen my cold chisel and try that method ta

The tool needs to go on where the prop joint is at its widest angle.At the gearbox end this is on top of the joint and at the bottom for the diff end.Have another go at these positions tapping the tool on to the nut before turning. Good luck.
The bolts at the gearbox end are trapped and will not turn,only the nuts can be turned.
If bolts need renewal the gearbox the drive flange will need to be removed.

tottot said:

The tool needs to go on where the prop joint is at its widest angle.At the gearbox end this is on top of the joint and at the bottom for the diff end.Have another go at these positions tapping the tool on to the nut before turning. Good luck.
The bolts at the gearbox end are trapped and will not turn,only the nuts can be turned.
If bolts need renewal the gearbox the drive flange will need to be removed.

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I would go with the above method before trying to split the nut however I would alter it ever so slightly.
Rather than "tapping the tool" to get it to seat on the nut, bloody well clatter it, hard, with the largest hammer you can find to get the nut to fully go into it. (the nut can be removed from the tool once loose by using a new bolt to grip it and pull it out)
Also although @tottot is correct that the bolts are captive and should not turn, I have managed to round off the corners of the bolt head when a nut is particularly stuck. I would still hold a spanner on the bolt head as a precautionary measure.

If the above does not work you can carefully with a hacksaw cut off the bolt heads, to replace them you will need to remove the gearbox drive flange, but this is just one large nut which you will see once the prop is removed so is not a big or difficult job.

Might be getting a little ahead of things, but to prevent this happening again make sure when you refit it you cover the bolts in copper grease before fitting the nuts.

Peat76 said:

and i tried to change the back windscreen wiper blade but i'm guessing you have to get the rear spare off ? and i ain't got sockets that massive.

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You will need a 27mm socket, same as the other wheel nuts. If you don't have one the best bet is to buy the cheapest deep impact socket you can. I don't usually advocate cheap tools but impact sockets are stronger than normal ones so a cheap impact socket will be more than adequate for use with hand tools.

Progress!! I have 2 nuts off the gearbox end the two that had been mashed by the propshaft. The other one is a mess so am resorting to cutting it off. I've got halfway thru and got stuck annoyingly.
Question is how the poo do u get at the nut behind the little pokey sticky out thing from the uj? Two spanners ain't cutting the mustard. I've only got anyway by doing as you lot said. Belting the tool on with a hammer so do I cut that little weird thing off ?

Peat76 said:

little pokey sticky out thing from the uj?

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You mean the grease nipple? if so , remove the grease nipple iirc 8mm socket.

Cheers

Thanks. I've got a 8mm spanner but it looks massive compared to that tiny grease nipple thing. I've got 7 nuts off or loose now it's just that bugger to try get off tomorow.
Hopefully I've got a 8mm socket and it pops right off.

Then I'll have to get that flange bit off from what dag said.
Hopefully I can then put new propshaft on.

BTW when I have it jacked up is it ok to put it in gear to stop.the prop shaft turning or will I be messing. Something up. In the gearbox or anywhere else ?

Peat76 said:

Thanks. I've got a 8mm spanner but it looks massive compared to that tiny grease nipple thing. I've got 7 nuts off or loose now it's just that bugger to try get off tomorow.
Hopefully I've got a 8mm socket and it pops right off.

Then I'll have to get that flange bit off from what dag said.
Hopefully I can then put new propshaft on.

BTW when I have it jacked up is it ok to put it in gear to stop.the prop shaft turning or will I be messing. Something up. In the gearbox or anywhere else ?

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You should be able to unscrew the grease nipple with pliers, it should be well lubricated.

That's off and prop shaft is finally out! . (3 days later)
What size socket is that massive nut on the gearbox flange ? Biggest I have is 27mm and it's not big enough . Also do I put any grease in where the prop shaft has come off the front diff (?) ? In there looks well dry. If so what type of grease ?

Peat76 said:

That's off and prop shaft is finally out! . (3 days later)
What size socket is that massive nut on the gearbox flange ? Biggest I have is 27mm and it's not big enough . Also do I put any grease in where the prop shaft has come off the front diff (?) ? In there looks well dry. If so what type of grease ?

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Not sure about the nut size, you could measure it.

Put a smear of grease in when you put the drive member back on, just regular lithium grease.
And don't forget to grease up the UJs thoroughly via the nipples when you have refitted the propshaft.

Peat76 said:

That's off and prop shaft is finally out! . (3 days later)
What size socket is that massive nut on the gearbox flange ? Biggest I have is 27mm and it's not big enough . Also do I put any grease in where the prop shaft has come off the front diff (?) ? In there looks well dry. If so what type of grease ?

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30mm no grease between the joint faces

jamesmartin said:

30mm no grease between the joint faces

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Fair point. You interpreted his post better than I did. I thought he meant behind the drive member.