How much prop shaft play?

Hey guys,

I have a 2003 Defender 110 on just under 100k miles.

With the vehicle sat with hand brake off how much rotational play is acceptable in the front and rear prop shafts? Mine seems pretty sloppy.

Cheers.

Hi,

Are you talking about play actually in the props themselves or do you mean in the transfer box? And the backlash between the front and rear props?

Cheers

Lying underneath and physically turning each prop from stop to stop.
Cheers.

armourermark said:

Lying underneath and physically turning each prop from stop to stop.
Cheers.

Click to expand...

Sorry Mate,

Still not understanding, it is still early here. Can you get a video of what you mean?
this is what mine was like for the backlash in the TBox. You can see both props here .

If you mean actually internally inside an individual prop, then no slack should be the answer.

Cheers

I have between 15 and 20 degrees on mine, and after over 10 years there have never been any problems.
@neilly is showing front and rear cumulative diff backlash

As above @Oldseadog is right , this is with all wheels off the ground and the CDL engaged.

Cheers

back lash in the diffs is different to play on the prop. any play in the cv joints or prop shaft splines is a no no a bit of slack in the transmission isn't uncommon

Yup, in the propshaft itself, as little as possible. There's often a tiny bit that one can just feel in the splines, but once there's enough to feel in the universal joints it's time to replace them. I've got about an eighth of a turn of slack on my propshaft and it's OK so far. Some people on here have talked about having considerably more. This slack is likely to be mostly in the splined components rather than the gears themselves. After all, the gears are fairly accurately machined and in some cases such as the crown wheels and pinions can be adjusted and shimmed to get the best mesh. Even if the teeth are badly 'stepped' it's unlikely to give more than a degree or two of movement. On the other hand, renewing splined components such as drive flanges and half shafts can cut down the amount of rotational slack a lot.

So how do you fix it? I have the same issue. 1990 Defender 90 200TDI

@Dutchy7

You really need to define exactly where the play is, then say if it is rotational or not, then decided if it is a real issue or not?.

Let us know what you have.

Cheers

neilly said:

@Dutchy7

You really need to define exactly where the play is, then say if it is rotational or not, then decided if it is a real issue or not?.

Let us know what you have.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Preferably with a video if he can, slip can occur all over the place, some is okay some is not

*slop

I mainly replied so I can follow the thread lol before I comment, as I have chased slop round mine quite a bit and it’s easy to improve things cheaply

I tried up loading the video but doesn’t want to work. The play is in both drive shafts rotational. It’s the clanking when I shift that is the most concerning. Would it be the rear frame ball joint?

Dutchy7 said:

I tried up loading the video but doesn’t want to work.

Click to expand...

Put the video in youtube then post the link here..
A frame ball joint can be a culprit for knocking , was on mine, but it really was only feelable when the unit was disconnected.

Where abouts in the drive shafts ( assume you mean the props).

Cheers

drive or prop shaft?

The Mad Hat Man said:

drive or prop shaft?

Click to expand...

Prop shafts

Can you move one yoke against another? Can you detect any play actually in the propshaft?
One way is to use a lever, anoth is to put your hand across the yokes and see if you can feel any differential movement bewteen the yokes.

Virtually all the play you have there is in the transfer box./diff, which although a lot, isnt excessive..... rather - I have seen worse.

now you need to apply the handbrake to lock the rear and check the rear propshaft.

The Mad Hat Man said:

Can you move one yoke against another? Can you detect any play actually in the propshaft?
One way is to use a lever, anoth is to put your hand across the yokes and see if you can feel any differential movement bewteen the yokes.

Virtually all the play you have there is in the transfer box./diff, which although a lot, isnt excessive..... rather - I have seen worse.

now you need to apply the handbrake to lock the rear and check the rear propshaft.

Click to expand...

I have locked the rear and nothing. When it’s not locked it does the same thing. If it’s in the diff and transfer box What fixes it??

rebuild/replacement diff and Tbox.

pm @jamesmartin