Propshafts - What to do ?

Hi All

advice please
3 out of 4 UJ's in my props are shot but the splines and props are good relatively new. Unfortunately they aren't original LR so can't just but off the shelf UJs without measuring them and currently struggling to get them out without a few more tools.

im not sure if the yoke is damaged as the vibration was quite bad and on uj when the cap is off the internal shaft is no longer round and theres no sign of any needle bearing ! must have been seriously close to comping apart !

I have a 2 inch lift and the from prop is a wide angle it would be handy to have a wide on the back too.

so I'm tempted to buy 2 new props so in future all 4 ujs will match and easy to source etc. any recommendations on make ?

do second hand propshafts sell and is it worth it if i were to check them over and replace the ujs (£60) on just the ujs to buy decent branded GKN Hardy Spicer

Bailey Morris
I had a lot of rumbling on mine before but fitted both & no more rumbles.
http://www.paddockspares.com/off-road/wide-angle-propshafts/defender.html
if your feeling rich, if not measure them

New ones is the way to go, no hassle and an easy job.
Ive used the cheap props from paddock on the 90 and the series all with no issues.

I've had a cheap (Britpart, what else?) propshaft whose bearings wore away. Yes, the spindles on the spiders can assume all kinds of interesting shapes. It's a wonder they work at all in some cases. I replaced the bearings with Hardy Spicer branded ones and it has been fine since. Those spiders with roller bearing caps come in a variety of standard sizes, so if you can get some reasonably accurate measurements off your existing ones with a vernier calliper or suchlike you should be able to specify exactly what you need.

Brown said:

I've had a cheap (Britpart, what else?) propshaft whose bearings wore away. Yes, the spindles on the spiders can assume all kinds of interesting shapes. It's a wonder they work at all in some cases. I replaced the bearings with Hardy Spicer branded ones and it has been fine since. Those spiders with roller bearing caps come in a variety of standard sizes, so if you can get some reasonably accurate measurements off your existing ones with a vernier calliper or suchlike you should be able to specify exactly what you need.

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I think you will find all the britpart props are UK made, unless of course that has changed?
Dont forget props need greasing often and every time after off roaded, mine have been fines for years.

Ha well Im avoiding Britpart like the plague !

After stripping the old props (can't believe how bad two ujs were considering I grease them fairly often) and measuring the ujs which are different on my two props I've decided after some research (double / single carson, degrees, slip length , uj size etc) I'm buying two new wide angle prop shafts from paddocks made by Bailey Morris. this will give me 3 props (2 wide front 1 wide rear) which all use the same size ujs giving me a hot swap front prop and the benefit of only needing 1 type of easy available replacement uj (82 x 27mm) GKN, Bailey Morris and other makes all do this size.

ive also found the wide angle props easier to work on the wider yokes make it considerably easier to grease and strip.

Im also going to increase how often i grease them

richard_paradox said:

Ha well Im avoiding Britpart like the plague !

After stripping the old props (can't believe how bad two ujs were considering I grease them fairly often) and measuring the ujs which are different on my two props I've decided after some research (double / single carson, degrees, slip length , uj size etc) I'm buying two new wide angle prop shafts from paddocks made by Bailey Morris. this will give me 3 props (2 wide front 1 wide rear) which all use the same size ujs giving me a hot swap front prop and the benefit of only needing 1 type of easy available replacement uj (82 x 27mm) GKN, Bailey Morris and other makes all do this size.

ive also found the wide angle props easier to work on the wider yokes make it considerably easier to grease and strip.

Im also going to increase how often i grease them

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You should be fine now you have the new shafts. Very hard work on ujs if the shaft was right on limit of articulation all the time, or only just short enough, or partly seized slider!
If I go out laning, and drive through more than about six inch deep water, I will grease the nipples immediately I come home. Sometimes a few drops of muddy water will squeeze out of the joint when you do this!

Is it possible to have all the UJ's as greasable UJ's?

I just had to replace a UJ on my D2 front prop, it looked like a greasable UJ wouldn't fit because of the nipple that sticks out, so I just put a standard 1 in

LandyMan said:

Is it possible to have all the UJ's as greasable UJ's?

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Yes i believe so to install / remove the uj you have to have to remove the nipple to get enough clearance then refit after

LandyMan said:

Is it possible to have all the UJ's as greasable UJ's?

I just had to replace a UJ on my D2 front prop, it looked like a greasable UJ wouldn't fit because of the nipple that sticks out, so I just put a standard 1 in

Click to expand...

Always worry about the double Hookes joint in my D2 prop, no nipples, and could be cooked of grease by a huge exhaust box. If it packs in I shall replace with a greasable one!
As far as I know, it is possible to replace all with greasable except the rubber donut. Try greasing it, then removing the nipple and putting a plug in if all else fails.

richard_paradox said:

Yes i believe so to install / remove the uj you have to have to remove the nipple to get enough clearance then refit after

Click to expand...

Turboman said:

Always worry about the double Hookes joint in my D2 prop, no nipples, and could be cooked of grease by a huge exhaust box. If it packs in I shall replace with a greasable one!
As far as I know, it is possible to replace all with greasable except the rubber donut. Try greasing it, then removing the nipple and putting a plug in if all else fails.

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It's the double hook joint I was thinking of, it looked like there wasn't enough room for a nipple. Removing and plugging sounds like a good idea!

LandyMan said:

It's the double hook joint I was thinking of, it looked like there wasn't enough room for a nipple. Removing and plugging sounds like a good idea!
View attachment 91215

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Pretty sure a greasable setup is available for that!
Possible the nipple on the greasable spider is tapped pointing slightly toward the yoke, give a bit more clearance, but the grease and remove approach may be way to go.

Turboman said:

Pretty sure a greasable setup is available for that!
Possible the nipple on the greasable spider is tapped pointing slightly toward the yoke, give a bit more clearance, but the grease and remove approach may be way to go.

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I was worried the nipple didn't have enough clearance so just put a plain 1 in. I'll look into it a bit more as was in a rush to get it fixed and back on the road yesterday.

I think the grease and remove approach is a good way to go too.

LandyMan said:

I was worried the nipple didn't have enough clearance so just put a plain 1 in. I'll look into it a bit more as was in a rush to get it fixed and back on the road yesterday.

I think the grease and remove approach is a good way to go too.

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Sorry, wasn't clear from that pic that there was a hole for a nipple. I thought that was a standard one!

Turboman said:

Sorry, wasn't clear from that pic that there was a hole for a nipple. I thought that was a standard one!

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It is a standard 1, there is no hole.

I think the difference I had was the UJ with the nipple that I was going to fit was from a 110 and the nipple sticks up too much.

I've just had a look at a D2 UJ and even though the UJ is same size, the nipple doesn't stick out very much at all.

D2 UJ
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DISCOVERY-2-PROPSHAFT-UJ-UNIVERSAL-JOINT-NEW-JOINT-RTC3458/251083605160?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=33661&meid=82382b15daa649869f766b08bc28d755&pid=100005&rk=3&rkt=6&sd=251070475271

110 UJ
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-90-110-130-PROPSHAFT-UJ-UNIVERSAL-JOINT-NEW-UJ-JOINT/251070475271?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid=333008&algo=RIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=33661&meid=54f76154da0941f6935a2201641b7304&pid=100010&rk=2&rkt=19&sd=261519062050

you can see the nipples are different lengths