series 3 109 front propshaft

Hi all, my uncle & I did the front springs recently, drove for the first time y'day & got a horrible shock.
Drove the Landy forward & heard a horrible banging as I pulled away, the front propshaft had separated at the splines & was banging on the cross member & bottom of ally casing, gonna clean & see if there's any cracking or damage to propshaft etc. Got a haynes manual & a resto manual but they don't cover some bits.

My questions are ( & please forgive me if they sound a bit dumb, first landy, so learnig as I go on ) :

1 : Is it likely that the propshaft separated when the axle was lowered while doing the springs & we just didn't notice or has something else shifted/broken ?

2 : Is the a specific way the splines go together or just slot together anyway that'll fit ?

3: When splines are slotted back together should there be a cork or rubber seal, different you tube videos show different ones ?

Any help appreciated
Thanks, Herby

UJ journals each end should line up. Series props usually have a screw cap, I think there is some sort of felt/rubber seal in the cap.

Same part number as the 88. I think the splines will fit anyway but you might find the same line up before will be slicker. mine has the screw cap but can’t recall if it retained the prop from coming apart , it’s definitely come apart as you moved the axle as it couldn’t slip out once it’s all fixed in position. It’s only grease in there and can’t recall seeing a seal in mine

Had mine off yesterday to replace the boot. Being an aftermarket replacement it’s probably different from original. It has a screw on cap with a very fine thread that retains a rubber seal. Prop shafts are balanced so miss aligning may throw out the balance but there aren’t any marks to line up the splines back to factory position. I had to mark mine before separating. Obviously something you can’t do.

Journals each end should line up, so if it vibrates in one position a switch of 180 degrees should sort.

I don’t know if I got lucky but I had markings on the shaft and UJ’s so it was easy to line them up, albeit after a good clean with white spirit and a toothbrush. The replacement had little notches as well. Worth a look?