TD5 90 rear axle rebuild

What should have been a quick prop change has become a full on rebuild.

Can someone please tell me whether these half shafts need to be replaced? I don't know what I should be looking for. I ordered a new ashcroft locking diff so dont want to damage it using worn halfshafts.

Thanks

Looking at my workshop manual there appear to be two locknuts with a spacer inbetween and then another spacer...but in reality I have one locknut (looks different to diagram) and one spacer. Has someone likely done an incorrect repair in the past?

Thanks

Was there a lock tab?

rather than the usual 2 nuts and a lock tab, it look like previous work on the hub ended up with the nut with the integrated locking flange thingy instead, which to my mind is a bloody great idea.

You need what you have in the last pic plus a lock washer and another nut as well.

no lock tab, just what you see in the pic. Same on the other side as well.

Later type set up?
Not familiar with that.

Ok.not used the flanged nuts. How was this locked to the stub? Was there a flat knocked in to stop it from undoing
I would go back to old school 2 nuts & lock tab. You can set these up easier.

The TD5 only had a washer and a nut which is called a steak nut when the nut is torqued up you flatten the end of the nut onto the shaft. there should be a spacer inbetween the two bearings when the nut is torqued the bearings come into contact with the spacer and set the preload. It's a better system than the old style 2 nuts and lock washer.

I have the same 1 washer and 1 nut setup on the front hub but wherever I look online and in my manual there appear to be the 'old' setup on the rear. I've had a look on albrit.de http://www.albrit.de/epc.cfm?PAGE=B05065&CAR=L1&SPRACHE=EN
and there are two locknuts. The workshop manual is also TD5 specific.

TorsionBhudda...the end of the nut seems to have been flattened.

TorsionBhudda said:

The TD5 only had a washer and a nut which is called a steak nut when the nut is torqued up you flatten the end of the nut onto the shaft. there should be a spacer inbetween the two bearings when the nut is torqued the bearings come into contact with the spacer and set the preload. It's a better system than the old style 2 nuts and lock washer.

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i wouldnt say its better its simpler as long as you dont swap the bearings and find the spacer isnt now the correct one

jamesmartin said:

i wouldnt say its better its simpler as long as you dont swap the bearings and find the spacer isnt now the correct one

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Do you mean the spacer between the bearings? After reading your post I´m concerned it may be wrong as the stub axle is quite badly worn on the backing plate bit. I will go and take some pics.

mikerajjers said:

Do you mean the spacer between the bearings? After reading your post I´m concerned it may be wrong as the stub axle is quite badly worn on the backing plate bit. I will go and take some pics.

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yes they are selective by size to give correct bearing load

They are both approx. 15,30mm. Attached are pics of the stub axles. The darker photo is the one that seems worse and the hub wobbled when I took off the wheel and half shafts.

Mine had the same as yours and mine is a 1987 Axle, Or has it been changed to TD5, How can you tell which axle you have ??

Yes, the later ones have a single nut with a flange that can be knocked down into a flat on the stub axle to stop it coming undone. However, I understand the thread is the same as the older two-nut ones and some people prefer to fit the two locking nuts with a tab washer in between instead. I was a bit sceptical of the single nut when I got my TD5 but everything's been fine these past 70,000 miles so they must be OK.

As regards the stub axle, in my experience the critical bit is where the seal runs, so there's a good, grease tight join. There's a seal inside the stub axle that bears on the half shaft which keeps the oil in the axle casing so the hub seals only have to cope with grease and are thus less likely to leak all over the brakes. If mine looked like yours I'd try 'em with new seals and they'd probably be OK. The distance between the inner and outer roller races is defined by the spacer, so minor imperfections in the stub axle are not critical.

The half shaft splines look good. When I replaced mine the old ones looked like a circular saw in cross section. Fortunately the half shafts seem to be made of harder metal than the drive flanges so the latter tend to wear more quickly. So check these as well. When worn they'll look a bit like the negative of a circular saw, if you see what I mean. The surfaces that push the car along get worn. Eventually the splines can start jumping but it doesn't look like you're anywhere near that point.

I beg your pardon, on re-reading your post I think you're showing us the diff end of the half shafts and I was talking about the outer end. But either way your splines look good.

Thank you Brown for your very detailed post! I've ordered new seals and stub axles as they weren't particularly expensive. I'm relieved the half shafts are ok...as all the bits add up to quite a bit of money. I have the one piece half shaft with integrated flange.

mikerajjers said:

Thank you Brown for your very detailed post! I've ordered new seals and stub axles as they weren't particularly expensive. I'm relieved the half shafts are ok...as all the bits add up to quite a bit of money. I have the one piece half shaft with integrated flange.

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If you're getting the stub axles, don't forget to order the little seal that goes in the back of them before they bolt onto the axle casing too. I did a thread on refurbishing my axles a while ago with lots of pictures, but I can't find it because the search facility is not working. I fitted Ashcroft limited slips (still going strong) and renewed a lot of the bearings and seals. Also useful is gasket sealant and all the relevant gaskets. They're only a few pence and it's much better than cutting them out of cardboard. I used sealant on both sides of the gaskets and to this day I have oil tight axles. Using just the gasket on its own often lead to leaks.