Vibration when propshaft fitted

Abelaston, that makes sense when i think about it, the two invidual shafts are balanced giving an overall balance no matter the postion of fitting and the VCU is constantly changing postion. The only thing to mess up the balance would be the Bearings/VCU/CV joint. I did actually take off the rear shaft yesterday and tried a couple of different positions and it made no difference. The thing that confuses me is that I never had the vibratrion prior to the garage changing the bearings, starting to think maybe something has been damaged in the process. Thanks for the theory, hold well with the keep it simple stupid school of thought.

heard the other day that if you put a jubilee clip on the prop just loose tight enough, when you drive the motor it will spin to where it's needed to balance the shaft, not sure if it's bollox but could cure your problem.

Hi I have this problem ..... new VCU fitted.....don't know what to do.....keep us posted

Hi and thanks for the input. During past couple of days I have tried to realign the VCU bearings and moved round the postion of the rear prop. No difference noticed. Today I removed the rear prop and took it out for a test, same problem around 40 mph but not as loud, assume this will be due to the vibration not being referred through to the rear shaft. Got the car booked in with the local LR dealer (Frank Ogg) on Friday, I've run out of ideas and I think its gonna start getting expensive soon.

I agree with James Martin I replaced mine vcu and never marked them as I new it would not matter and have had no problem with vibration

hi all when we refurbish carden shafts ( props ) the splines should be aliened back in exactly the same position as they came off generally there is 2 dimple marks one on each side these must be in line with each other, the reason been is the carden shafts are balanced when first manufactured then dimpled at these to points. Put them in a different position and they vibrate like hell unless you were born under a lucky star. This is the case for machinery so i should see why the same doesn't apply to a car.

Lossie-Rover said:

Hi and thanks for the input. During past couple of days I have tried to realign the VCU bearings and moved round the postion of the rear prop. No difference noticed. Today I removed the rear prop and took it out for a test, same problem around 40 mph but not as loud, assume this will be due to the vibration not being referred through to the rear shaft. Got the car booked in with the local LR dealer (Frank Ogg) on Friday, I've run out of ideas and I think its gonna start getting expensive soon.

Click to expand...

Do you mean you removed the complete VC and prop assembly or just the rear section leaving the VC and front section in place?

Hello, I took the rear propshaft off and left the rest connected. You're gonna tell me I shouldn't have done that aren't you? hope not anyway (nervous lol)

Lossie-Rover said:

Hello, I took the rear propshaft off and left the rest connected. You're gonna tell me I shouldn't have done that aren't you? hope not anyway (nervous lol)

Click to expand...

No not at all, I suggest you now try it with the rear section and VC in place and the front section removed. If the vibration is no longer there this might narrow it down the that front tripod joint.

Pheewwww, that was a relief, thought you may have said that it was a big no no. I'll have a go at that today and see what the result is, may save me a few quid before it hits the main stealers. Thanks Chaser.

Hi keep us posted ..... I fitted a new vcu and have a some vibration above 50mph ..... although sometimes it vanishes altogether and is super smooth .... strange. When looking at VCU there is only 4 and aft adjustment ..... I was reasonably carefull ensuring the bearing carriers were parallel. When refitting VCU I assume the tightening of VCU is done last of all to ensure it is as relaxed as possible.

Front prop removed today and vibration still there although not as bad (same thing happened with the rear removed and front fitted) I'm assuming that either the bearings have been damaged or are still out of alignment or its a problem with the VCU? Will let you know. Front Gaiter was split as well so this will need attention.

So yes logic indicates you should be casting a very critical eye over the VC and its mounts. Not sure what you could expect to find though, the VC itself seems and unlikely cause. Once you have it off give the bearings a spin and check if they're smooth, true and undamaged.

When I first read this thread I thought drive shaft .This was my thread http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/new-wobble-thread-96384.html I don't know at what point in the thread I found the cause,but it describes the symptoms of a knackered drive shaft.

Hello Chaser.

Cheers for that, I did give the drive shafts a tug earlier on when the wheels where off the ground and it didn't seem to move a great deal. Will bear it in mind though. Cheers

Car back from the LR dealer, what a waste of time, lighter to the tune of a fair few hundred quid for them to give me the car back exactly the same. I gave them the car with the front prop off (see last post) They changed the front VCU bearing as this made a different noise to the rear one, test drove it and the vibration didn't start until 60mph?? Tried to get me to change the 3 uj's but these were only fitted about 50 miles back and are LR parts. Had the rear wheels balanced (even fleeced for that) and no change to symptoms.
LR tech baffled at this point and I was getting frightened after 3 hours labour and a VCU bearing. Front Prop refitted and no change. Took the car home. I'm gonna remove the rear prop again tomorrow and see if I had two faults, one being masked by the front bearing although I'm not confident just desperate and fuming as this has achieved very little at great expense.

I can empathise totally with you.

I was ripped off my Mr Ogg a couple of years ago, and never again.

No confidence in that workshop at all I'm afraid - only interested in max profit, customer satisfaction is way down the list.

I'm just sorry I can't come up with any new ideas for you to try.

know anyone with a similar vehicle? try another prop assy in return for beer tokens

Chaser, I don't know anybody with another Freelander but have just bought a used one from a dealer on Ebay for £34, I'll slave that in either it will cure the fault or failing that I can put it back on Ebay.
Chaser/Singvogel, I managed to get the rear prop off tonight before the snow hits..groan. Gave it a quick test an couldn't get the car to reproduce the same fault???
There was a bit of vibration but nothing like the original symptons. I'm wondering if this may be the rear bearing at fault or if I'm looking for noises and vibrations. I'll try the replacement prop first before I go buying yet another bearing. Needing a brandy tonight after the past few days! Thanks for the input.

are you saying you've bought a complete prop and viscous coupling for £34?