Your thoughts on Halfshaft/Drive members

Greetings,

What are your thoughts on the supposed 'upgraded' rear halfshafts which are combined with the drive members as one unit? See attached image.
I believe LR did these as standard on some newer models.
Is this a worthy investment or am I better off with the separate halfshafts and drive members?
I have a Defender 110 W/ rover axle.

You don't give a year for your Fender.
However, I personally prefer the two pieces being separate, the halfshaft is then able to 'float' within in the drive flange spline ... but I've always had that configuration with the exception of one of my very early Series.

Ive always found the fixed cap makes checking the bearings more difficult as theres no flop/play in the joint which disguises bearing play.

LeftFoot said:

I have a Defender 110 W/ rover axle.

Click to expand...

The later defenders (Puma) have one piece shaft / flange in the 90. 110/130 have separate shaft / flange.

lynall said:

Ive always found the fixed cap makes checking the bearings more difficult as theres no flop/play in the joint which disguises bearing play.

Click to expand...

Makes sense. To be fair though, it would take only a couple mins to unbolt drive member bolts, remove half shalf assembly and check bearings. Not a deal breaker for me.

Wimblowdriver said:

The later defenders (Puma) have one piece shaft / flange in the 90. 110/130 have separate shaft / flange.

Click to expand...

Oh I see.. one-piece assembly for 90s whereas separate pieces for 110/130. That makes my decision easier.
What about quality of halfshafts? Stick to one particular brand or are they generally all the same? i.e. Britpart, Bearmach. In my opinion Land Rover branded is not an option.. too pricey.

My 1990 90 has two piece half shaft assembly's.

tottot said:

My 1990 90 has two piece half shaft assembly's.

Click to expand...

I think thats right for early motors, when the renamed it the defnder and it stopped being a toy they went one piece

Seriously though mate had an early 90 and it had some weird bits like double seals on the front swivels and I know he had a tough job getting some of them heavy duty drive members to suit the car.

LeftFoot said:

Greetings,

What are your thoughts on the supposed 'upgraded' rear halfshafts which are combined with the drive members as one unit? See attached image.
I believe LR did these as standard on some newer models.
Is this a worthy investment or am I better off with the separate halfshafts and drive members?
I have a Defender 110 W/ rover axle.

Click to expand...

std on 300 tdi on ,

lynall said:

I think thats right for early motors, when the renamed it the defnder and it stopped being a toy they went one piece

Seriously though mate had an early 90 and it had some weird bits like double seals on the front swivels and I know he had a tough job getting some of them heavy duty drive members to suit the car.

Click to expand...

double seal is a better than seal in stub axle it allows oil through to drive member splines,an issue with td5s

A little scary to comment after such giants as mr JamesMartin. Do You, guys, think this logic applies: when the half shaft and flanges are two separate parts, there is play between them and that saves the diff from more wear, as the energy is sent down the half shaft, which then hits the flange and the wear occurs more in between the flange and the half shaft. If those come in one part, all that energy is being sent directly into the meeting point of the diff and the half shaft. As I understand the half shafts are usually made of softer materials than the diff insides? But even in this case I would assume the wear in the diff is still greater with the one piece half shaft/flange. Is this logical?

With the one piece flanged halfshaft there is no 'in-out' motion at the hub, whereas with the two-piece, there is an allowance made which allows the halfshaft to 'float' a few thou.
I wuldn't think that there would be any detrimental effect by using either, especially as it will be the halfshaft splines which take up all the torque to transmit it backwards and forwards between the hub drive flange and the differential.
That is why the halfshaft splines wear out and how, on occasion, a falfshaft will break inside the axle casing due to a build up of constant tortional stresses (twisting motion)