Ruby Range

Well-Known Member
on my way to Salisbury over the weekend and in slow traffic suddenly started to hear a metalic knocking which was rotaional under acceleration at slow speed. No vibration through steering wheel but could feel one through the chassis. No vibration through gearbox either. Problem is it seems to be erratic. Looked on a YouTube clip of a p38 with a knackered front diff and this seems to be the same sound as mine but do not believe this to be the case as its a real Chelsea tractor and never off road. Can anyone give me a direction to look at while I'm under the car at the weekend
 
Have a look at the UJs on propshaft see if any movement in them or signs of red rust around the joints and check tyres for blisters
 
cars is stood in the garage for weeks on end but all 4 tyres were changed about 1800 miles ago and are ok. This started to happen after id done about 70 miles. Would a uj be intermitting as it drove back from Salisbury to Kent fine but started again this morning coming out the petrol station
 
Whilst you are waiting for someone to come up with the actual problem which could take some time. Lift the car and check the prop shafts or get it checked in a garage. Waiting for one to detach to prove it's them is not a good idea.
 
One of my uj's became badly worn and made a very noticeable noise at about 30mph which became more horrible the faster I drove. Wammers is right, not sorting it is a bad idea. If the prop drops at the front end it will be catestrophic.

Col
 
Wammers understand what your saying and since I came back to kent at the weekend the car will sit in the garage till I have time to look at it Friday so certainly wont be using it till its fixed. As for the engine mounts there solid and as mentioned the noise is a rotational knocking not just a bang when taking up drive. Will let you know the result at the weekend when I have time to put it on jacks
 
Didn't some one else on here just have their front prop go bang after the garage checked his ujs and said they were ok ??? Just swop them out easy n cheap todo
 
I will say again. It is NOT POSSIBLE to check prop shafts for play unless one wheel on each axle is lifted to take load off them. Only then can play be detected if any exists. Lift a wheel get someone to rock it back and forth whilst feeling for play on the joints. When lifting a rear wheel chock the other one or car could roll away.
 
finally got the time to look under Ruby Range today and yes the rear UJ on the front propshaft has gone pop. Its actually worn the socket on the prop itself and so will need a new prop and UJs. Both Paddock Wood and 4x4 Island have these for about £100 but is it best to go for an original item off LR ??. Also dropped the oil in both diffs and was surprised at how crappy the oil in the rear diff was to the front.
 
finally got the time to look under Ruby Range today and yes the rear UJ on the front propshaft has gone pop. Its actually worn the socket on the prop itself and so will need a new prop and UJs. Both Paddock Wood and 4x4 Island have these for about £100 but is it best to go for an original item off LR ??. Also dropped the oil in both diffs and was surprised at how crappy the oil in the rear diff was to the front.

@MrGorsky tried a ****part prop from Island or similar but the balancing weights aren't in the right place. In the end he got one off a scrapper. You can always replace the UJs on that and it'll be cheaper and better.
 
Cheers Grrrrr I just assumed that if it was a new prop as long as it was balanced it wouldn't matter or am I just being niave ?? bit like thinking a range rover was a good idea :D:D
 
Cheers Grrrrr I just assumed that if it was a new prop as long as it was balanced it wouldn't matter or am I just being niave ?? bit like thinking a range rover was a good idea :D:D

It might be. IIRC the originals are out of line and the cheapo ones are in line. It was different so we never risked it and just sent it back. After what happened to my ****part shock (it snapped!) I wouldn't want that happening with something spinning that speed under the car.
 
sorry yourve thrown me now what did you mean by in and out of line ??? know what you mean about them breaking while driving, saw a pic of an american whos front prop broke while on the freeway and last pic shows 3 inch hole in the passenger foot well !!!
 
On the original LR ones, the front and rear UJs are slightly out of phase. The pattern ones are in phase. That is to say when the rear UJ lobes are pointing straight up, the front ones are too, on the LR ones the two are slightly out. When the rear points to 12 o'clock the front points to 2 o'clock. It's done to stop vibration or something. You can Google it for more info.

Whether it makes any difference or not I'm not sure, but as the two were different when laid next to each other I didn't want to risk it. I got one off a low mileage scrapper for less than a Britpart one. It's been fine ever since.

If it's just the UJs that are worn you can replace them with good quality OEM Ujs for about £12 each. Much much much cheaper!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 8ha
sorry see what you mean now. yes would much prefer to have an OM one so will sort a new or good second hand one over the holiday.
 

Similar threads