standardthread Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 42 minutes ago, Banksy82 said: The car had been 'restored' a couple of owners back and I have very little info on what had been done. There is a moral for us all in this. Very few of us document and pass on the history of what has been done to the cars we own. Good to know you are making progress, correct tool for the task saves a lot of hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banksy82 Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 All parts checked over and it looks like the only incorrect part is the one short driveshaft so not the end of the world. Not going to be fixed for the weekend but maybe before Christmas! It seems prudent to replace bearings and overhaul the UJ when replacing the shaft. I have heard horror stories about UJ spiders - Does anyone have any input on the best ones to get (or ones to avoid!) Thanks Karl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire_spam Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 16 minutes ago, Banksy82 said: It seems prudent to replace bearings and overhaul the UJ when replacing the shaft. I have heard horror stories about UJ spiders - Does anyone have any input on the best ones to get (or ones to avoid!) I think @Clive did a comparison but I can't remember whether it was on here or on Sideways (or even somewhere else!) IIRC it was pretty much "you get what you pay for" and the heavy duty Freelander ones were the better bet. I'll have a search and see if I can find the details. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 5 minutes ago, yorkshire_spam said: I think @Clive did a comparison but I can't remember whether it was on here or on Sideways (or even somewhere else!) IIRC it was pretty much "you get what you pay for" and the heavy duty Freelander ones were the better bet. I'll have a search and see if I can find the details. I did indeed. I ended up buying these Which are the top end of GKN uj quality. I got a bargain at about £20 each at the time, double that now. In a freelander box they double again in price (though the very same part in the box) After that genuine GKN are about £20 but are the middle spec. Avoid "powertune" QH etc like the plague. Koyo, GKN, Hardy Spicer are all good. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banksy82 Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 Thank you very much Gentlemen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Interesting. Clive do you know if theres a physical difference internally between those heavy duty Freelander ones and standard? Ive seen the spider arms are beefier and theres more rollers in a similar comparison using the larger TR6 universal joint so assume its the same for that one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 No grease nipple on teh proper ones, I guess it weakens them, and usually regreasing only gets to 1 or 2 cups. The spider does look beefier, and the cup seals are different. I guess teh metal quality may be better too? When I took the prop to be balanced the chaps eyes lit up as he immediately recognised they were proper stuff. Apparently they have people asking to fit £5 ujs, which they are not interested in doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Am I safe in saying best to use the HD ones on the prop while the half shafts can use ordinary good quality ones? You dont want to be changing the prop ones more than absolutely necessary because of out of balance risk plus they have a harder life as well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banksy82 Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 5 minutes ago, glang said: Am I safe in saying best to use the HD ones on the prop while the half shafts can use ordinary good quality ones? You dont want to be changing the prop ones more than absolutely necessary because of out of balance risk plus they have a harder life as well.... Looking at the design it looks like the half shafts are essentially the bottom link to the rear upright so I would imagine these see more load 'down the shaft' than the prop does? I'd be tempted to use the HD ones on the half shafts! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 dont know as each half shaft is, on average, only transmitting half of the drive while the prop has all of it. Also the prop hardly needs UJs as the angular movement is so low so I always think the wear is concentrated in a very small area of the bearing surface while for the half shafts its more spread out so they last longer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Halfshaft UJs see approximately 4x the torque of the prop shaft (multiply by diff ratio), and more angle change to accommodate and the suspension loads to handle at the same time…. They do run at lower speeds though. I’d say the the driveshaft UJs are the harder working and more critical component. This seems to be supported by the failure rate in the real world! Don’t skimp…… Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 1 hour ago, glang said: dont know as each half shaft is, on average, only transmitting half of the drive while the prop has all of it. Also the prop hardly needs UJs as the angular movement is so low so I always think the wear is concentrated in a very small area of the bearing surface while for the half shafts its more spread out so they last longer? Propshaft UJs rarely have issues. (mine is a special case, 3xstd power and an abusive driver) but having spoken to propshaft specialists, the 1140 series UJs are fine for 200+bhp, probably a lot more, But as Nick says, the halfshaft UJs seem to fail with regular monotony, they are highly stressed. So top spec UJs are essential if they are to have a good life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 ok thanks👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banksy82 Posted December 18, 2022 Author Share Posted December 18, 2022 I am struggling to track down a decent used long driveshaft. There are a few on eBay with trunnion / bearings still attached and I am a little worried that the shaft surface may be damaged. I'm considering some of the new options but have heard that the yoke to shaft connection on some are questionable. Best I could see it that the Fitchett offerings are okay. Does anyone have any opinions on this either way? (Or a redundant long half shaft languishing in the corner of the garage they want to sell - I've put a request on the 'wanted' pages. Thanks All Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpeg.b15b81ef10abeea1c3039ae03c4a9f3a.jpeg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.