This was posted by John Robison of Robison Service on Discoweb.org. John writes a regular column for Rovers North in addition to owning/operating his own Land Rover shop.
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Now that they are getting to be 6-7 years old we are starting to see sudden explosive failures of the front driveshaft on DII models.

As you know, the driveshaft has a double u-joint that has no grease fittings. Five times last year we had DII vehicles towed in after that joint blew apart. When it broke the flailing shaft knocked holes in the transmission pan, the transmission case, the catalyst, and the floor.

Some of the repairs exceeded $6,000 when the transissions and cats were ruined.

The vehicles that failed were in the 70-120k mile range.

If you have a vehicle in this range I suggest you pull the front shaft and carefully feel the joints. If there is any notchy or tight feeling replace them before failure.

This? Is a problem for sure.

I recommend that any S.O. member with a DII and said propshaft, think about either retrofitting your stock front propshaft with lubrication fittings (which Wild Kingdom Off-Road can accomplish for $50 per shaft plus parts) or replacing it with a HD front propshaft of the like of Great Basin or something like Tom Woods offers.

The stock shaft is very stout and capable, but has been engineered to fail after time.

Dan

What happened to your subject line? Wierd.

Dan,

Can you balance propshafts as well?

--Craig

where could i get my shaft worked on?

sorry, i had to say that. anyhoo, i saw this info on dweeb and then read the responses to it. i was too scared to post any further questions. is there somewhere in the PNW that i could get my front driveshaft worked on? i know i don't need anything HD but serviceable u-joints sound like a good idea.

thanks.

andy

It's a good idea to get the work done. I have a '99 DII and had the front DC joint rebuilt with some nice, greasable Spicer UJ's a few years ago when I started to have some wobble in the front propshaft. I got the work done at a local driveline shop in Everett, WA back before Wild Kingdom was offering the service. The failure of the DC joint isn't that horrible and you could limp home on a single propshaft but the flailing propshaft ripping out your transmission, etc made it a simple decision for me to rebuild the propshaft.

http://www.drivelinesnw.com/
http://www.drivelinesnw.com/company_locations.html

They did a good job but, if I remember correctly, the cost was considerably more than was quoted by Dan earlier in this thread. But less than the HD replacement from Great Basin Rovers.

One other thing, replacing the UJ's in the DC joint is only part of the battle. The big DC joint itself also requires greasing. I couldn't get a greasable one when I had mine rebuilt so I had it replaced with a high-end "sealed for life" joint as well as two greasable UJ's. I know that this will eventually become an issue and I will need to either find a greasable DC joint or replace with a GBR front propshaft.

Rick

Sorry, I cannot balance them, but like Tardicus mentioned, driveline's northwest can. The one in Everett now has Rover flange adapters thanks to some Rover owner guy.

they will refit your shaft with lube fittings, new U joints and balance for about $125.

Dan

thanks for the info rick and dan. there happens to be a nw drivelines right near me. cool.

a

I went to drivelines NW and had them replace loose U-joints on my GBR upgraded shaft. They were kind of expensive but cheaper than a new shaft.

As Rick mentioned, the non-greasable u-joint itself is a problem in addition to the non-greasable u-joints. You can buy just this piece from Great Basin Rovers, have Dan assemble the whole thing (Or maybe Dan could order the part for you), and then get it balanced at any driveline shop. I'm guessing you'd save around $100 and get the whole meal deal.

Of course, one has to grease the u-joints in addition to replacing them. :-)

--Craig