Defender Source Forum banner

Time for a proft shaft rebuild?

Tags
rebuild
1K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  brettm 
#1 ·
Don't judge, I'm new at this mechanical stuff...

So I decided to grease my u-joints for the first time since doing my own oil changes (~12 mo) Here's what I found:

1. Both the front and rear shaft have a u-joint with one Zerk missing and one u-joint with a Zerk in place. There is a hole on the missing ones where it looks like a nipple might have broke off.

2. The spline Zerk seemed to take grease fine and squirted out of the rubber boot. However, for the u-joint Zerks - I struggled to get them to take grease. I unscrewed the zerk and cleaned it - and confirmed it would take grease when it was off the uj. However, when I put it back on - it seemed to take grease for a bit then squirted out of the gun nozzle/fitting vs. coming out somewhere else.

It's my first time using a grease gun, and I got this one from Amazon and am using the rigid connector and pushing hard against the Zerk. Not sure if this is normal for greasing a uj.

3. There doesn't seem to be any play in the joints - all seems solid.

So... what would you guys do - should I try and extract the broken Zerks, replace & re-grease. Or would you rebuild the shaft with all new UJ's at this point?
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Well, so no one else jumped on this grenade...

If it works, don’t fix it comes to mind. No play, no missing parts... may want to just leave it.

If you DO want to change, it is a job you can do most of in your driveway. The most important thing is to use a paint pen/sharpie and mark where shafts mate to yokes so it goes back in just like it came out. Especially on slip/sliding joints.

You may be able to press out UJs with vise, or take to local garage or machine shop.

https://www.landroverworkshop.com/diagrams/axles-suspension/propshafts/propshaft-front_52611

https://www.landroverworkshop.com/diagrams/axles-suspension/propshafts/propshaft-rear_52612

Grease gun should slip-fit onto zerk, and not have to be held in pressure onto zerk. Add grease until boot shows slight movement. You do not really want grease to come squirting out of seal.

Did you also lube all other zerks? Good time to do it. See if you have a zerk on rear suspension top link ball joint. That’s a fun one!
 
#3 ·
Thanks. I think my first line of defense will be to replace the broken zerk and keep a close eye on the u-joints for deterioration, and go from there. If is ain't broke - don't fix it, right?

There are other zerks under there... I'll have to hunt around when the rain stops.
 
#4 ·
Almost a year to the day, I finally got around to buying some UJs (Napa only had 2, so needed to order another pair) and rebuilt my rear half shaft yesterday.

Sure glad I did - while it seemed fine on the truck / no play, the UJ with the broken zerk was very stiff. Upon disassembly it was a rotted-out bone-dry rust fest ready to explode on me.

Can't wait to fix the front shaft. Got the little prop-shaft tool from Atlantic British - made it much easier to deal with getting nuts out.
 
#6 ·
Good job. The best way to live the slide shaft is to pull almost all the way apart and grease by hand the zero only applies greas to one spot and that’s what you get.
Adjusted this for you. Spelling errors left alone
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top