Rh Propshafts

[Guest Battery Bill]

After a successful weekend away at Smallways we drove to the shop and got quite a loud noise from within the tunnel area.

 

After further investigation we found the rear bearings on the propshaft were knackered

 

OK so we took it off tonight and we found something quite odd, As you can see in the pictures "Both" grease nipples have sheared off obviously the rear one had gone first because that end had completely knackered bearings, the front one was gone but the bearings were fine

 

We greased the bearings when we fitted the shaft so they have done about 10k surely thats not a problem!

 

Ho Hum. thats another bit to rob off the second 2B Mind you I'm not sure if I want to fit another RH item like this, or perhaps I'm just unlucky

 

Any suggestions?

[DAVE CASTLE]

At least it is circliped in and not crimped so you can push a new hardy spicer in.

Dave

[Guest Battery Bill]

Dave

So do you think its just bad quality then?

 

Wonder why I would not be too suprised

[Guest salty_monk]

You should be able to replace the joint & drill & tap for new grease nipples... Saw a piece on doing this in Practical classics once.

 

Yes it should last more than 10k. Most people I know who've taken RHE props to a "proper prop shop" say that they are poo so for a 100 quid or so it may be better just to do that...

 

Of course you could rob it from 2b #2 & then get a prop for a different engine for your one....

[Jon Bradbury]

Bill, I'm curious about this one.

 

Why would the grease nipples get sheared off? They clear the yokes in normal operation. The only thing I can think of is something off the road getting thrown up and trapped. I can surmise that once the nipple's gone the grease would tend to get flung out of the hole leading to a dry bearing that burns out. Is there any evidence of this on the under-body panelwork? But both ends? That's pushing chance too far.

 

Yours,

 

"Worried of Worthing"

[Guest Battery Bill]

Dan

Of course you could rob it from 2b #2 & then get a prop for a different engine for your one....

 

Exactly what we are doing

 

Jon

There is no evidence of stone damage, its very unlikely that a stone would get into the front end anyway, it Defiantly looks like:

1 The rear nipple sheared off

2 All the grease was thrown out the hole

3 It knackered the rear bearings

 

The front on the other hand just has a sheared nipple

 

I think I will probably put it down to nipple failure

So bit of advice everyone, Check your Nipples

[Guest timswait]

Very bizzare indeed. How can a grease nipple shear off, there shouldn't be any load on it? How much displacement would you need before the nipple contacts the joint, could the engine move enough to do it? Other than that some FOD getting into it seems the only real explanation.

I've heard of a lot of problems with the old RH props with the rubber doughnuts, but not with the double UJ ones. I've probably got the longest run 2B at over 17K miles, and haven't had any problems with the prop, unfortunately its not easy to get at to see if the nipples are still there....

[Guest Battery Bill]

Tim

You have to move the joint a "Lot" to get it anywhere near the nipple

 

Seems a bit coincidental that the bit of FOD knocked off "Both" nipples

 

If you look from the back you can see the rear one (If its still there)

[Snapperpaul]

I thought the props were made by Dunnings and Fairbanks not RHE?

If it seized momentarily you may have had an unlucky whip in the prop or did you have 2 faulty nipples that failed and let the grease out?

[Guest Battery Bill]

Paul

did you have 2 faulty nipples that failed and let the grease out?

 

Thats what I am putting it down to

[Jez Morton]

I had a similar issue with a broken grease nipple luckily I found it before I fitted the prop. The problem was the nipples where too long and got broke in the yoke, got some std items from local prop remanufacturer and no problems.

 

Jez

[Guest Battery Bill]

Jez

I agree the standard ones are really "looooong" so new ones will be fitted

They were not broken after we fitted them because we greased them up after fitment

[Guest Bazwaz]

So bit of advice everyone, Check your Nipples

 

 

So thats what Mitch was doing at smallways!

Barry.

[Guest Battery Bill]

[Guest chris brown]

It looks to me Bill that it has been running without grease for a long time. When I first greased mine it took ages to get all 4 bearings packed I got grease out of 3 but the 4th was a right pig in both cases. Ended up with about 1lb of grease all over the floor before I got it through but since then its been ok apart from the fact it takes about 1 hour to get to the front one which I repack once a year. About 20k and still ok, well it was today