Prop Shaft Uj's

[Guest Ant]

Hi all,

 

Next question before I attempt to fix the rear seal on my gearbox. Is it possible to split the UJ's on the RHE prop shafts? I remember seeing circlips in the ends of the knuckles. If I remove these is it straightforward to seperate the joint?

 

Anyone any experience of dismantling UJ's in propshafts?

 

Also, any comments on the following link:

 

http://www.baileymorris.co.uk/technical2.asp

 

Ant

[Guest Ianz]

Ant

 

I think the link explains things ,quite clearly...........

 

LEAVE IT TO THE PROFESSIONALS!!!!!!!

 

A UJ failing at speed do'nt bear thinking about,especially if the front

one goes.

 

By the way ,why do you feel the need to rip the propshaft apart?????

as long as its greased should last years.

 

Cheers Ian

[Guest Ant]

I need to replace the rear oil seal in my gearbox, and I'm thinking that if the tunnel side panel is removed and the prop shaft is dismantled then access is much much easier than moving the engine and having to disconnect coolant and fuel, drain oil, and have the exhaust manifold in the way.

 

the problem with the prop is that the flange on the back is bigger than the hole in the seat back panel, but dismantling a UJ means I don't need to touch this. Simply split the prop, remove the spline from the gearbox, and do the seal.

 

I'm now thinking that dropping the diff is easier than removing the engine, and then pulling the prop out backwards.

 

Any more ideas?

 

Ant

[Jez Morton]

I had to split a UJ to change form 4 to 5 speed output shaft.

Its a simple job really.

Remove circlips.

Carefully drive the cross to one side and remove the needle roller bearing cap (these sit against the circlips) taking care not to loose any of the needles.

Then drive it back the other way and you can then remove the other cap and separate.

Refitting is reverse plus squirt some grease in.

 

This is definately not a job to be done in the car as the caps are a tight fit.

 

Jez

[chris27]

Hi Mate

 

I had to change my prop shaft after it failed at the gearbox end on the way to the sva test.

 

luckily I was only doing 20 at the time

 

the easiest way to do it is to cut the floor under the prop shaft at the back and pull it out from underneeth after undoing the bolts to the diff.

 

All in all to take the old one out and fit the new one including patching the tunnel floor back up took me about 3 hours.....

 

its a lot easier than removing the diff or moving the engine and a lot safer than messing with the uj's

 

cheers

 

Chris

[Longboarder]

Having replaced UJ's several times in the past, history of Triumph Herald, two Spitfires and a GT6, I can honestly say I would rather eat my left arm uncooked while still attached than attempt to change a UJ on the car. They are enough of a pain in the butt on the bench, lots of hammering, levering, pulling and pressing and redoing when the needle rollers move out of alignment. Unbolting the diff may give enough room to remove the shaft backward. I can get it out on my series 3 by unbolting the rear flange and fiddling it about.

 

Nigel

[Guest Ant]

Ok, so the experiences of the experienced say don't touch the UJ's. In that case I'll unbolt the prop at the diff flange and take it from there. I don't want to disturb the seatbelt mounts which are in the tunnel (A U section bolted through the floor), so I reckon that dropping the diff, or swinging it down and backwards slightly may give me enough room to pull the prop back.

 

Hopefully make a start on this tonight. First job is take the top off the tunnel and remove the passenger tunnel carpet, and either the tunnel panel, or cut an "inspection" hole into it.

 

Ant

[Guest Ant]

Well I started on this job last night. Dropped the diff down by about 6 inches so it can be moved around and out of the way. I can now push the prop shaft into and out of the gearbox, but its very "reluctant" to actually come out. It seems to be stuck on the last part of its movement. I do remember it being quite a tight fit when it went on nearly 2 years ago. Any ideas?

 

Another problem is removing the trim panel from around the gear stick. I managed to round off the hex socket in two of the six stainless button heads. Any suggestions for getting these undone other than grinding their heads off? They're M4 so drilling into them and using a screw extractor is pretty impossible.

 

Third discovery is a problem with my fuel tank, but I'll describe that elsewhere.

 

Ant