Freelander 2 (LR2) Baffling (to me!) front Half-shaft/Axle Length Mystery! Too short, twice???

This is on my 2009 LR2. I bought a replacement halfshaft/axle for the right front. But when I went to replace it, it would not go far enough into the support bearing clamp... the one which is integral with the rear right motor mount. The cap will not go on, as the bearing is too far to the right.

At first I thought maybe the axle was not going in the transmission far enough, but it slid in nicely. Then I thought maybe the factory pressed the bearing too far on the shaft, but there is no room to move it to the left... the circlip stops it, even if I could budge it.

So I measured the distance from the left end of the axle, to the face of the bearing... and it is at least 1/4" or more to the right, than original! There is NO way this new axle would ever fit in my LR2, as the axle bottoms out in the transmission long before the bearing lines up with the support bracket. Well, much of the 1/4" is taken up by the splines, but still it is off by 1/8" or more.



OK, so I looked around and found this spec for that distance, on an autoparts site... not the place I bought mine. So mine original axle, taken from my LR2, is... given a small discrepancy (3/32") due to the angle of my ruler... correct and proper:



So I felt that the new axle was machined incorrectly, that the seat for the bearing was 1/4" or more to the right. I instigated a return, and need to send it back. But that process would take a couple of days, so I bought a SECOND axle, from a different vendor, shipped from a different state. It might be made in the same Chinese factory, IDK, but the brand name and box is different. And it looks to be manufactured differently.

But LO and BEHOLD... I just measured this new axle, and it is the same as the OTHER axle I am returning! It's measurements are off both the Autozone site dimension image, AND my original axle, by the SAME amount as the first axle! I didn't try, but this will not install. Here is a comparison image by placing both axles against one another, "end to bearing face":





OK... so clearly I am missing something here, that maybe should be obvious to me, and will result in me being very embarrassed about all this. But for the love of god, I can't figure it out. Maybe someone else has a clue? Here are my thoughts so far:

1) Both new axles were machined incorrectly. Improbable, I think, as by now it would be obvious and all over the internet, and I've seen nothing when searching for this. Also, the first vendor was baffled, and didn't believe that it could be "defective", which tells me that no one else has had this problem. I strongly doubt I happen to be the ONE person who go the ONLY TWO axles machined incorrectly, and by the same amount, in the same way!

2) Some parts of my Land Rover were switched out... like maybe the rear motor mount, or transmission, is from an Evoke, or Volvo XC90, or whatever? Well, no, that can't be... because the measurements of my old axle MATCH the specs on the Autozone site. That is, my old axle measures to the original factory dimensions, it seems. It is the two axles I bought which do not match.

3) For anyone wondering, this section of the axle is solid... I mean, it does not compress. It is solid steel from the tranmission splines, all the way past this support bearing, and to the first CV carrier. It cannot be shortened.

Anyway, I am not sure what to do. I may return the second axle, too, and buy the Autozone axle... which is more than twice as much as the ones I bought. And if I do that, I can bring a tape measure, and refuse the axle on the counter, even before paying for it, if it has the bearing at the same point as these two. But then what?

Any ideas? What could I possibly be missing here? And thanks in advance for any help or advice... Rich.

Noting you are in the USA but does this help in any way measurements at the bottom.


someone else may know the problem, does the hub need turning out to fit ?

Arctic2 said:

Noting you are in the USA but does this help in any way measurements at the bottom.

Shaft - Front Axle - LR062661 - BRITPART - Vitesse Land Rover Parts Shop

Shaft - Front Axle

vitesse-ltd.co.uk

someone else may know the problem, does the hub need turning out to fit ?

Click to expand...

Thanks, Artic, but they don't show the dimension that I am looking for, and have found on the US Autozone site. That is the 19 13/16" length, from the inner end of the axle to the face of the bearing.


But I would imagine it is the same as that, and as mine. I've bounced this problem around in my head, lost sleep over it... it makes no sense to me. And I'm ready to accept I'm doing something stupid, so open to anything.

The only thing I can come up with is this: A BATCH of these, machined wrong, have come out of China, and only recently hit the US market. They are being sold under different brand names, by different vendors. And it is so recently a problem that nobody is reporting on it yet.

And this would be the case if that ONE WRONG DIMENSION was being used in the factory that makes these.

OK, so that's a long shot, but that's all I gots... until someone else has some idea about this.

I wish the Autozone $260 one was in their stores, and didn't have to be ordered. I am not buying that one, because I would imagine it is just another Chinese one, possibly from the same factory, at 2 1/2 times the cost elsewhere. But if I could measure one of theirs, then I would know, for a fact, I'm not insane... actually, either way it would explain this, if you think about it:

If the Autozone one matches the Autozone posted dimension, then it shows conclusively that the two new ones I bought online are wrong; and if it does not match their own, posted, dimension, then it shows all three are wrong, and something is up at the factory that churns these out.

Anyway, I think I'm taking an hour and a half ride on my motorcycle today, to buy a used one in Connecticut. I can't be buying yet a THIRD online Chinese one of these... they say the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different outcome". So I'll go to the nearest used one, with my accurate tape measure, and only buy it if it matches mine... and there is no play in the CV joints, and the support bearing is quiet, of course...

This sucks. Thanks for the input, however! Rich



^^ Returning Axle Number one- Hopefully axle two will be returned in my LR2 ^^

OK... I may have a clue here: I've noticed that some sellers list these axles as for 2008-2012, or 2008-2011. Then others list them as up to a range of 2006-2015.

But axles after 2011/12, to 2015, are for different engine combinations... although I think they have the same, or similar, Aisan transmission. So what I think is happening here is that these resellers are mistakenly shipping the LATER type axle, which as the same inner and outer spline count, and overall length, BUT with this one bearing installed about 1/4" to the right.

The fact that there is such confusion over the two versions of axles might be the answer. My axle number is: LR002619

The 2012/13 to 2015 new axle number is: LR062654 There was an old version number, too: LR032113. when I looked up this variant, I could find few pictures... really only one so far... and none with the dimension I need. But I made a composite picture, and there are two clues that this is the case. First, the space between the support bearing and the inner roller cage/housing is far smaller on the later version, and that is what I found on both my non-fitting axles. Also, I had noted, but not mentioned (considering it inconsequential), that the bearing seems to have a slight "arc" to it, and is not flat as the original. That also seems to show in this picture:



I just wrote to the distributor of the second axle I bought... not the ebay seller, but the American distributor to the resellers. I gave them the serial numbers on the box, and explained this problem to them. I will post here if they get back to me.

One last thing for now: I think this may be the answer, as it seems, somehow, far more likely than that the factories made the same exact mistake. Also, the fact there are two numbers, but many sellers confuse the year range. And other points I've made above.

So I canned my trip to buy a used axle for now... I may have a converstation with some other ebay sellers, and see if they will double check their listing, and maybe that measurement, so I don't go through this again. Anyway, I go through all this detail in the hopes that if it happens to someone else, they will find this, and know what is going on. Well, when I know... Rich.

I just got off the phone with the parts guy at the US distributor of PDL Professional Driveline Axles, and gave him the part number on the box their axle comes in: 1700-684725. I was actually surprised when he looked it up, and told me it was for "2008 to 2013 Land Rover LR2's".

So either I AM insane, or PDL, has, like many ebay and other resellers, fallen victim to a batch of a later type axle, and are packaging them as 2008-2012/13, and then, the problem will become more widely known. Really, that seems unrealistic... I guess I'm back to buying a used one? Crap. Such a waste of time and energy... hope it's not my fault, I'll have to fire myself as mechanic, and I'm the only one who works in my shop.

Another interesting tale of international espionage and subterfuge.

Without knowing much about these drive shafts, I've simply been an avid watcher till we get towards the last episode and I can make my accusations.

TBH I think someone in the technical documentation dept. at JLR has probably f**ked up. I presume all the parts suppliers use data/documentation supplied by JLR when they list/sell parts. When you look up parts of different supplier websites, they may offer different suppliers for parts, but they use the same descriptions for the parts - and that presumably comes straight from the JRL supplied data.

Often when you look up a part number, it will give you suppliers for it (eg 'Genuine', 'OEM', 'Britpart', 'AllMakes'....) but they will conform to the spec for that part. Sometimes, it will say 'Superseded By' and give you a replacement part number - this will be directly replaceable but may have a slightly different internal make up or summat.

We can see this superseded parts on the drive shafts... LR032113 -> LR062654.

So LR032113 is defunct and only LR062654 should be used (although if you get an old LR032113 it will work fine).

However you can't have 2 different parts for the same thing.

You can though have different parts for different model years, as this would imply...

proto57 said:

View attachment 324737

Click to expand...

However, searches on LR parts supplier web sites (that I've looked at) show all 3 of these part numbers as for Freelander 2 2006 to 2014. That data will be coming from JLR.

That can't be true. Or further explanation is needed, eg 1 of LR062654 or LR062654 is for the 2WD variant, or petrol vs diesel, or petrol i6 vs petrol i4. But there is no clarification on that.

So I recon the data from JRL could be leading to drive shafts being labeled for the wrong vehicles.

GrumpyGel said:

Another interesting tale of international espionage and subterfuge.

Without knowing much about these drive shafts, I've simply been an avid watcher till we get towards the last episode and I can make my accusations.

TBH I think someone in the technical documentation dept. at JLR has probably f**ked up....

... So I recon the data from JRL could be leading to drive shafts being labeled for the wrong vehicles.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Grumpy... your assessment of this strange saga, so far, seems right on the money. And like you, I look forward to seeing what the answer is... and more importantly, is there ANYONE who sells the correct axle for 2008 to 2011/12 LR2's?

But that will be from the sidelines, because I had to give up, and I drove a hour and a quarter to pick up a used one for $75. No way did I ever expect to have to put a used one back in the car, but I wasn't about to order yet another wrong axle, then have to deal with that. Maybe when the smoke clears on this issue, I'll pick one up and do the job again... or, if I win the Lotto, I'll buy the $1,300 Landy OEM version.

Thanks, Rich.

I'm thinking that the shaft you have could be for the manual gearbox diesel, or possibly the 2.0L Ford petrol engine. I believe that different engine/gearbox combinations require different ½ shaft lengths. The Freelander 2 was fitted with 3 different engines, and 3 different gearboxes too, which makes sourcing some parts interesting.

It looks like there are 2 derivatives for petrol models, and 3 for diesel models.

Nodge68 said:

I'm thinking that the shaft you have could be for the manual gearbox diesel, or possibly the 2.0L Ford petrol engine. I believe that different engine/gearbox combinations require different ½ shaft lengths. The Freelander 2 was fitted with 3 different engines, and 3 different gearboxes too, which makes sourcing some parts interesting.

It looks like there are 2 derivatives for petrol models, and 3 for diesel models.

Click to expand...

Very interesting, Nodge... that could be the case. If so, then the problem is still mislabling of the axles, and then that mistake making it into the ads... because they are selling them as if for the automatic, gasoline, and 3.2 six cylinder engines. Well, they don't specify an auto/manual transmission option, because (I think) they never sold manual transmission version LR2's here in the USA. Did they? And no diesels here, either, I think.



So yes, maybe these vendors are accidentally getting the manual and/or diesel variants, and not realizing it?

Rich.

P.S.- I put the $75 junkyard axle in this morning. The support bearing and CV joints seem fine, and it fit perfectly. It was listed as from a 2012. I measured it on the front desk at the yard first, before taking it, of course, just in case.

I've got the exact same problem. Hopefully the replacement for the replacement (arriving tomorrow) will be the right one

Replacement arrived and is the correct length. First one was branded BG Automotive and the second, correct length, one was Apec branded. I measured the original and on the car and got a measurement of 522mm (+/- 1mm) from the end of the shaft (inboard end) to the centre of the support bearing.