defender 90 TD5 - front axle half shafts - no spacer fitted?

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rockjunky

rockjunky

Member
Posts
57
Location
lincolnshire
Hi
I'm slowly rebuilding my front axle, final drive, swivels, all bearings seals etc... I'm ready to fit new CVs to the original half shafts, but i noted when I stripped theses out, they did not have the spacer that butts up against the CV joint.

my defender is a 2003 year, I cant find anything to confirm whether it should have spacers or not.

please can some one offer me a little guidance on this...

Thanks
 
When I took mine apart a couple of years ago I didn't see any spacers. I put them back together and they've been perfectly happy for another 30,000 miles. The only spacers I saw were the ones between the wheel bearings. This was on a 2006 TD5 Defender.
 
thanks for that.. every axle variant seems to say its needs one.. so the next trick is to make sure i get the right one for my axle..

cheers
 
oh... just seen your reply Mr Brown.. now I'm not sure again!...

what i could do is take some measurements of the half shaft spline length to the clip groove and CV spline depth and try and figure out if it works without spacer... i.e. if i will end up with half shaft being able to slide in and out, which we don't want.

i guess i could also actually just fit without and check for movement, if there is movement i can knock the CV off again and fit with spacer...
 
Fitted the shaft into the old CV joint, there is 1 to 1.5mm play… spacer would need to be nom 5.5mm thick
upload_2016-12-13_17-52-40.png




the only thing stopping the shaft going deeper into the CV is because the spline on the shaft has a run out, which acts as a hard stop.

upload_2016-12-13_17-54-19.png



To be honest I’m still non the wiser, 1 to 1.5mm seems a lot, and using the spline runout as end stop doesn’t seem to be by design as this is not very positive and could wear/fret/gall.

Might pop to Rimmers in Lincoln on my way home and then I can check the spacers thickness and whether it fits my halfshaft….
 

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Seems to me there's no harm in letting it move a little bit - maybe even an advantage so the balls and grooves can settle into their most 'comfortable' positions for the degree of turn the joint is being expected to accommodate. I think problems would arise if the joint were being compressed or stretched at any point, which might give you a lot of vibration and premature wear. Most flexible drive joints I can think of need a little movement of this kind, which is why you almost always get some sort of splined sliding joint with a universal joint. Just make sure it's turning freely in all the positions the front wheel might swivel into, without feeling as if it is binding.
 
chassis number is 3A..... KA is 1994 i think? ... mine 2003, so TYF000010... many thanks

i agree with Mr Brown in that splines are designed to allow axial movement whilst still maintain positive drive.... but as the only thing stopping the shaft sliding deeper into the CV is the runout of the spline cut then I'm not so comfortable.... that said it would hit the half shafts shoulder before it bottomed out into the CV.

my problem is its my first Landy so no experience, and i know lots of people play with these beasts.. so its like the previous person forgot to fit them, i reckon I'm going to purchase some spacers and fit them and see how i go... there pretty cheap.
 
Once you've got the circlip on the shaft driven into the CV joint there shouldn't be any play at all. My understanding is that the spacer is there to relieve some of the load on the circlip.
 
i would expect snug fit at the CV end as i don't think there is any positive axial stop at the diff end, so its that end that will take up any manufacturing tolerance etc..
 
well what can i say.. bought genuine shaft spacers TYF000010.. slid them over the halfshaft, then fitted shaft into my old CV (don't want to risk damaging my new ones), gave the shaft a tug!.. and it came out!... not good... the spacers are too thick preventing the C clip passing through and springing open to stop shaft coming out!... looks like i need to take around 2mm off the thickness.

As they are only phosphor bronze i can easily do this, but before i adjust them i reckon i will check the spline depth between my old CV and my new ones, its probably a long shot but i'm wondering whether the old ones are an aftermarket part with slightly longer spline depth, so the person who fitted them deliberately left the spacers off to overcome the problem. :mad:
 
measured old and new CV, both the same, the spacer is to thick... measures 8mm, needs to be 5.5mm... not too sure whats going on as its supposed to be the right part.
anyway the bad news is i cannot get my halfshaft out of my new CV joint, and i do not want to thrash it off... so given there is only 1.5mm axial movement and the shaft cannot botttom out in the CV i will leave it on.... on the other side i will thin the spacer down to 5.5mm and fit that one....

also my overhauled final drive/diff arrived today, i was debating on whether to do a short video in the difference in play between my old one and the overhauled one.. would anyone be interested in this?
 
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