Double Cardan Front Prop for 200tdi defender

Edited, sorry posted the link to the wrong one.

Trewey said:

Castor corrected arms will make any vibration problem worse because they move the diff pinion angle back towards the horizontal. The purpose of castor correction is to overcome the lack of steering self-centering introduced by a suspension lift.
I'm pretty sure that all the OP needs is a wide angle prop. That worked for me with a 2" lift anyway.

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Thats not how it was explained to me or how it worked on mine.

Yes CC arms were designed to help the steering to return to centre. But, as they also rotate the axle back toward its more natural/original position it can bring the angle of the diff back toward the horizontal(you want this to happen) so the effect of the 2" lift is reduced and the joints on the prop are brought back toward parallel.

When i did my lift a couple of years ago without CC arms i got prop bind. I fitted some QT arms and there was no more bind, even on articulation.

Ive not been into land rovers as long as some on here but i have read a lot about it, and talked to a lot of people and the general consensus is that suspension geometry is one of the most difficult sciences out there. Some times wide angled and DC props are required on vehicles where as identical vehicles it is not.

harry2012 said:

Nope vibrated with the old worn prop and is even worse with a brand new one.

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were props phased correctly for use on front,and wide angle props only prevent binding not vibration

jamesmartin said:

were props phased correctly for use on front,and wide angle props only prevent binding not vibration

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binding often manifests itself as vibration though.

The 200 motor is only around 25mm further back than 300 so the wide angle prop with the extra length slip joint usually accommodates all fitment.

Really don't want to put the hard sell on but I do have one available so don't forget to ask me if you're going to buy a new one!

jamesmartin said:

were props phased correctly for use on front,and wide angle props only prevent binding not vibration

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But I thought Double Cardan props were supposed to fix this with the extra joint? A wide angle won't as the pinion angle is still incorrect.

As on my other thread the new prop is phased correctly, the Diff end leading the transfer box end by 2 splines.

However my old prop was phased with the transfer box end leading the diff end by two splines (so opposite) which makes me think someone played with the phasing before to stop the vibration when they raised it.

harry2012 said:

But I thought Double Cardan props were supposed to fix this with the extra joint?

As on my other thread the new prop is phased correctly, the Diff end leading the transfer box end by 2 splines.

However my old prop was phased with the transfer box end leading the diff end by two splines (so opposite) which makes me think someone played with the phasing before to stop the vibration when they raised it.

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or they did not pay attention to what they were doing

Thor1950 said:

or they did not pay attention to what they were doing

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Quite possibly but the vibration is noticeably less with the old prop on (but still there) it has been getting worse but this is probably down to the fact the UJ at the tfr box end had a fair bit of play in.

Here's the prop angles

Transfer box end, UJ kinked.


Diff end - as you can see the UJ angle is straight.

^^^ exactly the same as every land rover

The top joint seems to do all the work up front

A double cardan eliminates the acceleration through the UJs which causes vibration, but it weird cos it shouldn't be vibrating anyway

id still check phasing

Exactly

Little update...

Played with the phasing of the front prop, made no difference. Removed it all together drove it 20 miles or so in Diff Lock and the vibration has gone.

Checked diff oil fine and backlash seems ok.

So I've ordered a double cardan 200tdi front prop from Paddocks. Fingers crossed this cures it!

Fair play!