Series 3 Front Half Shafts - Inner bearing and distance piece

Stripped down the front axle today and opened up some blue boxes of Land Rover loveliness, only to find that the Britpart swivel kit does not include the inner bearing, oil seal or distance piece! Damn, damn. More postage.....

My half shafts (pictured) have some pitting and corrosion on the distance piece and collar where they run in the inner bearing and oil seal. Is this kind of wear terminal? Is a quick spin in the lathe and some emery cloth going to restore them to workable finish, or am I better to cut them off and drive new ones on? Presumably a bit of heat would be beneficial here. One of the UJs is in excellent order, the other one less so. Incredible really given the amount of muddy sludge in the bottom of the axle casing that it has all been sitting in for years. The manual says they are the same UJ as those on the prop shaft, but I'm not so sure. Anyone got any clues on this? They appear to have different part numbers.



My stub axles appear to be different from the ones in the manual in that mine do not have an oil seal on the inner end. My oil seal sits in the end of the axle itself (See below). Anyone got a part number for this type of oil seal?


Thanks for any wisdom offered. This is the last of the major units to be stripped down. It'll be good to get more of it back together again!

Cheers
Andrew

Don't look to bad, emery should do the job. The UJ's do not have greasers but are the same size. Your's is a later axle.

You may be able to "restore" the surface of the retaining collar where the oil seal runs but the bearing race needs to be replaced and the collar needs removing to do that and you wont get them off intact. Your will have to replace the bearing as an assembly.

Yes - I had a good go with the shafts in the lathe and giving it the beans with some coarse emery/fine emery/wire wool but really didn't make much of an impression. Must be reasonable steel! The earlier photos make it look better than it actually is.

So - I've decided to cut the collars off and replace on both sides. This will be about the last piece of the car that I haven't undone, so might as well carry on and get things right while I have the chance.

Web wisdom says use a bit of heat putting the new ones on, so I'll leave the shafts outside overnight (it's winter here) and see if I can get the collars on quickly with a blowtorch in the morning!

Any problem with using a propshaft UJ in the front axle. If the only difference is the grease nipple, then this is hardly a show stopper I'd have thought. It's all swimming in axle oil anyway.

Cheers
Andrew

The hollow grease channel may mean the UJ journal is not as strong as a solid one.

Yes - Good point. Much harder to get to than on the prop shaft, so I'll order the correct unit.

Thanks
Andrew

I put the shafts in freezer for 1/2 hour and the rings in a cup of boiling water , went on easily , used a long pipe to push them home prob the high lift jack handle or short scaffold tube

I put my collars in the oven on 140C before fitting to the halfshafts