Freelander 1 Front wheel driveshaft cv joint pulling out

I am hoping someone here can help me diagnose the underlying issue that causes the inner CV joint of the left front driveshaft to pull apart when that wheel goes down. Normally, shock absorbers and suspension should stop the wheel from dropping too low so that the extension of the driveshaft stays within limits.
In my freelander the CV joint pulls out too far when I drive slowly over decesses in the road. When the wheel comes back up there is a loud clunk when the bearings go into the cup again.
The shock absorber and coil splings and mounts have been replaced, as well as the lower wishbone. This did not resolve the issue. Then I replaced the driveshaft itself with a new one, and that's when I noticed what was happening. The new driveshaft joint had less tolerance, so when it popped out going over a recess in the road, it didn't go back in right, causing the wheel to grind to a halt.
Now it's at the garage with that driveshaft removed. The mechanics at the garage are not sure where to start.

Sounds dodgy.

Are you sure the original driveshaft was a genuine LR one?

Has the car had a lift?

GrumpyGel said:

Sounds dodgy.

Are you sure the original driveshaft was a genuine LR one?

Has the car had a lift?

Click to expand...

Was going to say the same thing!

Not sure about the old driveshaft, but the new one was this one: https://www.jgs4x4.co.uk/freelander-1-td4-front-right-driveshaft-with-cv-joints/
Car has not had a lift - not intentionally anyway. One theory I have is that the old suspension springs/shock absorbers were too loose, and the new suspension parts were somehow longer than they should be. What stops the wheel from going down too far? Is that just the length of the spring?

Aren’t they different lengths, left to right ?

Yes. That's the obvious mistake. Many thanks for pointing that out.

Just had to change my CV joints. (1989 LD 90). I couldn't get the old CV joints off the half-shaft. After a bit of research I discovered that at the end of the half-shaft is a little spring ring, like a circlip. When the CV joint is assembled to the half-shaft, the spring ring presses into the grove in the shaft and the shaft is pushed into the CV joint. When the shaft is fully in, the spring ring emerges from the grove and expands again to prevent excessive movement of the half-shaft, secures the half-shaft and stops it from sliding in the CV joint. Great, until you need to get it back out again to change the CV joint, difficult because the spring ring is now inside the CV joint and no way to get it out, you may think. Well not so. Instead of beating it to death with a lump hammer and possibly damaging the half-shaft and spring ring, a simple solution is at hand.
Using an angle grinder, simply cut out part of the side of the CV cup (the bit that retains the ball bearings). Cut down the side of the CV cup at one of the thinnest points (where a ball bearing is), for about two inches. Then do the same at an adjacent part, ie. where the next ball bearing is, then finally join the two cuts together with a third cut and remove the piece of the side of the cup.
Now you can see inside the cup where the half-shaft end is. Use a little screwdriver to unclip the spring ring from the end of the half-shaft and the half-shaft will just slide out. Not only that, you don't damage the spring ring and it can be used again. The whole process took about 10 minutes each per side.