Disco 2 Transfer box front output bearing

PurityVendetta said:

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to change the front output bearing on the transfer box (TD5 manual) with the box left in situ? Looking at it I thought it might be possible using a slide hammer or a made up puller to to pull the whole shaft with the bearing once the seal and circlip have been removed. I know it's a long shot but I'm sure someone must have tried it.
Any advice gratefully received.

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PopPops said:

Have a look at https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/transfer-box-front-output-bearing-and-oil-seal-renewal.81771/ and https://forums.lr4x4.com/topic/25053-
ransfer-box-front-output-bearing/

In the last couple of days our Disco has developed a vibration which feels as if it's coming through the steering. I've checked the usual culprits and working my way around found a significant amount of play in the front output shaft bearing. Oddly this seems to coincide with me changing the diff and transfer box oil. The transfer box oil level was significantly low and I wondered whether refilling to the correct level has somehow altered the dynamics of the transfer box and, I was going to change the output shaft seals due to leaks. I would say, although the output shaft isn't hanging off there is possibly a millimetre or do of movement while I can feel no movement in the rear output with the handbrake released. I will be fitting new UJs in the Carden joint as there's perceptible movement/play in the forward most UJ. The wear in the Carden joint is far less than in the shaft bearing though.
Thanks for the links. I'll check them out now.

Why do you need to change yours? What are the symptoms?

Cheers and good luck.

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PopPops said:

Have a look at https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/transfer-box-front-output-bearing-and-oil-seal-renewal.81771/ and https://forums.lr4x4.com/topic/25053-transfer-box-front-output-bearing/

Why do you need to change yours? What are the symptoms?

Cheers and good luck.

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PurityVendetta said:

Excellent, that's exactly what I needed to know. I'll order the bearing tomorrow. You've made my day. I've replaced the clutch on the deck so wanted to avoid pulling the transfer box at all costs as it's really heavy.
Thanks very much again.

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PopPops said:

Good luck with it, it is certainly worth giving a go.

I am waiting for a new front prop as the cardan joint is looking a bit iffy and there is a bit of vibration at over 60 mph. It depends who you talk to what the opinion is of how much play is normal for that bearing.

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PurityVendetta said:

Ours has a very small amount of play in the front most UJ of the Carden joint but the slop in the output shaft is much worse. We're getting a vibration under hard acceleration and just over 50mph. The vibration is most noticeable through the steering wheel. It is strange though that it appeared straight after changing the transfer box oil. I wonder if the higher oil level is being picked between the gears and causing the output shaft to boggle around under load. It sounds odd but it's the only explanation I can feasibly come up with. The vibration comes on like it's caused by some sort of harmonics going on in the box. I will post a conclusion once I've fitted the new bearing and seal. I'm going to replace the UJs in the Carden joint as well but I think I'll do them after the bearing change to see if that fixes the issue. You don't need to change the whole drive shaft. There are rebuild kits. I can do a UJ in 20 minutes tops using a vice and a couple of appropriately sized sockets. It's quite an easy job.

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PopPops said:

Ours is not that bad, but I got worried about tales of the cardan joint letting go with little warning.

I didn't feel confident enough to rebuild the joints because we are taking it to France shortly. I ordered an uprated prop (with grease points!) from Grove Engineering, they seem to have a good reputation and it was a good price for my piece of mind! It's not arrived yet though......... Next time, I'll rebuild the UJs.

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PurityVendetta said:

Yes, if you're going over to the continent peace of mind is worth it. I hadn't heard about the issue of Carden joints failing without warning. Sounds worrying. I'm going to rebuild ours with greasable joint too. I don't know where you're based but we have a 35 tonne hydraulic press which you're welcome to use if you're local enough. We're in North Shropshire.

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PurityVendetta said:

To round this thread off the cause of the vibration was a failed UK bearing in the front prop shaft double Cardon Joint. I think it had possibly started to freeze due to water ingress and showed itself a couple of days ago when I checked it for the umpteenth time.
I ordered a repair kit and mysteriously it's about a millimetre too wide and I can't get the second circlip in. I'll have to take it up with the supplier.
But this belatedly rounds off this thread.

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PurityVendetta said:

Has anyone done the centre three bearings/bushes? I have a 35 tonne press so hopefully I can get away with not having to shell out for the whole thing.

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steve24v said:

In case you haven't done these yet, I've done them using a manual flypress at work and it done it no problem, so yours should do it. Buy genuine though (not cheap) as was told the cheap ones fail very quickly

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