That was the sound my front propshaft just made on my way home from work today as the universal joint attaching it to the front diff failed and it flew around under the car hitting stuff.




I’m actually pretty happy (if kinda greasy) right now. A few reasons:

  • I had been wondering if “that noise” was the front prop shaft and was planning on checking it out this weekend, so my instincts were OK… if maybe slow
  • I immediately knew what the problem was when it happened
  • I managed to remove the prop shaft at the side of the road and get the car home by engaging the diff lock.
  • I still need to investigate further damage, but a universal joint is about 10 euros, and I wanted to learn to replace one anyway
I know this isn't much for a lot of you guys, but it's a big step for me... so in the end, I’m actually feeling good right now, as this is exactly the kind of issue I’ll need to resolve on my own when overlanding.


Of course I couldn't have gotten this far without this site and people like you great guys... thanks!



- Andrew

Had the same sort of thing happen to me in Russia, driving down the motorway heard a loud noise and knew it was a U/J stopped on the hardshoulder and removed the rear prop, checked the retaining screws in the handbrake drum, selected diff lock and set off again. Got about 2 miles and heard an incredibly loud noise and realized the drum had come off, luckily it managed to miss all the vehicles following, after walking about 300m back I found it in the central reservation.
Scared the living **** out of us.

Lee
 
Nae wurries mate;)
Just make sure yer bar is long enough to get a wee angle on it so's it locks against the floor;):D

Managed it with a stainless steel bankstick (Fishing), simply locked of on what was left of two bolts on the flange, and locked off against the chassis (if that makes sense):confused::confused::confused:. Got it sorted anyway, so cheers for the help ;););)
 

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