We bought our 1996 90 Defender last month. We are hands up newbies but OH is very handy with a spanner - plus he is a sparky - and I'm fairly good at doing things 'as directed'.
Anyway, ever since we got the Landy we had noticed there seemed to be a fair amount of excess vibration, plus there was a fair amount of slack in the drive sometimes - particularly if, having been in the process of accelerating, you have to slow down unexpectedly and when you take the foot off the accelerator there is a real delayed reaction in engine braking (hope you understand my attempt at describing it)
So, we were coming down a hill today when there was a real change in quality and quantity of vibration - ominous sprang to mind - this then resulted in a very loud bang and clunk , bits falling from the bottom of the Landy and loss of drive
We stopped (duh!) and retrieved the broken front prop shaft - the front UJ had broken off where it had connected to the front diff, and the rest of the prop had slipped out of the transfer box. This was fortunate in that we didn't then have a bit of shaft hacking away and causing damage.
To get home we engaged Diff Lock - immediately the drive was so much smoother, therefore suggesting that at least some of the previous vibration was due to the front propshaft.
I've ordered a new shaft - but our question is, do you more experienced and knowledgeable Landy owners think that if we just replace the propshaft that we haven't got to the bottom of the problem and it will just occur again? Or could the drive pickup slack etc be explained by a knackered propshaft/UJ?
Thanks in advance

New prop should sort it, but check for play[up and down and side to side]on diff input and box output, there will be some rotary movement at the diff and box[lots if lock not engaged]Grease ujays often.