Nonimouse Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 What's the expected life of a standard 24 spline half shaft, with out big tyres and driven properly? Difficult question, but I'm looking at refreshing my Disco axles. I've yet to break a half shaft, but know it will happen eventually. I over fill with EP and use a good HD oil. I drive steadily and sympathetically, without huge power, without Speshul Tracks and I see no point in going heavy duty on the whole drive train, although I may fit an LSD sooner or later I pulled the rear half shafts at the weekend and they are pretty much as new, but I've had them for ten years and probably about 15k off road in all sort of conditions. I'm tempted to replace them all, and the CV's, as I have the time/money Suggestions please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Even the 10 spline shafts, with stock/close to stock tyres, last very well, I was running 34s with 10 spline and a locker, and somehow never managed to snap anything -twisted yes, but no snap. But then I don't think I drive like a moron. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 If kept lubricated they should last indefinitely I’d have thought. Especially the one-piece ones. Over 250k miles on the pair in my 90, plus whatever the Disco they came off had done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 If I weren't clear, I honestly do t think you'll have a problem rescuing anything that's good, even the Cvs. Bear in mind most aftermarket parts quality is pap compared what may be original fit.... For that reason alone I would be keeping what you have where possible. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Ok My 3p worth From a business point a view I see it all. I have customers with highly tuned engines on 37s who do full blown competitions........ and drive PROPERLY................. know when to stop ...................and when to use a winch................ and don't do any damage I have others who can blow up top of the range Diffs, CVs 300M shafts at a playday before lunchtime as they don't do any of the above and don't have any mechanical sympathy. OLD diff CVs and half shafts may be questionable, as they could have had owner 1 or owner 2, who knows, ..............but it is also valid that some pattern stuff is highly dubious One top tip is if you ever buy any new half shaft - get a razor blade and put a scratch full length top to bottom - then if when its ever out look at the line, if there is a twist you've saved the big bang / ££££££££s Driver 'No 2s' can do this sort of thing ............... https://fb.watch/qtkTWUyzkY/ .....................and that was not built very long ago ................................. 🙄 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Well as I agree with the above, I have just snapped a half shaft... when I did the first re-build on my 90 in 2009 the half shafts are the only thing I didn't change in the transmission, I know for a fact they where abused before I had the truck, but they looked good so I re-used. 15+ years isn't too bad, I did install my ATB just over a year ago in the front and I did wonder if this accelerated the issue, but I'll never know. Something I have invested in recently is a Dye penetration crack testing kit, I tested the other front shaft that didnt break, which looked worn but not twisted and it didnt show any cracks, but I changed it out anyways. I've now got 10 spline Britpart shaft and CV's in the front axle now and to be fair they looked not to rough. I've got Ashcroft HD shafts in the back with the ATB so not too worried about those. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 I have heard from a few peeps who race that amazingly the current Britpart CVs are actually very decent !!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonimouse Posted February 27 Author Share Posted February 27 Thanks for the input gents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 3 hours ago, Hybrid_From_Hell said: I have heard from a few peeps who race that amazingly the current Britpart CVs are actually very decent !!!!!!!!!!!!! They have had that reputation for twenty years now. Ashcroft used to have a video of some destructive testing and the Britpart CVs came out very well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 If it's not broken or showing signs of wear/ damage, I would keep what is in there. Not just for axles, but for most things. Fitting new doesn't always make it better, so I'd save the time and money for if (when) something does need replacing. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Unless you see damage, then an old part has shown itself to be reliable and correct, whereas a new part (even from a high quality manufacturer) may have a defect that causes premature failure. Better the devil you know… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Is work hardening an issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 On 2/27/2024 at 8:17 AM, Hybrid_From_Hell said: Ok My 3p worth From a business point a view I see it all. I have customers with highly tuned engines on 37s who do full blown competitions........ and drive PROPERLY................. know when to stop ...................and when to use a winch................ and don't do any damage I have others who can blow up top of the range Diffs, CVs 300M shafts at a playday before lunchtime as they don't do any of the above and don't have any mechanical sympathy. OLD diff CVs and half shafts may be questionable, as they could have had owner 1 or owner 2, who knows, ..............but it is also valid that some pattern stuff is highly dubious One top tip is if you ever buy any new half shaft - get a razor blade and put a scratch full length top to bottom - then if when its ever out look at the line, if there is a twist you've saved the big bang / ££££££££s Driver 'No 2s' can do this sort of thing ............... https://fb.watch/qtkTWUyzkY/ .....................and that was not built very long ago ................................. 🙄 That broken crown wheel is a bit, well broken. This makes me think that the very thick teeth on those Ashcroft ratios may not be as strong as one might hope, due to it also making the crown wheel very thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 On 2/26/2024 at 7:11 PM, Nonimouse said: What's the expected life of a standard 24 spline half shaft, with out big tyres and driven properly? Difficult question, but I'm looking at refreshing my Disco axles. I've yet to break a half shaft, but know it will happen eventually. I over fill with EP and use a good HD oil. I drive steadily and sympathetically, without huge power, without Speshul Tracks and I see no point in going heavy duty on the whole drive train, although I may fit an LSD sooner or later I pulled the rear half shafts at the weekend and they are pretty much as new, but I've had them for ten years and probably about 15k off road in all sort of conditions. I'm tempted to replace them all, and the CV's, as I have the time/money Suggestions please If they have not twisted, I'd say leave them. The only improvement you can achieve is to fit either Ashcroft shafts or genuine new shafts, and neither of them will be cheap. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneandtwo Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I fitted the very late Genuine Land Rover Puma 90/110 rear one piece halfshafts to my early Puma last year, they are also a straight retrofit to the 300tdi/ td5 rear axle and are significantly thicker than the old 300tdi one piece rear halfshafts, I presume they are a fair bit stronger too as they are the only one piece half shaft that has been rated for 110 rear use by Land Rover. The pair of genuine half shafts are £700 from Land Rover however Britpart now do a copy of the genuine shafts which are highly rated by some - I intend to fit a set of these copies in my 300tdi 90 shortly as a budget upgrade to replace the 30 year old one piece shafts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uninformed Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/4/2024 at 7:42 AM, Daan said: That broken crown wheel is a bit, well broken. This makes me think that the very thick teeth on those Ashcroft ratios may not be as strong as one might hope, due to it also making the crown wheel very thin. It is a bit concerning. It seems that (by looking at some pictures ), the 3.75 ratio is the worst. (And that’s what I have 🤦🏻♂️) I guess they played with tooth size and pressure angles to get their compromise. I would prefer more base material at the root of the tooth, but such is life. Of course it gets thicker towards the centre of crown wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uninformed Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/5/2024 at 3:44 PM, oneandtwo said: I fitted the very late Genuine Land Rover Puma 90/110 rear one piece halfshafts to my early Puma last year, they are also a straight retrofit to the 300tdi/ td5 rear axle and are significantly thicker than the old 300tdi one piece rear halfshafts, I presume they are a fair bit stronger too as they are the only one piece half shaft that has been rated for 110 rear use by Land Rover. The pair of genuine half shafts are £700 from Land Rover however Britpart now do a copy of the genuine shafts which are highly rated by some - I intend to fit a set of these copies in my 300tdi 90 shortly as a budget upgrade to replace the 30 year old one piece shafts. Good shaft design dictates the dia should be no bigger than the root dia of the spline. So if you are replacing shafts with the same spline type and one is thicker, it may just mean that it’s less able to absorb shock loading and more likely to break at the spline or transition of shaft to spline. One piece or two, strength is going to be more about quality of design and materials. Yes the one piece has one less spline to break or wear, but if the transition from shaft to flange is poor, then it’s not good. One piece shafts also require more precision machining and your axle housing and its components better be spot on true (straight etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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