Prop Shaft Greasing

[MRWOO]

I usually do this around every 1k miles on my 300, is this a little obsessive? Land Rover state just do it during the service every 6k on a 300TDi and 12k on a MY07. I can't imagine Range Rover Sport drivers get underneath their vehicles to grease the shafts very often and they seem to last I guess.

The reason I ask is the nipples on the new 07 propshafts are very difficult to get a flexi hose on as the swivel is much tighter than on the older shafts, I dont wont to be doing the job more often than needed.

[istruggle2gate11]

I usually do this around every 1k miles on my 300, is this a little obsessive? Land Rover state just do it during the service every 6k on a 300TDi and 12k on a MY07. I can't imagine Range Rover Sport drivers get underneath their vehicles to grease the shafts very often and they seem to last I guess.

The reason I ask is the nipples on the new 07 propshafts are very difficult to get a flexi hose on as the swivel is much tighter than on the older shafts, I dont wont to be doing the job more often than needed.

I tend to be quite obsessive about it, certainly before and after each off road event, and during the longer events.

For road use, I tend to do every month

[BogMonster]

Really depends on the conditions. I do mine about every 3 months i.e. once in between 6 monthly services. Leaving it for a year like LR now recommend is a dumb idea, though I think hidden somewhere in the service schedule it says to do stuff like that more often if used off road.

A lot of the newer stuff has sealed prop UJs which can't be greased, these are "sealed for life" i.e. the life is somewhat shorter than you might expect from something that can be greased, hardly progress but it keeps the cost of servicing down to fleet users (a bit like doing away with 1st services), or maybe I am just a cynic

A good tip for greasing propshafts is to get a grease gun flex connector and grind two flat faces on each side of the connector you put on the nipple, it makes it a lot easier to get in between the propshaft yokes

[mmgemini]

I do mine every 6,000 miles or just after I've been in a muddy water situation.

I have a pair of long grease nipples which I keep in a tin. I fit those to grease my prop. Grinding the grease gun end wrecked it

I also fit Allen screws to the u/j's after greasing so that the long grease nipples don't get broken in service.

Grease nipples came from Difflock.

If you have a two post ramp you can access all propshaft grease nipples by lifting the vehicle and letting the axles drop.

My ten bobs worth.

mike

YES !! It is a free country. As long as you do as you are told.

[BogMonster]

Grinding the grease gun end wrecked it

You should have been more careful then, worked fine on mine

[Mr Bean]

I grease mine every other week.

This is when i'm on night shift and the workshop is too quiet.

[JimC]

Here's what happens when they dont get greased on a truck with a 2 inch lift for 100k miles:

[jjojjas]

Here's what happens when they dont get greased on a truck with a 2 inch lift for 100k miles:

exactly what happened on my mates disco at 60mph. his quote was "I thought the car was going to take off!"

I bet he did...

[MRWOO]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm going to downgrade the priority on this job to my 6k service which Land Rover don;t even bother doing.

[BogMonster]

exactly what happened on my mates disco at 60mph. his quote was "I thought the car was going to take off!"

I bet he did...

They do take off - literally - if it is the front end of the shaft and it drops down and digs in the road

Propshaft pole-vaulting is a good way to wake up the driver and the noise it makes when it happens right in front of you is quite interesting

[JimC]

Mine blew at freeway speeds, which was very exciting to say the least. It beat the hell out of the passenger sit cat and punched a hole in the floor which is hard to see. Fortunately, the NAS truck has a tubular crossmember which caught kept the shaft from dropping too far. I also have a front sway still in place that would have caught it on the other end. This event was preceeded by a couple hundred miles of a vibration that felt and sounded like a wheel bearing going bad. I was on a 500 mile trip home from buying the truck so I had nothing to lose by pressing on.

[Mr Bean]

Propshaft pole-vaulting is a good way to wake up the driver and the noise it makes when it happens right in front of you is quite interesting

I bet that was a "brown" trouser moment!

[BogMonster]

I bet that was a "brown" trouser moment!

Not for me but it did make me jump, I had just parked outside work and this 110 V8 came roaring past, bad gearchange, almighty bang and the back end leapt up in the air as the prop dug in the road

Prop was wrapped around the axle and wiped out the exhaust system and some of the brake pipes before it came off too.

Moral of the story: grease your UJ's

[Nigel H]

They do take off - literally - if it is the front end of the shaft and it drops down and digs in the road

Propshaft pole-vaulting is a good way to wake up the driver and the noise it makes when it happens right in front of you is quite interesting

Yep! had a prop try and break its way through the drivers floor pan on the M275 at 8 in the morning in my old 90. I was getting phone calls from other club members, also commutting, before I could even call the police and breakdown service (made the local radio traffic report though - as in "There is a Land Rover..." yep they said Land Rover... broke down in the fast lane (ok - so it was JE tweaked - how else would a 90 get in the fast lane?).

It aint nice when ya truck takes revenge like that.

If it has a nipple - grease it!

[Mr Bean]

If it has a nipple - grease it!

Or milk it!!!!!

[jonost24]

After reading some of the horror stories, and having had my landy since Nov last year, I've invested in a grease gun, tubes of grease, and my personal favourite - extra-long nipples, all from Difflock. The came today and I've greased the props and UJs. The front and rear props only appear to have one grease nipple at each end - is this right?? While I was greasing the UJs, the grease appeared to ooze out where it connects to the yoke-Is this correct?? I'm going to Eastnor on Sunday, don't want a prop or UJ to break. Any advice welcome. Cheers, Jon

[pinny]

at work we use a grease made by state chemical AP grease i drive a jcb and use this on props it outlasts other grease i use it on my disco and it tends to stay in longer a lot more elastic ill try and find the dealer chris

[western]

After reading some of the horror stories, and having had my landy since Nov last year, I've invested in a grease gun, tubes of grease, and my personal favourite - extra-long nipples, all from Difflock. The came today and I've greased the props and UJs. The front and rear props only appear to have one grease nipple at each end - is this right?? While I was greasing the UJs, the grease appeared to ooze out where it connects to the yoke-Is this correct?? I'm going to Eastnor on Sunday, don't want a prop or UJ to break. Any advice welcome. Cheers, Jon

Hi Jon, Yes that's correct, 1 grease nipple on each UJ & another on the sliding joint [outer part] the UJ's have internal drillings for the grease to move along to the needle roller bearings around the end of the yoke/spider. don't give them anymore than 3 or 4 strokes of the grease gun, otherwise it's just wasted grease when the prop is rotating while driving.

[jonost24]

Cheers Western, Job done then - I think, Just need to sort the indicators out now........ AGAIN!!! Cheers, Jon

[dan9090]

Hi all,

Thought i would ressurect this old post as I think it offers explanation to my recent dry sounding vibrations from the drive train.

Having read this post I'm pretty sure I'm suffering from a severe lack of grease / maybe axle oils too. Had 90 for 3 months, lots of off road use and never checked the grease (yes i know but im a newbie to all this...)

Tomorrows job will be to get hold of everything i need (i currently dont have any grease gun, nipples, grease etc) and get busy.

My main question is after hearing the horror stories of the shaft breaking off is this a case of if it hasnt already then I am ok or could i have done some damage by driving with the nasty vibrations (prob about 20 miles since it started). Any way of checking??

Other than this, any advice on what I'm about to undertake tomorrow would be appreciated!!!

Thanks

Dan

[nas90]

Hi all,

Thought i would ressurect this old post as I think it offers explanation to my recent dry sounding vibrations from the drive train.

Having read this post I'm pretty sure I'm suffering from a severe lack of grease / maybe axle oils too. Had 90 for 3 months, lots of off road use and never checked the grease (yes i know but im a newbie to all this...)

Tomorrows job will be to get hold of everything i need (i currently dont have any grease gun, nipples, grease etc) and get busy.

My main question is after hearing the horror stories of the shaft breaking off is this a case of if it hasnt already then I am ok or could i have done some damage by driving with the nasty vibrations (prob about 20 miles since it started). Any way of checking??

Other than this, any advice on what I'm about to undertake tomorrow would be appreciated!!!

Thanks

Dan

Can be difficult to tell the difference between a UJ with play and /or transfer box or axle. Hold both sides of UJ joint and try to twist one side against the other. Any play is bad. Grease the sliding joint first, the excess grease comes out of a rubber bung on the end of the sliding part. There are 3 nipples per prop shaft

I use a very cheap gun given away with machines it does not have a clip-on type nozzle and therefore easy to get on the nipple. Proper LR mechanics buy a needle attachment for the gun, you push the needle into the sprung ball of the nipple works a treat

I always grease before off-roading and if time after off-roading. If you have been through heavy rain / fords then grease again. If you were to grease your 90 daily you could make a prop shaft last 20 years

Basically more the better and too much is never a bad thing!

[LandyManLuke]

Heavy wear will show up in the UJ cups, you should be able to find any play if its there.

Once they start failing, the cups quite often crack/shatter and shed the needle bearings. you're going to notice that.

[dan9090]

thanks both, all good things for me to know before the morning!

things are starting to make sense now (I think)... on an ealier post I said that after the vehcile had been laid up (having a new water pump fitted) for 3 weeks following heavy off roading, the engine ran just fine on tickover then...

....the very first time I engaged gear and moved forward a few feet, I got a BIG plume of white smoke, followed by a rotating catching noise and engine cut out.

she then started fine but a couple of miles later all this vibration started. Sounds like the two might be related??? do you agree? any idea what caused the white smoke and what to look out for?

by the way, apart from the vibrations she drives fine!!

Dan

[nas90]

thanks both, all good things for me to know before the morning!

things are starting to make sense now (I think)... on an ealier post I said that after the vehcile had been laid up (having a new water pump fitted) for 3 weeks following heavy off roading, the engine ran just fine on tickover then...

....the very first time I engaged gear and moved forward a few feet, I got a BIG plume of white smoke, followed by a rotating catching noise and engine cut out.

she then started fine but a couple of miles later all this vibration started. Sounds like the two might be related??? do you agree? any idea what caused the white smoke and what to look out for?

by the way, apart from the vibrations she drives fine!!

Dan

Possibly some water entered the bores as well as your prop shafts! Nasty stuff water gets in bearings, shafts, engines, alternators, try to go round rather than through it! Diesel or petrol it's the damage to your transmission that costs your wallet. If you must go sailing fit a snorkel.