Prop shaft woes! serious wear in the wrong place......

[Beefy]

oky doky guys, need i lil help on this one....

my mk2 has slowly developed a rumble when on the power in every gear..
this led me to examine the prop.

axle end on the u-j when prop meets diff pinion. the u-j bearings are pretty well dead
but the u-j is a non servicable type (also stated in the haynes)

my question is... where do i go from here?
do i..
A) buy a second hand prop and hope?
B) find someone who can either rebuild or modify to accept circlips and buy a new spider and bearings?

or
C) prey someone has a new one for sale? (anyone?)

C being the easiest but what happends when you have no new ones about?

im thinking of modding to a landrover or such type, which is re-buildable.
or even chopping origonal u-j off and welding a re-buildable type (ie: landy) back on.

would like to know peoples advice or help?
ps: its a mk2 swb 1984 if it helps.....
ta
beefy

[FredTransit]

When you say none serviceable, do you mean none repairable? Just get it replaced mate, should cost about the same as a 2nd hand prop, get it balanced at the same time and you are good to go for a few years.

[madmark]

mark what is sitting up the top in the garden!

[Beefy]

true, didnt know if they would fit. being technically chassis cabs and mine being a van.
are they interchangable?

fred. ment non-servicable as in not able to take the cups out via circlip removale. they are staked in....
ta

[MrMPuk]

You not got access to a press?

[baconsdozen]

I advertised a kit to repair these on ebay,it went for 99p three days ago.!
Never mind.You can repair the unrepairable joints.The hardest bit is finding someone who'll supply the newe joint ,I used to use a place in Ireland but can't remember their name ,a google search on staked joint replacement should throw up a few ideas.
Using a precision type grider (dremel type) you can reduce the size of the staking or you can press them out without doing so.You can spray some paint on top of the cups to serve as a reminder of where the cups should end up.You need a piece of steel to act as a spacer between the yokes to stop them distorting and you can then press out the cups,easiest way is to press one out then use a drift on the other when you've winkled out the spider.
With all four out,clean up the housings.Press in the new cups,checking to make sure that opposing cups are pressed in the same distance.If you press one in too far trying to get it back again will squeeze all the grease out of the joint.
When you're happy four blobs of MIG will hold the cups in (they should be a tight fit anyway).
You wont find this method approved by anyone and you obviously use it at your own risk,but it's worked many times for me.

[Beefy]

aha!,i like that idea, im a welder, with a press too!
will have a go at that next week!
got a sore head at the mo so im not interested in crawling under the van.
cheers.

[Beefy]

ok guys, well the van is fine and dandy now, made a mk2 pickup give me its prop!

but what is goning to happen when we cant get hold of any good second hand ones....
if anyone has an idea of what u/j was used, ie: if i went to a motor factors to order a new one.

i recon i could do an exchange service as i have the relevent tools to convert the steaked in props to a rebuildable (circlip) type......

[MinorMatt]

The QH catalogue lists every transit staked bearing from 65-92 as QSL2

hope that helps?

[baconsdozen]

The kit I sold (or rather gave away) on ebay listed just three sizes of bearing covering just about all staked bearing applications.
I wrote it all down on a piece of paper and put it in a safe place.
Somewhere thats so safe,even i can't find it.