Mike, I'm new here too. Can you send me the pdf, please? jeffzx9@yahoo.com,
Thanks!

 

Here's a pretty comprehensive one.
http://www.box.net/shared/jbgsi67tnx
The only thing I'd change/add is to use a center punch to mark your alignment marks, they won't wash off. And if you're marking something like the center yoke, use two marks on one end, and one mark on the other.
It's very important to lube the u-joints after you put everything together as the grease that's in the new u-joint is just assembly/corrosion protection grease and not meant to be used in operation.
Finally, lube it every oil change (more often in rough environments) and make sure you get new grease coming from around all 4 u-joint seals. If you don't lube them properly, they won't last as long as sealed u-joints.

Oh, also you can get Spicer boxed 5-4x u-joints, they just aren't made by Spicer.

 

Just pulled mine to take to the shop in the morning. Obviously has been pulled before for some reason because several of the nylock nuts were buggered up (that was fun - Oi!). Everything was tight and the slip joing looks in good shape, but I noticed one of the u-joints on the double cardon is binding. We'll see if that could have been the source of my high-speed vibration.

 

Does it matter if the front drive-shaft is changed to a carbon-fiber one? I read somewhere that this would be better.

 

In what way? I can't think of a good reason to change the shaft material itself. The steel works fine, lasts forever, weight isn't a significant issue, and the cost is reasonable. Carbon fiber is lightweight, exotic and cool, but I'd rather save my "cool" dollars for something that will add comfort or enjoyment, like a great stereo. YMMV.

Cheers,
Dave

 

Yo disco Mike, Could you send me that PDF to? i have a 1998 Discovery V8i 4.0 with 53,000 miles.

 

A binding u-joint will in fact cause vibration, depending on how bad the binding is.

 

Unless you've switched to a DC propshaft the D1 shafts are a piece of pie to rebuild. Nothing in the least complicated about them.

 

Dropped my shaft off at the shop this morning and they informed me that it was not the original shaft. Went ahead and had it rebuilt anyway. They had it ready by lunch - cost $156.00 out the door - greasable joints, new centering ball. Stopped by the dealership to get new nylocks since none of the hardware stores had the 10mm small-head nuts - add another $17.50 - total $173.50 and two hours of my time for removal/installation. And of course, now I can't find the needle adapter for my grease gun....

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Couldn't figure out why someone would do that other than conversation starters or one-upping their neighbor.