Hi,
Just have a question for everyone. I have a 2000 disco II with 136k on the odometer. it's in great shape and had the head gaskets replaced about 8 months ago.

my question is about the front drive shaft. i don't believe it has ever been rebuilt or replaced. i know that if this fails, it will destroy your transmission. my question is, how can you know if your front drive shaft is alright, or needs to be rebuilt before it simply fails? are there any signs leading up the failure?

also, just wondering how much should it cost to have the front drive shaft rebuilt or replaced?

 

If it has a grease zirt on each u-joint in the front shaft (3), then it has been rebuilt.

 

Mine failed at 37,000 miles if that tells you anything.
Get it rebuilt or replaced ASAP.

 

As post # 2 says, if your front DS has zercs in the U joints then it has been rebuilt.
Note: The front DS has 3 u joints, therefore, 3 grease fittings!
If has not been rebuilt, at 136k get it done ASAP.
If you hear a clunking noise when shifting from R to D and or have a vibration, your DS have be on the way out.

Do a search or lookup stickies under drive train: couple of good posts there:
Costs: about 20 buck per u joint plus a centering ball.

If you knock out your trans from a blown front DS about 4k maybe more.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the guidance everyone.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a zerc? And how do I know if my D2 has them? A pic would be great...

 

And by the way, there is no clunking noises when shifting, or any vibrations at all under any driving conditions.

 

A zerk fitting is just the proper name for a grease fitting, i have not pictures just go to google images. it looks like a little nipple

 

How about crawling under your truck with a flash light and see if you have all 3 grease fittings, you should know if you have the shaft greased twice a year as you are supposed to.

 

https://landroverforums.com/forum/ge...02/#post164811

 

All of the above is good info, but something else to consider is the double cardon joint's centering ball...

Even if you rebuild the drive shaft properly using grease-able zerks, replacing the centering ball in the process, you'll still have no way to really get grease into that centering ball joint without disassembling the joint. I'm sure that for most folks this may not be a big issue, but I encountered a fellow last summer at 'The Wilds' with a wrecked front drive shaft that had punched the usual hole in the side of his tranny. He'd had the shaft rebuilt by a well respected Rover shop less than 5k earlier, but the centering ball had seized, sheared off, and ultimately caused the entire double-cardon joint to fail.

The shop was covering the repairs, but my point is that just rebuilding the shaft still leaves notable room for failure. If you're going to run the truck hard and/or off-road it, you would be smart to get a replacement from a vendor who has a zerk installed to allow the centering ball to also be greased.