So today marks day two since purchasing my 00 D2 with 84k in amazing condition minus the typical front drive shaft fail/lovely hole in the trans. Amazingly enough, if all works out I will be picking up a wrecked 01 only 1 hour away tomorrow night that had 75k when it crashed. Side note:When removing some very stubborn nuts and bolts on the front drive shaft (had to torch 2 of them) I went ahead and tore the hell out of my knuckle and put my first blood into the project..and some sweat. I guess tears are to follow hahaa

I guess my only real questions are...

Should I go ahead and get the Tom Woods shaft or just rebuild the stock one on the parts vehicle and make it greasable? (mine on the 00 actual broke a yolk)

Also, my super genius mechanic buddy and I are doing the tranny swap. I did my own on my 92 RR County in my yard years ago. Is there any super tricky stuff to watch out for? I downloaded RAVE already...TY

Last. My ball joint rubber boots are shot. There is no play or visible issue. Should I go ahead and replace while I'm doing all this big work?

Thank you all! Thomas

 

I think it would depend on what you want to use the truck for. If you want to seriously offroad, consider the tom woods. The stock is the cheaper option though.

 

DiscoRover007, Thanks for the advice. I am honestly not certain how much "serious" off-roading I will be doing with this one...although if I know me, it will happen eventually. So much to think about.

 

Well whichever way you go is an upgrade from stock. I found a shop down the road that rebuilt mine for $120 bucks. (I supplied the parts)

 

I have a Tom Woods shaft and it has a vibration at about 70 mph. That is pretty common with the TW shaft in Land Rovers.

Willie

 

1st off, congrats!
For the shaft, I would spend a couple extra bucks and get a completely new one. If that one popped off and was impacting everything under the truck, I would not be 100% sure that it would be totally solid. For an extra $100, just get a brand new one. I got mine for $279.
And yes, if there is something else that looks like it needs replacing under there just go for it now! Might as well get as much use as you can before having to get under and greasy again!

 

I had to air saw on my front diff flange bolts. The nuts were rounded and soft?



Go with a rebuild and have it balanced. Make sure all three are the greasable joints. I think the Part# are Precison 344? Someone correct me. PLus, swap out the centering ball with a new kit, reference a '94 Volvo 240, forgot part number (744??). Napa "should" have all these on hand.



I would. It should be cake. Not sure how easy it is to replace just the boots in these trucks. I had an Audi before the Rover and it was easier to replace the axles, instead of messing with the boots. Little more expensive but worth it in my book.

 

Thank you all (coors, snafu, willie00d2, discorover007) for the advice! I love this board and have been lurking for a while, so glad everyone is willing to throw in their 2 cents.

I certainly won't be rebuilding the one that failed (see pics) May consider having the parts vehicle's drive shaft rebuilt like the "how to." As for the ball joints...I guess I will count my pennies after all this first stuff is taken care of. Between buying the 00 D2 and then tonight buying the 01 D2 donor...and lining my mechanic buddy's pocket for our tranny swap... I may need to just ride those ball joints until they get noisy and nasty hahaaa.

 

Heck, sell parts off the donor vehicle! You could part that out and make some good coin! I will start by taking the rear passenger's side bumper corner piece!

 

Snafu, I just found a great and super-knowledgeable parts guy here in Eastern NC that has made me think twice about the parts vehicle. I was supposed to go get it but the dude selling it is being a bit strange. The parts guy has made me a deal on what I need and I just made him a little counter offer. Hopefully we are together on this and I can get this build rolling ASAP.

Where did you get your front drive shaft for $279? He wants a little too much for his, in my opinion.