If anyone is considering a Proshaft LLC prop let me relay my experience. In December 2012 my front shaft took a dump on me. I took it off and then thought I had transmission problems as well. I did not understand at the time how the land rover transmission worked with the center diff lock. I came here for information. LR2001SILVER gave me some advice and convinced me to purchase a Proshaft front prop. (I notice now he has been banned.) I took delivery of it and installed it in the beginning of January. It went in easily enough and appeared to have been well made and the joints thoroughly greased.

Fast forward to last month and the Disco began having a faint whining sound. I am about ready to dump this truck anyhow so I ignored it. Then it started a thumping sound when at idle coming from the transmission. Time to get rid of it. Can't sell it making that noise though, so I tried to isolate the sound. I figured the transmission had let loose with something and that I also had a bad pinion bearing in my front axle.

Last week it went into the shop to find out what the issues were. I picked it up today and paid just under $500 to find out that Proshaft LLC DID NOT grease the ball and needle bearings in the cardon joint. It was absolutely dry. That is unacceptable for a company whose sole product is drive shafts. I am very unhappy with my purchase from them. The statement was made that they live or die by their reputation. I will not do business with them again. If you purchased one then immediately go out and regrease every joint including the cardon joint. My mechanic told me it needs a needle for the end of your grease gun to hit that joint.

The squeel was from the bearing going bad. The thumping was from the pin that had sheared allowing the driveshaft to bounce up and down rhythmically using the transfer case as a resonator. I bought the truck new in 2004. It took the factory prop eight years to fail. It took the supposedly better built and more rugged Proshaft six months to fail.

This is a company that allowed someone else (LR2001SILVER) to misrepresent them and then demonstrated poor quality control. Use your own judgement. As for me, I should have bought from a more reputable company in the first place. Trying to save a few bucks cost me considerably more.

 

They come ungreased, always. You should always grease every point of a serviceable drive shaft before install. If it were sealed, it'd be a different story.

 

Zach, isn't that fitting supposed to lubed every 3k-5k miles as well anyway?? Sounds like it never got lubed and 7 months later it failed, shocking.

 

Then where was I supposed to get that information? There were no written instructions included. It was never mentioned in any of my communications with the company. It was never mentioned by anyone else on these forums. The factory one was never greased. It couldn't be. There are no zert fittings on the OEM. It lasted 150,000 miles. My 2005 F350 4x4 dually is at 230,000 miles and has never been greased. It can't either. So what you are saying is that I should have greased it myself when it was advertised and sold to me as a plug and play. Every other joint was greased, but somehow I bear the responsibility for their failure to grease that one joint. Then what the hell am I paying for? All the other universal joints were greased and still had grease on them when I took it in to the shop this week. I am quite confident that most rovers running around don't get greased every oil change. Soccer mom ain't gonna do that. If it requires greasing every 5,000 miles that is ridiculously high maintenance and it should be spelled out by Proshaft PRIOR to selling it. Where is the advanage of a Proshaft prop then? Why should I not have gone back with a factory prop? I have spent the same amount of money now and see no reason to add more work to my maintenance which is what you are telling me is necessary. A factory prop that lasts another 150,000 miles will outlast the vehicle at this point. It is a stock truck that sees occasional off road when we go mountain biking, hiking, or want to walk the dogs in the woods. I am sorry, but working on a vehicle is a necessity for me and not weekend enjoyment.

 

The whole point of the shaft we all bought to replace the non serviceable oem shaft, was that it IS serviceable. Which means every fitting, zirk and needle, needs lube with every oil change. Failure to do so is not the responsibility of the manufacturer.

 

It is a well know fact that u-joints should be greased at every oil change especially when it is a double cardon style with a centering ball.
Next time take the responsibility for knowing what you bought and how it is to be maintained.
It is too bad this has happened, but fix it and based on your first thread, take this opportunity to sell the Rover.

 

Mine still works great, even greased it myself too!

General rule of thumb I follow - grease everything you can every time you change the oil. Do it again if you've been in water, even if you did the day prior.

Dave

 

wow, that sux. After replacing my ujoints and ball, I never noticed zerk fitting for the ball and needle bearings...anyone know how to grease it without the fittings?

 

Failure to inform the necessity of doing frequent maintenance is the responsibility of the manufacturer. I am not a gear head, nor do I enjoy working on vehicles. It is a financial necessity, much like many others here. If that shaft is going to be billed as superior, then it should be explained how it is superior and what maintenance is necessary. I did not receive any maintenance instructions whatsoever in my box. Did you?

I am not sure I will be coming back to this site for advice. This is twice now that I have been burned by home mechanics on these sites. The other one was rangerover.net. Lesson learned. Stick with professionals and stick with reputable companies.

 

Disco Mike, well known to who? Based on what? I came here asking advice. I don't live on this site and I don't live to work on my rover. I am not a member of any rover clubs. Not every is. I bought that shaft based on the advice and interactions with LR2001SILVER and by reading others comments. It may be well known now, but I haven't been to this site since last January. There is no denying that the rover is a capable off road vehicle. That is why we bought it. It also ranks number one in worst resale value and it has **** poor ratings from consumer reports for reliability. I am not opposed to working on things as necessary. I am opposed to adding to my work load. The proshaft has no advantage over a sealed shaft if it requires that kind of maintenance.