Thank you. Had "figure 2" and the information under "please note" been supplied in my delivery this whole thing would have been moot. Now I know and now I can perform the proper maintenance. I am getting hammered pretty hard for not knowing that a fitting existed for the center ball that is hidden behind the yoke. My mechanic is absolutely convinced it never had a drop of grease on it from the manufacturer. Sorry guys I am going with his opinion on this one. I know him. I don't know any of you.

It is evident now that this has come up that I am not the only one who was unaware of the existence of that fitting or the frequency of maintenance or the fact that the drive shaft has to be dropped every three months or 3,000 miles. It might be helpful to include in your flyer advice to pull the transfer case side to access the center ball grease fitting and that is a normal procedure for regular maintenance intervals of 3,000 miles. It would also be helpful to post that flyer on the Rovers North website.

Richief556, the "needle" is the extension on your grease gun in figure 2 and labeled as "Lincoln Needle Nozzle - 5803" in the materials list. Your regular fitting is not going to be able to reach in past the yoke of the cardon joint to the inside where the center ball is located. I picked one up yesterday at Advanced Auto for $8.

Ghaniba, I agree in your assessment that I am frustrated by the lack of knowledge. On the rest I am going to disagree with you. I fully expect instructions to be included for a part that differs significantly from the OEM part. I don't expect "people" to provide this information. I expected Proshaft to do so. At the very least, Proshaft could have printed on the box or a piece of paper to refer to their website, but they haven't seen fit to join the modern business era. They do not have a website. I have been unable to google any information regarding this other than finding people frustrated when it fails. I am the angry customer who cared enough to voice my frustrations. It is common business knowledge that there are many more who walk away without ever giving the business an opportunity to correct the problem. Problems happen. The difference is in how a company deals with that problem. To be honest I still don't know who Proshaft, LLC is. Their ebay store currently has 5 items on it. None for a land rover. It would appear that ZGphoto works for them or is somehow associated with them. It has never been spelled out. When I bought it someone by the name of LRsilver2001 communicated with me by PM and represented that he was with the company. I thought I was dealing with a representative. It turns out that I was not. I don't have a phone number, email, or website to turn to. ZGphoto just supplied an email a few posts ago. It is too late though. The repair had to be made and I had no way to inform the company prior to this to see if they could assist in helping. That is poor business practice. To recap my complaints:

1. No prior information was given that said this shaft needed excessive maintenance
2. No information was provided in my delivery stating that I needed to maintain it every 3,000 miles by dropping the shaft and greasing a hidden center ball grease fitting (No other vehicle I have ever owned has required that level of maintenance so this is aberrant and I should have been informed of this PRIOR to purchase)
4. No grease was supplied in the center ball. An oversight by the company indicating poor quality control.
5. No contact information provided to see if the company could assist in resolving the problem prior to the vehicle going to a local mechanic.

When I bought it this product was being billed as the same product sold by Rovers North being manufactured by a start up company, but with a very experienced owner. It was being offered at discount on the side to Discovery enthusiasts through this website. There was not a single negative comment by anyone who had purchased one and it appeared many members personally knew the owner and this LRsilver2001 guy. I took a chance on an unknown company to save a few bucks. A lot of people here have. Comments were made that a website was being built and if there were any problems I could contact LRsilver2001 directly. He is now banned. It appears that some shady things were going on.

The following is copied from Rovers North directly
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Model #: RND665HD
Shipping Schedule: Ready for immediate shipment
Front double cardon prop shaft for the Discovery II. This very high quality shaft is made completely in the US with all US designed/built parts. This part exceeds the specs of all shafts we have seen to date.

Specs:
Fully serviceable, grease fittings at every point on the shaft and U-joints

DOM Tubing

Spicer u-joints

Fits:
Discovery II '99-'04 with 0-3" of lift.

Add 8 x RNE478 as they must be replaced when fitting a new prop shaft
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is no mention anywhere of a serviceable center ball. It only states u-joints and every point on the shaft. What comes to mind is a fitting for the sliding yoke, not a center ball. Again, where was this information supposed to come from? Forgive my sarcasm, but I am glad you had a dad who explained that a center ball on a land rover aftermarket drive shaft should be greased every 3,000 miles. Somehow my dad overlooked that bit of advice. For the record, my dad has built many a hot rod. When I talked to him last night, his reaction was immediately, "3,000 MILES!! That is ridiculous!". Again, I am going with my dad over any of you. Sorry.

ZGphoto, again thank you for supplying the necessary information. If you do have any contact with the owner of Proshaft, LLC please pass along my complaints. I am sure I am not the only one as evidenced by others making similar comments to mine on other threads. (See caymandrew's link to "Bad news: Tom Wood's driveshaft failed".) I can see that it is a good product if properly maintained, but a little bit of information would have gone a long way.

 

"I fully expect instructions to be included for a part that differs significantly from the OEM part."
I've grown weary of the ranting and raving. I've never stomped on anybody before, and I do not believe I'm stomping on you now, 2rovers, but think about it: a box of brake pads does not come with instructions. If you mess up the brake pad install, go out and kill 14 people because you can't stop, would you blame Ray-bestos? I hope not.
The part does not vary significantly from oem. It varies ever so slightly. It has an additional three or four grease zerks. If you want to buy parts and play mechanic, you better know what you're doing, or find out.
You messed up, it cost you money, you learned a lot. I'd say grow up and get over it.

 

Interestingly, when I bought my GBR shaft they said it was unnecessary to grease until after 3,000 miles because they do it at the factory. I still did the u-joints anyway while it was out, but my needle blew out, and I couldn't get any grease in the fitting.

I'm about 1~2k miles into it and my replacement needle arrived, so I'm going to attempt to grease it again this weekend. I hope this needle works better, and more importantly, I hope GBR actually greased the center ball or I may be hosed as well.

Is it really necessary to remove the shaft from the T-case in order to get to the centering ball fitting? I figured the ramp, 2-wheel in neutral, and spin until visible trick would work. I don't have the fancy air-tool setup, so I'd much rather pump grease into this thing while it is mounted. GBR did a good job lining everything up, so I'm assuming once I get all 3 zerks in the down position, I could access the centering ball.

I really hope this is the case. Greasing a car and doing maintenance every 3k miles is one thing. Dropping a shaft every stinking time is just downright stupid, and I'm going to have to agree with the OP on that one.

 

Just to be clear- I/ Rovers North have no association with Proshaft whatsoever. Andrew is a nice guy who gave me a T-case, and I was running one of their propshafts. Justin now works alone selling their propshaft. Rovers North does not sell Proshaft units, we have a company in Colorado making our shafts to spec with all Spicer products, they are very nice units. We supply the installation paperwork with every shaft we sell, we do not publish all of our instructions online as it would slow the website down and cause more clutter.

 

Nor does any gasket, seal, o-ring, oil pump gears, bearing kit, coil pack, timing chain, or any other hundreds of auto parts available..

Just saying 2rovers, you are getting beat up pretty hard but take a step back. You come here and resurrect multiple threads trashing the reputation of a well known company for a product that failed due to your own lack of due diligence..

Anyway, everyone has moved passed it and provided you with the info you need.

 

did I miss the part where you complained to the manufacturer and they told you to stuff it? Or did you not call them?

 

Already asked that question in another thread:
https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...dropped-60120/

It appears the answer is he couldn't get ahold of them in time as the truck needed immediate repair and their contact info was not readily available.

 

proshaftllc@gmail.com. Justin is easy to get ahold of and very helpful.

 

From the thread you posted Dan7

That's 2rover's quote above, his exact words. Two months he drove around with a squeaking and grinding sound.. This would have been identified and fixed in hours had he come here and asked what it could be two months ago...

 

This has got to be THE stupidest thread, ever. So many things wrong with it I hardly know where to begin.
A couple points:
1) LR2001SILVER was a douchebag and it was made very clear in many posts that he was one. Hence the ban.
2) The lack of information on the company was also brought to light MANY times.
3) You state that no one that bought a shaft complained. Well I guess you did some homework, however you chose to ignore all the warnings that people like myself brought up including the one about how there's no telling how well they will hold up over time or warranty info.
4) ALL driveshafts come with VERY minimal grease in the joints. Guess what, ujoints come with very little grease in them from their maker as well. If driveshafts and their ujoints came fully greased you'd be on here complaining that you got your khakis dirty when installing it.

It sucks that you fell for that dude's racket and it sucks that you ignored the early warning signs with an "I don't give a sh*t" attitude. I can bet you money though the next time you'll do more homework when dropping that kind of money and you'll address problems as soon as they present themselves.
Some people just have to learn lessons the hard way.

Interesting how all those threads pertaining to the Propshaft Debacle have vanished.