Hello fellow Land Rover owners,

Have any of you had a problem with the U joint & drive shaft of your LR Discovery? I just had the front rotors & brakes replaced, picked up car on Wednesday, by Friday I was calling the LR Service Manager that there was a noise that wasn't there before the rotors & brakes were replaced. I took the car back on Monday for them to look under the hood. Lo and behold, he said my U joint needs to be replaced or else, if it breaks, the drive shaft can ram through the floor board!!!! The whole part: would cost $1000.00!!!!! AFTER I ALREADY DISHED OUT $960.00 for the rotors/brakes!!!! My sons & I think the Service Manager gave us a scam line.

We got 2 opinions on this problem: one was from my son's friend who owns a heavy duty 4wd vehicle & goes off roading more often than us. He said it takes ALOT to break a U joint and driving on paved city streets does not measure up to destroying a U joint & drive shaft. He ruined his when his wheel was stuck on a rock and he gunned it. The other opinion was from a man who also off roads (triple A tow truck driver). He basically said the same thing: it takes ALOT to destroy a U joint like driving 100mph off roading, and the drive shaft is hollow & if it comes apart, it collapses like an aluminum soda can, not ram through the floor board.

So my question and concern are:
1) does city street,pave road driving ruin U joints?
2) what are the signs, sounds, & clues that my U joint/drive shaft is failing?
3) do these parts really ram through the floorboard????
4) aside from the dealership, can anyone recommend what questions to ask a mechanic to assess his knowledge about these questionable "broken" parts.

Thank you so much. I love my Discovery, and would not want to part it.

 

1. The stock U-joints are called Rotoflexs they are alot weaker and you cant grease them like regular u joints with a Zerk fitting.
2. How many miles.
3. Bad clunking, Going from park to drive or reverse will sound bad.
4. It literally costs around 100 dollars for new u joints on all four points.
5. You DO NOT need a different driveshaft, The dude giving you the info is an idiot. DO NOT trust him.
6. ive never heard of them going through the floorboard but they can hit the tranny pan and kill that.
7. Ask him if you have rotoflexs still, Ask him to SHOW YOU the problem!

 

Pearlorient, only one u-joint, and only on some years, is a rotoflex.
On the DII's the common u-joint failure is the double cardan u-joints
(first image in this thread https://landroverforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=29302 )

because it's right next to the cat, which dries out the grease, and the AC condensate drain drips right on it contributing to rust. Yours is unlikely to the have any grease fittings as they came from the factory with "sealed for life" u-joints.

The F-150 has larger u-joints (1310 series) than a Discovery (1300 series).


While for 99% of Disco owners the stock size is fine, there's no disputing the fact that the larger u-joints will take more abuse. That said, even installing a front propshaft that uses 1310 series u-joints (Tom Woods and Great Basin Rovers are the two main suppliers) will still require you to really stay on top of maintenance (greasing them) otherwise they probably won't last as long because the aftermarket oropshafts use greaseable u-joints which, if not lubed on schedule, don't last as long as sealed u-joints.
Based on your post, I would suggest you either remove your propshafts and take them to a driveline shop to be rebuilt, or take your car to a driveline shop if you're not comfortable removing them yourself. You're typical shop isn't going to rebuild propshafts and the dealer definitely won't.

Finally, search is your friend. Read the thread linked above.

 

if you have a discovery 2 then yes you need to replace or rebuild the front driveshaft.

Have it rebuilt at a local drive line shop for $200 including parts or buy a replacement from Tom Woods ($350).

After your new or rebuilt drive shaft is in make sure to grease each zerk fitting at every oil change or after off-roading or making a water crossing. Losing the drive shaft can be an expensive problem if it damages the transfer case or transmission on its way out.

It could also be the rear rotoflex rubber coupling. You can crawl under the truck and see if it is cracked it might need replacement.

if you have a discovery 1 and you're experiencing excessive vibration when accelerating, it is most likely the rubber coupling or 'donut' at the end of your driveshaft. You are going to need to rebuild or replace the drive shaft with a standard U-Joint.

 

There's no real need to convert to a cardan style u-joint, depending on how the vehicle is used. Good quality rotoflexes will last a long time.
It becomes an issue when lifts start getting installed.

 

tom do you know what rotoflexes you consider good quality that fit a D1? when I had my D1 i had made the switch

 

Apparently the OEM are good. There's been a lot of reports of the Britpart kind shredding at low mileage.

 

Hellothere, skatelove303. Thank you for your response. I have 109,000 miles on my Rover. I took my car to another mechanic (non LR dealer) and he said it was going to cost $1065.00 for the part & special order x2days. I asked him to show me, but it was too late, they already brought the car down & drove it out of the bay (my bad I asked late). I think I will call the dealer & ask them to show me the problem (GREAT idea) Thank you.

 

sorry don't know the denver area too well.

 

Thank you for your response. Will def take it into consideration. Altho' I'm not a mechanic, I will add it to my accumulated knowledge. Lots to learn, but worth searching out.