Prop shaft replacement

[jondhm]

For some years I have put up with resonances and vibration through the whole car, particularly bad around 55mph and on the overrun. Replaced propshaft ujs, balanced wheels, checked for bent components, suspension wear etc.

Finally I bought a new propshaft from Dave Mac Propshafts, and it has transformed my GT6. Really smooth, should have done it years ago particularly as off the car I could really see the wear in the sliding joint.

Some slight front wheel wobble at speed, but I'll ask my friendly MOT man about any slight suspension wear he can find - particularly if I there is enough play on the front wheel bearings to tighten them one flat.

Any other suggestions gratefully received.

John M

[Pete Lewis]

when we got the Vit6 in 2003 the prop slide was absolutley awfull,  slack , wobbly worn ,  pretty amazing as it doesnt move much, maybe thats the culprit

for a while we glued it up with heavy setting silcone, but like yours  soon reverted to a new replacement, 

  we had vibration but this did not solve it, after chasing it around the car with bent engine back plates , clutch disc damper springs, a replacement ratio diff, the solution was the inner UJ cups having small amounts of float,  new UJ with thicker Circlips solved a lot of head scratching.

[Cookie]

Many years ago I replaced the UJs on a propshaft and had it balanced professionally. I also rebuilt the gearbox, changed the clutch. Afterwards I had a vibration but thought as I'd had the prop balanced it couldn't possibly be that. Anyway I put up with it for a couple of years and then saw a 2nd hand prop in the Stafford autojumble for a tenner. I  thought I'd give it a try and it cured the vibration! After a couple of years it was a bit late to take the prop back top the balancers and complain!

 

Anyway, 15 years later that 2nd hand prop sometimes has a vibration as the sliding joint is worn so I will get around to replacing it. Can you let me know how much the new prop was from Dave Mac please. Got quoted a lot of money from a propshaft supplier near Heathrow (just under 200 quid) so I'm interested in getting one for a good price.

[Darren Groves]

I had a vibration on a propshaft that had been professionally balanced, turned one of the yokes round 180° and it fixed it.

[jondhm]

Hi Cookie

From memory it was about £160 delivered. I'm on holiday at present but will look it up when I get home.

Suggest you email them for a quote.

 

I see you are a 'newbie' as well - so is Mike Crewes!

On a separate thread Pete Lewis is gently educating me about how to set up my profile, so hopefully all will become clear soon.

But really great to have the forum back.

John M

[Cookie]

Hi Cookie

From memory it was about £160 delivered. I'm on holiday at present but will look it up when I get home.

Suggest you email them for a quote.

 

I see you are a 'newbie' as well - so is Mike Crewes!

On a separate thread Pete Lewis is gently educating me about how to set up my profile, so hopefully all will become clear soon.

But really great to have the forum back.

John M

I think Canley's were about £145 but there would be postage on top of that, I wouldn't be surprised if they get theirs from Dave Mac :-)  The place near Heathrow was almost 200 quid....

 

I'm on Holiday as well, marvellous using technology to be able to post on the forum from the hotel poolside bar in the canary Islands with a Mojito in hand!

 

I think the newbie piece will change when you reach a certain numbers of threads posted. I've been in the club since 1985 so if that's a newbie god knows what an oldbie is!

[mishmosh]

I paid £120 for a prop chop in Wolverhampton. To Be honest , If you can get new for £145, do it.

[jondhm]

Hi Cookie

Back from holiday, and I can see it cost £168 delivered. And it is a nicely engineered bit of kit.

Suggest you also replace the nylock nuts, and ideally the sets crews as well.

But you have done the job before, so know what is involved.

 

Hope this helps.

John M

[jondhm]

I meant setscrews, but the spell corrector on my iPad got to it. Isn't technology wonderful.

[sulzerman]

Hi all

I bought a new prop for my Spitfire from a well known supplier. It was made in India.

Not recommended, the UJ's have failed in less than 1800 miles. Replacing the UJ's is a nightmare as the yoke and flanges are not machined flat on the outer surfaces, making it impossible to hold them square in the vice, needs to be square to push in the cups in the flange/yoke.  I resorted to using second hand flanges and knocking the cups in on the yokes with a hammer and drift- not recommended! I also found half a roller bearing in the grease inside one of the spiders of a UJ!

I would check carefully the quality of any new prop or find a good second hand item.

 

Hope this helps someone

Paul 

[jondhm]

Even more reason to buy direct from a manufacturer. Check out the Dave Mac Propshaft website - they are in Coventry, and were very friendly and knowledgable when I phoned them. They appear to make small batches of a particular shaft when they get an order, and as I said in an earlier post it looks to be a well engineered bit of kit. And I am a Chartered Engineer and started my career in the automotive industry, so I can normally tell when something is well made.

More to the point, the new prop shaft works well.

No doubt there are other equally good suppliers out there, and the Forum is a great way of identifying them.

JohnM

[Darren Groves]

Have used these guys a few times, always very good and well priced:

 

Propshaft Services Feltham

[Peaks]

I can also add to the recommendation for Dave Mac Propshafts. They organised the courier to pick up my old propshaft and delivered a new one within a week. 20-odd years with a vibrating car cured for, I think, £145. I learnt from that experience and after several 2nd hand shafts that any play in the sliding joint can make for an unpleasant driving experience.