Rubbish quality UJs - avoid

[Colin Lindsay]

Just spent the last two hours trying to fit Britpart UJs to a Herald; actually the first hour trying to fit them and the last hour swearing, gathering up needle rollers and trying to remove them again.

They are rubbish.

For anyone tempted to try them - I got these from a reputable Landrover specialist - they are boxed Britpart, with the code number TVF100000 and supposedly for Freelander 1. There is a small metal collar with a very flimsy rubber seal that detaches if you even breathe on it; I had one fitted and reckoned it was quite tight, so removed it again to find that the seal had come off and gone down inside. Once disturbed the seals just fall off, the tin collar distorts really easily, and the needle rollers all fall about inside. I dug out a GKN version and had it fitted in thirty seconds. If you look at the heavy rubber collar on the GKN and compare it with the thin metal collar on the Britpart version, you'll see why they're so hard to fit. I'm debating sending the remainder - I bought four - to Britpart to check if they're really counterfeits.

Now I have to order two more and wait for those arriving...

 

  

  

 

[griffipaul]

I have always used gkn ones from club no problems .  Bargain compare to the cheaper alternative crap.

The most expensive part you will buy is the cheap one that does not work.

Understand that being in Ireland postage and timing is an issue us mainlanders don't have to worry about.

[Pete Lewis]

as they are  from china  i guess you need to quarantine them   or your vice gets a virus 

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

Never mind Corona virus, I almost had a coronary but a bottle of Corona will help later.

[yorkshire_spam]

I won't have Britpart parts anywhere near any of my motors. As I've said elsewhere I order from lrdirect.com as it lets you select the brand of the part you want... no more rubbish in blue boxes.

I think it's a shame that some people still promote that brand mentioning no names.... https://www.britpart.com/news/archive/car-sos

[poppyman]

You could send them back to China Colin.   

Tony.

[Clive]

I havesaid this before. GKN make several grades of UJ, the cheapest being better (probably ) than the Britparts, the club supplied ones are the mid range and OK. The very best GKN are the genuine freelander type. But about twice the cost of the Club ones, and no grease nipples in sight.

I recently had my prop balanced after replacing the UJs with teh pukka freelander types, and when driven it had a slight vibration at motorway speeds. The nice chap at Bailey Morris seemed a bit worried when I asked him to balance it.He then looked at the UJ's, and he was delighted with what he saw. Reckons most people skimp on the UJ's which is madness. Anyway, balanced, and now smooth as silk at all speeds. 

But there are UJ's as cheap as about £3 a pop up to the £30+ for the genuine freelander type. I know what I will always use...

Genuine 

 

Next best grade 

 

I believe Hardy Spicer are somewhere between the above 2. Avoid all others......

 

[griffipaul]

Clive , what's the difference between the two Gkn ones ? 

[RogerH]

£10

 

Roger

[Clive]

5 minutes ago, griffipaul said:

Clive , what's the difference between the two Gkn ones ? 

Quality. Most UJ makers make several grades, the top grades used in OEM stuff (in this case freelander) as car manufacturers tend to want stuff to last. But the aftermarket is teh wild west, and so they make cheaper versions to compete with the "alternative" brands.

The propshaft man instantly recognised the seals as being the best version, but he has been doing props for 20 odd years, so knows a thing or two.

[Clive]

Genuine available cheapest here, £22.50 (and where I sourced mine)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GKN-Land-Rover-Freelander-1-4-Cyl-Rear-Prop-Shaft-Universal-Joint-UJ-TVF100000/233175548004?fits=Model%3AFreelander&epid=654696261&hash=item364a588064:g:LQkAAOSwrcReGDmL

[RogerH]

Here is another good supplier   https://www.jgs4x4.co.uk/search-results?q=tvc100010gx2

 

 

 

Roger

[hugh]

Have to say we've used the Britpart blue box ones in the past on a 220bhp turbocharged spitfire they lasted as long as anything else if not longer and that includes the expensive gkn ones but they were fitted with a hydraulic press and not the time honoured socket and hammer

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, hugh said:

 not the time honoured socket and hammer

Nor were mine, they were pressed in, same method as I've been using for years. I can't see how you'd hammer a UJ in, in any case. Still if you're happy with the Britpart ones, then each to his own. As I've personally had a bad experience with them I won't go for them again.

[hugh]

Don't have a triumph at all now, got so fedup with crap parts in general and no decent gearbox parts, joined the dark side and got mg zs180, which has decent parts readily available

[Colin Lindsay]

Nice. A 'fire-breathing super saloon'. I never had the MG version, just a few Rovers, but miss the brand, especially my V6 75 Estate which was amazingly large, very comfortable and gave me about 24 to the gallon.

[PeteH]

When doing mine. on the current 3+ year marathon rebuild. I went "digging" in the far recesses of the garage and found? a OEM full set!. Yeh!. Thinking back I guess I bought them to do The Vittesse we had circa 1980?. So they have gone in as I wanted the shaft in before I put the Rear tub back, save crawling underneath later.

 

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

14 minutes ago, PeteH said:

When doing mine. on the current 3+ year marathon rebuild. I went "digging" in the far recesses of the garage and found? a OEM full set!. Yeh!. Thinking back I guess I bought them to do The Vittesse we had circa 1980?. So they have gone in as I wanted the shaft in before I put the Rear tub back, save crawling underneath later.

Pete

Lol your garage must be like mine; I managed to find three boxed heavy-duty ones on a shelf that I was keeping for the 1200 convertible - bought at Stafford years ago. All I had to do was regrease, just in case. Fourth came from Net and was a GKN HD version. I grease mine back to front; cups full of grease and as they tighten inwards the grease comes out of the aperture for the grease nipple. All fitted in minutes, including me with the propshaft over my shoulder like a rocket launcher and the UJ / flange in the vice, trying desperately not to damage the paint. I managed to buy blanking plugs from James Paddock so all in order now.

[PeteH]

On 16/02/2020 at 11:37, Colin Lindsay said:

Nice. A 'fire-breathing super saloon'. I never had the MG version, just a few Rovers, but miss the brand, especially my V6 75 Estate which was amazingly large, very comfortable and gave me about 24 to the gallon.

75 was European car of the year? I think when first introduced, in fact possibly 2 years?. Had saloon as a Courtesy car, when wife`s Scenic went in for a warranty Gearbox job. Our neighbours, thought at first we had bought a Jag!.

 

Pete

[hugh]

My as has been got at janspeed bananas, remap, 2.5 bore piper system single sports cat etc, over 200 bhp, and much fun 8 to the gallon on track but 40 on a long ryb😂

[johny]

On 07/02/2020 at 22:34, clive said:

I havesaid this before. GKN make several grades of UJ, the cheapest being better (probably ) than the Britparts, the club supplied ones are the mid range and OK. The very best GKN are the genuine freelander type. But about twice the cost of the Club ones, and no grease nipples in sight.

I recently had my prop balanced after replacing the UJs with teh pukka freelander types, and when driven it had a slight vibration at motorway speeds. The nice chap at Bailey Morris seemed a bit worried when I asked him to balance it.He then looked at the UJ's, and he was delighted with what he saw. Reckons most people skimp on the UJ's which is madness. Anyway, balanced, and now smooth as silk at all speeds. 

But there are UJ's as cheap as about £3 a pop up to the £30+ for the genuine freelander type. I know what I will always use...

Genuine 

 

Next best grade 

 

I believe Hardy Spicer are somewhere between the above 2. Avoid all others......

 

Theres an advert somewhere that shows the difference of the normal and HD GKN items and the main difference is down to the larger diameter arms of the u/j. Admittedly its for the bigger items used on a Discovery but presumably the same applies and this will give a larger load bearing area....