Noise under D2

[davran]

Recently I've noticed a new noise from under my D2. After a drive across Mt. Sicker to Mr. Provost today, I noticed that under acceleration it sounds like there's a "chirping' noise under the vehicle. I've been told that noises under acceleration can mean front driveshapft; is that correct?


Thanks,

[davran]

I removed the driveshaft this morning and it was about ready to fall apart. Luckily my D2 has CDL, so I've engaged it and am driving.

What kind of greasable u-joints are recommended for a rebuild?

[davran]

It'll be interesting to see if I get better fuel mileage without the front wheels not being driven.

[red90]

It won't affect your mileage. All the same parts are turning.

Read up on the driveshafts as you need to do the centering ball as well.

[Strange Rover]

Isn't it common to switch out the front driveshaft on those D2s with just a normal-type, stronger driveshaft? I forget but there's an aftermarket company that offers them, right?

I'd probably just do that. I can't see the cost being much different if at all and it'll be less likely to fail again in the future.

[davran]

I assume the driveshaft was bad for awhile, as Grayson drives much more smoothly and freely now that the driveshaft has been removed.

[sdillen]

Isn't it common to switch out the front driveshaft on those D2s with just a normal-type, stronger driveshaft? I forget but there's an aftermarket company that offers them, right?

I'd probably just do that. I can't see the cost being much different if at all and it'll be less likely to fail again in the future.

Tom Woods makes a replacement shaft that uses standard 1310 u-joints that are found all over the Jeep community. I bought Tom Woods gear for my Jeep and was very impressed with the quality of the parts I obtained. I considered going down this path when I rebuilt the front shaft of my D2, but then considered that since the original joints lasted 200k and that I now make it a point to grease them every 10k, I'm not likely to have issues. A member of this community also pointed out that if I'm wheeling with other Rovers, none of them are likely to be carrying 1310 spares....nor would my spare 1310s be at all useful for someone else who blew out a joint on the trail. Having donated a fair number of trail spare u-joints to others on runs over the last 5 or 6 years, this made sense to me.

At any rate, replacing the three joints and the center ball is about an hour and a half of effort (with beverage breaks) and, aside from annoyance that rover fitment universal joints appear to be nearly twice the price of 1310s (and are somewhat smaller), is one of the simpler maintenance tasks I've done for my D2.

[Strange Rover]

A member of this community also pointed out that if I'm wheeling with other Rovers, none of them are likely to be carrying 1310 spares....nor would my spare 1310s be at all useful for someone else who blew out a joint on the trail.

That's a good point that I hadn't really considered. I'm used to wheeling with the Jeep guys mostly, or my work friends (who don't have Rovers) so none of our spares work cross-platform anyway.

[red90]

Actually some Rovers use 1310s. They are very common and larger at the same time.