Identifying half shafts.

[Doug D'G]

Hi all,

if you have two half shafts sitting in the workshop, can their position (i.e. nearside or offside) be identified from a visual inspection?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Doug.

[Alan Pearse]

Hi there, moggie half shafts are of equal lenght, so it shouldn't matter about be handed O/S N/S, what you have to look for is the diamiter of the shaft, 1098 shafts are thicker than those fitted to a series II so th earlier shafts wont fit a later car.

[PSL184]

Obviously the LH and RH shaft will have rotated in different directions so the strain on the splines will be opposed. You should always refit to the same side of the car so if they have not been identified you run the risk of premature failure by fitting them to the wrong side. If they are new parts it doesn't matter which side they go on.....

[Doug D'G]

My problem is I have a pair that have come out of a '64 pick up, as I have fitted uprated ones. I would like to sell the original items but they haven't been labelled.

[chrisryder]

the only way to tell would be to look for any 'twist' at the spline end, and to see which direction it is. trouble is, if there's twist, it suggests the shafts aren't far off failure!

[MarkyB]

I think there may be some difference on the edges of the splines, the side that has taken the drive should be shinier than the other.
You can work out which one is which.

[mike.perry]

50/50 chance

[les]

I've used markyB's method, it's the best you can do, sometimes there's a very slight step on one side.

[bmcecosse]

Just sell them as a pair and let the buyer worry about which goes where!

[Doug D'G]

Thanks for all of your comments.

Doug.