Half shafts

[jagnut66]

Hi,
Just wondered if half shafts become 'handed' over time?
One of mine has become sluggish / slow (whilst the other still moves freely when the car is in gear and on stands) and I have a 'rubbing' sound coming from the axle area that I believe is associated with the problem (this sound is what set me to looking for a problem in the first place).......
Anyway I shall be ordering a couple of new ones tomorrow, I did look at second-hand ones and that is what set me wondering about my question above.
But apart from the possible 'handed' issue (and if so how would you tell which side one had come off, unless you got lucky and the chap who removed them had labelled them) the other thing that put me off second-hand ones is that no matter how good they appear, they will still be as old as my ones, meaning I wouldn't know how fatigued their metal was until they were on the car and in use.... too late then....
Meanwhile it is my only car and I have to get to work each day (not good I know), which is why I shall have to put them on the quickest delivery option possible.
And drive very carefully in the meantime.....
Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me, as I don't need diff problems as well!!
Mike.

[drivewasher]

I can't see how half shafts will make a difference in the speed when running off load. I thing brakes binding is more likley the cause or a diff problem.

[chesney]

Yes, they do become handed over time.
Also, if you need to replace, you may as well replace the pair, and if you go mainstream supplier, if you order two you have two with (most likely) varying degrees of wear!
Worth looking for a spare axle. They come up on ebay and there was a guy giving them away on the other side at some point. Worth it for the casing/half shafts/diff etc..
However your problem sounds less like it could be about the half shafts? I think when they become handed they are more likely to snap if fitted the other way, I can't see how it could be more sluggish, it's just a piece of metal..

[jagnut66]

mmmmmmm.....
The slow / sluggish side is the passenger side, the wheel itself spins freely by hand though (no noise ) with the hand-brake off, so I don't think its a brake issue... Could the splines on the half shaft of worn to the point where they no longer mesh with the ones on the diff??
In first gear the wheel doesn't move, in second it moves intermittently and slowly.... I must admit I was thinking along the lines of a broken or damaged half-shaft that catches the momentum occasionally......
There doesn't appear to be any noises from the diff itself at present........
.... only that rubbing sound from the general area of the axle but with cars sound travels................
Meanwhile the drivers side runs fast and freely all the time as you would expect it to.
I guess I'll know when I take it apart...
Anyone selling a spare 4.22 diff??
Mike.

[les]

I've tried to determine left and right before now, with varying degrees of certainty. If you look closely/carefully you can sometimes see a shiny side to the splines indicating the direction of force. Not very scientific but the best you can do.

[bmcecosse]

Your noise just can't be caused by the half shaft. Yes - they do become handed in use - the splines will show a very slight twist where they lock into the diff output gears. NEW half shafts!! Won't be inexpensive I fear......

[jagnut66]

I have bitten the bullet and ordered some EN24 high tensile steel ones from the Morris Minor Centre Birmingham, not cheap, as you say but I don't want to be pulling this apart too often.
I can't complain though, as mine have nearly 50 years service behind them and they've been coping with a 1275cc engine for the last year and a half.
I have included seals in the order and shall remove and inspect the diff at the same time..................
I was just outbid on a diff in the last thirty seconds on eBay and am watching another but that doesn't end for a couple of days yet, so still looking for a spare 4.22 diff, just in case.
I shall put a post in the wanted section on here, rather pass my hard earned to a fellow enthusiast if I can.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Greengrass]

Ah now you did not mention the 1275 engine to much power i can gauarantee they become handed if you get them the wrong side they snap but when you put your new ones in shoud be ok dount for get new seals while its in bits

[jagnut66]

I now have a spare 4.22 diff, so hopefully that's all bases covered. Just have to nurse it through today and tomorrow and then on Saturday.......... well, we shall see what we shall see...................

[jagnut66]

Well, apart from a broken rear brake adjustment cam screw head, which fortunately (I hope) I seem to have adjusted okay before one side of the screw head came away (replacements ordered), I have installed my replacement parts okay.
The half shafts came out okay, as did the diff, no stuck bolts / brake drums and all went back together smoothly - until that screw head snapped off anyway....
However. although I don't regret replacing the half shafts with EN24 ones, as I am running a larger 1275 engine, I completely miss-read the problem.
Apart from some slight wear to the splines (handing?) the half shafts would be reusable for someone with a 1098.....
The 4.22 diff also appears to be okay, with upon first inspection after removal, no excessive wear or broken teeth, I shall rinse this through at some point to be sure but am quite happy to retain it as a spare.
The problem ladies and gentlemen, as it turns out, was something I wasn't expecting or looking for, nor I expect would you.....
Some S**TS had obviously decided it would be funny to partly undo three of my front wheel nuts on the passenger side front wheel, they had actually gone to the trouble of removing and replacing the hub cap, so I wouldn't notice. Presumably they then were waiting to see it come back on a low loader, all smashed up, so they could have a good laugh!!
The price of parking it outside with one too many bored 'hoodies' around I suppose. (The area used to be okay but I guess one too many of them are morphing into teenagers!)
They just don't seem to consider that it might have resulted in something much worse, ending in loss of life possibly! Still perhaps they'd find that funny too!!
What I will do to them if I catch them having another go (at mine or my neighbours car, as I have just found out they have suffered at the hands of these idiots too) will not be politically correct I can tell you!!
I shall report it to the Police but I doubt they'll be able to do much.
I'm now off to sharpen my axe..........

[les]

How did loose wheel nuts cause the wheel to become sluggish/slow and cause a rubbing sound? It doesn't make sense to me.

[chesney]

You'd think you'd notice when spinning the wheel
You don't need to know what I'd do to those yobs

[drivewasher]

But the half shafts n diff are on the back axle.
Wheel nuts do come loose though. If it's going to happen it's more likely to happen on the near side and in the first 100 miles or so after a wheel change. Also if spare wheel is fitted and the taper in the wheel nut holes has become rusted with being stood in storage.

[jagnut66]

How did loose wheel nuts cause the wheel to become sluggish/slow and cause a rubbing sound? It doesn't make sense to me.

Rubbing sound may well have been the rear brake shoes which have now been adjusted, as I've just had that whole area apart.

You'd think you'd notice when spinning the wheel

When I jacked the front up, after I'd finished re-assembling the rear axle, I did so simply because something was nagging me, that given the lack of excessive wear at the rear, there must be another cause for the rubbing / knocking sound which I'd overlooked (not that I was expecting this!) and yes, you are right, the passenger side front wheel did then wobble excessively!
My first thought then was the bearings, that was until I removed the hub cap and found what those evil sods had done!!
One reason I didn't think of looking there before was that every time I checked in the past, when jacked up to grease the front nipples, it was always tight with no excessive play.
As to why I thought the problem lay at the rear of the car I can only put this down to a classic case of sound travelling within a car and me thinking it was coming from the rear (whilst I was inside driving it).

[jagnut66]

Wheel nuts do come loose though. If it's going to happen it's more likely to happen on the near side and in the first 100 miles or so after a wheel change.

I always make sure mine are torqued up after any work, not to say you are wrong, however I've never experienced this before and I've done much more that 100 miles since I last had this wheel off.
Also in this case one wheel nut was still done up and the other three half undone.

[MarkyB]

Not many bored 'hoodies' carry tools around with them or have the nous to come up with a long term plan.
Slashed tyres or scratched paintwork is about their speed.

It's easy enough to get distracted by something, phone call or cup of tea being delivered, and lose track of what needs doing next.
I've done it myself

[bmcecosse]

Cup of tea being delivered???? You must live in a very different universe to mine...........

[jagnut66]

Slashed tyres, followed later by a smashed windscreen, is what my neighbours have suffered (they are a nice quiet young couple and I can't imagine them offending anyone).
I have seen the local 'hoodies' eyeing my car with their usual sullen expressions myself, also the lady who lives next to where I regularly park it has told me that she's seen them paying it too much attention for her liking.
I'd just dismissed it myself until now................
As soon as I can afford to move out I shall look for somewhere with a garage.

[MarkyB]

Cup of tea being delivered???? You must live in a very different universe to mine...........

Sounds grim, doesn't Mrs Bmcecosse oblige?

My local sullen youths grew up and disappeared, quite possibly to prison but who knows, they probably just discovered girls, babies and mortgages.