Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,

How on earth have I managed to get a car with a bent input shaft on the diff ?

Driving along and took the old girl up to 50 to see if she'd cope... I thought I was going to be launched !!!! The whole car took on a vibration that I can only liken to a Bomag road roller on vibrate setting !!!

When I got home I had a quick look underneath, at the dif end where the prop & diff are bolted you can see the diff shaft and the prop going in a sort of elliptical pattern, the only thing stopping the engine joining in is the universal joint at the front !!

I think it's always been like this, as I've never tried this sort of 'speed' before but has anyone any I idea how this has happend ?

Are the prop & back axle on a 2 door the same as on the four ?

I have recently had this problem with a supposedly 'expertly
rebuilt' diff unit. The pinion flange(which bolts to the prop shaft
flange) was badly bent!..This is a pretty solid lump of metal but
someone had managed to smash it out of true. Only cure was
a different pinion flange. Don't know if you have renewed the
diff or what but the usual cause of this sort of vibration is a
worn out universal joint, easily replaced, get one with a built
in grease Nipple not the 'sealed for life' type

Jim if they are both from 1098cc cars or 948cc cars they will be identical including the ratio.

If the diff shaft has severe run out then I dread to think what caused it, but a bust UJ may have been a culprit. When the propshaft runs out it can cause a lot of damage (I once had a bent gearbox output shaft).
Therefore when you change the axle (or diff) it is advisable not to re-use the prop even if it seems fine. The high loads may have damaged the UJ's so you want to replace those or the whole prop.

and the prop and back axle should be the same if both the cars are 1098

OOPs!

Even more useful than my normal remarks there '57...........

GREAT NEWS !!!!!!!

After all the panic, it was only the flange bent. So I've swapped the flange & propshaft (having greased it liberally)

..... boy does SHY move now ! 80mph !!!!! (On a private road, with no-one watching, wearing full race crash helmet )