Passenger side Driveshaft/gearbox issue

[mecheng46]

I noticed a some shaking and some vibration whilst I am driving on motorway and after a bit of investigation I think the passenger side driveshaft has lots of play.

 

Has anybody changed one of the before? How easy is to change it?

 

I am going to buy a used driveshaft and change it my self but I am wondering if there is a bearing on the gearbox side that is accessible and worth changing at the same time? If there is a bearing there, can I change it without dropping the gearbox off the car?

[Bomber209]

Mike Hi, it's a straight forward job. Remove wheel hub, and pull out drive shaft. It's held in with a 'Snap Ring' a hammer and screwdriver for one side. The other side is a bit more difficult and you'll need a Slide Hammer (with a flat faced hook). I'd check for grease before dismantling. As for the output bearing that's a gearbox out job. Hub nut torque is 216 Nm or 160 ft/lb.

[mecheng46]

Thanks for the reply Phil,

 

I am hoping that the bearing on the gearbox side is still ok as by the looks of it the previous owner was driving the car with this knackered driveshaft for a while.

 

Does the hub need to come completely of from the ball joints?

 

Will i need to fill the gearbox with oil? Is there any way to stop oil coming out of the gearbox or reduce the amount of oil I will loose?

 

Is it a no no driving the car like this till i get a spare driveshaft? I do 100miles everyday and the shaking/vibration comes and goes all the time during my motorway driving. The shaking/vibration is really bad when I am accelerating.

[bathtub tom]

Have you checked your engine and gearbox mounts?

[mecheng46]

No engine mounts will be checked once i sort out the wobbly driveshaft. Most likely to be the driveshaft.

[mecheng46]

All sorted now, driveshaft changed with a genuine working one and happy days.

 

Not sure why it failed but it looks like few years ago from the previous owner the car failed its MoT due to the passenger side driveshaft cv gaitor (damaged/split) so i am assuming the guys who replaced the gaitor at the time were cowboys as the managed to destroy the driveshaft somehow.