Have an experienced person look at the damage before moving it. If the Pinion flange is broken off the diff will need to come out.
Also of note, please add your location to your profile so you can be directed to the closest repair and parts facilities :wink:

 

Previous reply is good advice. If you have mechanical interest then at least test runout of pinion shaft on front diff with a dial micrometer. Also would be good to figure out if transfer case front end took a beating when this happened. Some on this site have driven on one shaft only but I believe you might lose effectiveness of parking brake and park lock-up. Sprry to hear of that trouble at that time of day. Any prior symptoms like vibration before it all let go? Keep us posted.

 

I did experience a small vibration for the last week or so while accelerating but i figured it was a wheel bearing going out. I will take a look at the front diff and transfer case tomorrow to look for any damage. As far as location I am in Ft. Lauderdale, FL so i dont do any off road driving or anything like that. But will continuing to drive on the rear only do any more damage since i really need a car for the next few days? Thanks for the quick replies.

 

I would not think that it is good to drive. I forget what it is that you will fry when you drive it without the front shaft but, if I remember correctly, it is pricey so don't do it!

 

check out my little story of a broken front diff...i would suggest that checking the seals and bearings in the front diff is very important. hopefully it won't cost you quite as much as mine did...just last week...must be front end season... :think:

cheers

george

 

I did read your story macjager in my search for information. Sorry you had to pay so much, I could be ****ed since I am economically classified as below the poverty line at this point in time. But I did take pictures of the damage. Looks like a dented Trans Pan, and two broken pinion shafts? if that is the correct term for this part, and a chewed up end to the Front drive shaft. Any advice on how easy this is all to replace?

 

You are lucky, unbolt the broken flanges and get a complete shaft from a wrecking yard, pull and pound out the pan and replace/repair the filter and pick up if damaged. Could have been worse and broke housings or siezed a pinion :shock:
Should take about 15 min to swap in a new shaft, you may have to put one front wheel in the air to line up the bolt holes on the flanges :wink:
Get busy now :clap:

 

May you tell us the truck's mileage for the stats.

 

Looking at those last three pics, I'd say a lack of grease, overheated the u-joint on the flange, causing it to be weakened. It eventually 'let go' dropping the shaft on the road! Actually, where has the grease-nipple gone?

Better get the grease gun out guys.... When was the last time you did yours?? :?:

 

Actually, I've changed my mind - it's because it has been converted to coils! ;-)

 

please add your location to your profile

IP address says: Miami, FL.

 

Just a wee tip on my side, grease up shfats every service, more often if crossing water or on bad roads.
Inspect regularly by lifting up one axle and testing each joint turning by hand.

If you dont do servicing yourself and it goes to a local non LR dealer inform them that you want this done and why.

 

I know you guys are hard core about the EAS but I blew a bag and did not trust replacing one then blowing another after riding around on the bump stops. :doh: Tomorrow I will be taking apart the joint and attempting to remove the trans pan. Remember it is about 100 degrees during the day and working outside on my truck is brutal, but it is what it is. Atlantic British has the shaft for $146.00, any other parts supplier out there I could check??

 

So today was not too hot so i went out and attempted to take the trans pan off and bang it out. When it got dented it messed up the back side clearance to fit a socket behind one of the bolts so i was forced to use a open box end wrench and I stripped the the bolt trying to break it loose. I used liquid wrench and everything and it still stripped. Leading me to believe it has been some time since the trans filter was replaced. Now i need to take it to the shop to cut the bolt since i do not have the tools to do it myself. The ujoints seem to not be leaking so Trans pan is now #! priority. I need my truck asap.

 

Wow i'll be checking shafts in the A.M.

Thanks, and sorry for the bad luck..

Scotty

 

There are no U joints left, those are MATING FLANGES. :roll:

 

Where do I start?#1 You can drive it with just the back shaft but drive it very, very easy as you are putting all the torque and hp to the back wheels only and the gears and driveshaft are not designed for that. #2 When you stop anywhere and leave the vehicle in park it may role away very slowly so chalk the wheels and don't forget to use your E-brake. #3 Grease, grease, grease!, from the pics of your diff it looks like you have not greased it for a long time. :naughty: Looking at the pic of your pinion flange I would have to agree with the other post that your u-joint overheated and snapped off the cap holder for the joint and the splines on the driveshaft look to be rusty and lacking, you guessed it, GREASE!. If you are having EAS problems I would suggest looking up RSW solutions on the web. The fella to talk to is Storey Wilson about your air-ride problems, he's a genius and will personally help you out. Pounding out the dents in that trans pan is a waist of time, go buy a new or used one as you will never get it to seal properly and with the price of oil going up and up and well, up it will pay for itself in no time. Best of luck, Big-T. And don't forget, grease your truck at least twice a year and after every off-road playday.

 

thanks for the advice everyone. Even though it was 100 degrees and I was laying on blacktop, I attempted to drop the pan and was going to put a brand new one on and just my luck one of the bolts snapped and another one stripped . I don't have a drill or a tap and die set so it was off to the shop to get the pan off and replaced. Since it was in i had them do the driveshaft as well. Thus proving if you throw enough money at any situation it will be ok.

So 1600 dollars later for parts and labor my truck is back on the road. I know I got hosed, but there are not many RR shops down here. Lesson learned grease your driveshafts.

 

I wish I would have seen this post before, the same thing happened to me and the mechanic took the rest of the front driveshaft off and I have been driving without it for almost two years. The thing you must know thought it to keep your emergency brakes on or the truck could roll backwards..I did notice the power isn't the same and in the snow, but if your in a bind and have to, its safe and won't harm the truck..Also you don't have to go to Range Rover to get a driveshaft, I order from off line and have another mechanic do it. Some things Range Rover has to do, but some things they don't, its to expensive and this is one. Good luck

 

friday I greased my ujoints and something horrible lookng grease came outpast some of the seal so I'll regrease it again soon to get aoll the old stuff out.

I also did the transfercase, didn't look like dextron 3 but is what the maual called for so thats what I put back in, now I have a vibration somewhere, pretty noticable so this tread got me worried.

 

Had the same happen on my classic (shaft nearly came up through the floor to me!!) and drove for months on one drive shaft. The only thing at risk in a diesel is the Viscous Coupling, it doen't have the power to blow anything else :lol: . The handbrake acts directly on the rear shaft so no worries about parking, if it was the rear shaft that was missing then it would continuosly creep and you would have to chock it.
I'm afraid i've been guilty of neglecting the grease gun with the P38 too and have had to replace a couple of UJ's . If you don't have exactly the right tools (thin wall deep socket set) taking off a driveshaft is no 15min job. I'm pretty good at it now though and can change a UJ on my lunch break :doh:

 

You can drive with no trouble without the front driveshaft. But do not, I mean at all park on a hill or any incline. It will roll away even in park

 

Roversland in Miami would have been a better and more economical choice. Keep them in mind in the future!

 

Maybe you statesiders have different driving practices but over this side of the pond we always apply the handbrake when parking (maybe you call it the emergency brake?). We predominantly drive small capacity manual gearboxes which most people will park in neutral with the handbrake holding it. Anyway thats what we Europeans mean by a parking/hand brake not putting the auto gearbox in park.

The parking/hand/emergency brake drum is direcly bolted to the rear driveshaft and its holding ability on an incline is not affected by the removal of the front driveshaft (its linked to the front drive shaft through the VC anyway).

If you're parked on an incline and just put it in park on the gearbox and don't apply the hand/emergency/parking brake it will roll every time without the front drive shaft.

 

Maybe you statesiders have different driving practices but over this side of the pond we always apply the handbrake when parking (maybe you call it the emergency brake?). We predominantly drive small capacity manual gearboxes which most people will park in neutral with the handbrake holding it. Anyway thats what we Europeans mean by a parking/hand brake not putting the auto gearbox in park.

The parking/hand/emergency brake drum is direcly bolted to the rear driveshaft and its holding ability on an incline is not affected by the removal of the front driveshaft (its linked to the front drive shaft through the VC anyway).

If you're parked on an incline and just put it in park on the gearbox and don't apply the hand/emergency/parking brake it will roll every time without the front drive shaft.

How sure are you of this? Without a driveshaft in front, the transfer case will just spin the front output freely, no movement will happen.