By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 12:44 pm: Edit

I need of good advise.
Took my car in for vibration problem (again). They claim it is the rubber coupling on the rear drive shaft. They ask for $289 to replace it.
How difficult is it to change it? Isn't there a metal coupling that can replace the rubber.

Thanks for all your help in advance.

By Robert Mann (Oldscout) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 12:58 pm: Edit

289!!! It's six bolts and a 60.00 part! Nathan has then in stock. It's a very easy job if it's hasn't blown apart.

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 01:05 pm: Edit

Robert,
$60 sound a lot better! It has not blown apart yet. Do I need to remove the whole shaft or just the rear end?

By Robert Mann (Oldscout) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 01:26 pm: Edit

I'm lifted so I may have a little more open slip in the drive shaft. I just unbolted it and pushed the shaft forward and popped in the new one. If you not lifted you may need to jack up the frame and let the rear axle move down. Jack stands are a must if you do it this way.

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 01:40 pm: Edit

It sounds like something I can do. I am lifted also (2 1/2 RT). Have you hear of a replacement...I think it made out of steel?

By RICH on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 01:51 pm: Edit

Yes you can upgrade.
They make a drive shaft conversion kit for roughly 400 last I checked.Much more than the $60 roto-flex, but made of much more than a useless rubber frisbee.

I replaced mine without jacking vehicle. (Nonlifted)
Good luck

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 01:54 pm: Edit

Jose,
You have mail.
-Blue

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 02:29 pm: Edit

Blue, I checked my e-mail and nada. Pls advise.
By the way, I have not wire my lights yet.

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 02:51 pm: Edit

I sent it to [email protected] (replied to your offline email to the Truckhaven group). I just sent it again...there's a zip file attached with pictures - maybe you aren't receiving due to zip file? I would think msn.com could handle it!

About the lights...didn't mean to leave you in the dark - what do you need to know? Relays & such? I will be living in my engine bay & under the white whale this weekend, so I'll write my circuitry down & forward over to you.

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 03:12 pm: Edit

Dealer asking $160 for the rotoflex

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 03:24 pm: Edit

my dealer wanted around $120 - still too much. Contact Nathan over at Discount Rovers: [email protected]

By Scott Hayes (Scott_H) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 03:35 pm: Edit

Jose
I have ordered stuff from Nathan before and he is reliable, and has great prices.

I would order from him.

Scott H

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 03:36 pm: Edit

Blue,
59.95 from British Pacific (local) I e-mailed Nathan. Great pics thanks!

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - 03:39 pm: Edit

Cool, Jose. That's a good price, and local too. Let me know if you end up having to get involved with the centralizing peg bushing that is tucked into the rear end of the driveshaft. If that bushing is shot, too, then you'll have to replace it or your vibes may not go away.

By Yo!adrian (Adrian) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 12:31 am: Edit

Hey guys, any possibility I can get those pics? I was told I may need to have mine replaced as well.

Thanks.

By ButchS on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 12:44 am: Edit

MIne is lifted 2 inches and replaced at home but still got vibes. How do you guys replace the silver ring that goes with the new rotoflex package? Mine's stuck. Any special tools to pull it off or i am stucked with the old metal silver ring?

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 11:13 am: Edit

Yo, Adrian & Butch - I'll email you some pics of my rotoflex hassle. Butch, I assume you're talking about the silver metal collar with the rubber bushing inside of it that fits very snugly into the rear end of the rear driveshaft. In my case, the rubber bushing within the metal collar was completely disintegrated and I had to replace it. The bushing fits over the centralizing peg poking off of the pinion flange - without that bushing, you can still vibe even with a new rotoflex. I had to cut the old metal collar out of the driveshaft - not too big a deal with a little grind wheel & dremmil tool. Then I just tapped the new collar/bushing into place. I'll throw something together and email you guys today.

By Seth Smythe (Seth) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 12:13 pm: Edit

Blue, could you add me to that distribution of rotoflex bushing pics? I want to replace mine, but it is stuck fast. Thanks.

-SETH

[email protected]

By p m on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 12:31 pm: Edit

Butch and Seth,

ask Kyle about the bushing. If you haven't completely busted yours, he knows a cool trick!

peter

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 12:44 pm: Edit

does it involve a toilet paper roll? Mr. Dealer Parts Man started a lame attempt at describing an odd pulling technique and stopped when I started laughing...

I just ground and beat the damn thing into submission.

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Thursday, December 13, 2001 - 06:55 pm: Edit

Please add me to the How To Change Bushings...just in case I need to replace it too.

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Friday, December 14, 2001 - 10:33 am: Edit

Any final thoughts? I will be changing my roto-flex this weekend. So far, I've been told all I need to do is remove the 6 bolts, push the drive shaft forward and remove the old replace it with the new. How easy is to push the shaft forward? Anything else I should know before I start this project?

By MTB on Friday, December 14, 2001 - 11:17 am: Edit

Jose
The shaft pushes easy. But I could not get mine pushed far enough so I had to remove the shaft.
I could not get it past the centralizing peg.
As for the bushing my old one would not come out from the shaft, it was in good shape so it stayed.

Michael B

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Friday, December 14, 2001 - 11:21 am: Edit

you'll probably need to use a screwdriver for leverage to compress the shaft. Poke screwdriver up near the roto and get leverage off the end of the shaft and the roto itself. Make sure the truck is sitting on good, level ground, wheels are chocked, and it's well-secured if jacked or on jackstands. You may have to remove the front of the shaft and drop the whole thing. You'll see when you get under there and start wrestling with it. A lot of cursing helps. I'll be doing the same thing this weekend...what fun.

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Friday, December 14, 2001 - 12:01 pm: Edit

Blue,
I'll try to document this experience with pictures and comments. Maybe you can do the same, we compare notes and post it on Disco web for other Land Rover Enthusiast... what do you think? I still got to ask you about the lights... maybe Truck-Haven ICII in January?

Jose

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Friday, December 14, 2001 - 12:58 pm: Edit

What size bolts are holding the roto-flex?