One-piece tailshaft - FAIL!

[BlinkyBuoy]

Well gang, sadly the Townsville after-market 4X4 world continues to disappoint in many cases. First with the brand of suspension I put on, now with the one piece tailshaft upgrade.

Jacked up my Triton off the towbar with my highlift last night to get both back wheels hanging to see how close the new one-piece tailshaft gets to the crossmember, and guess what - it touches.

Rang Hardy Spicer this morning and told them the sad and sorry tale - their response was "oh, strange, hasn't touched on any of the others we've done". Couldn't be 200% certain I could call the bloke a b*shtter without sighted proof of other vehicles, but I find it VERY hard to believe that my Triton is the only one with this issue, but I'm happy to be proven wrong.

So let's hope I never have both back wheels off the ground at any stage with that tailshaft doing any kind of serious rpm's - will be a long trip home in front wheel drive if there's any kind of serious terrain to contend with???

What a f&^%ing joke.

And to top that off, the Ironman winch died on the weekend. Admittedly, it did save my truck from a very bad situation before it gave up the ghost, but spent half of last night removing that from the vehicle to go and throw it through the door of the place I bought it. Interesting to see what their warranty promises are like with that little item.

[subi_man]

Bugger mate I suspected this would be the case with a lifted Triton When I had my tailshaft out yesterday I ran a straight-edge between diff and gearbox and it looked like it would be too close for comfort

[Eelesy]

Damn, back to my original plan

[Wallace]

Jacked up my Triton off the towbar with my highlift last night to get both back wheels hanging to see how close the new one-piece tailshaft gets to the crossmember, and guess what - it touches.

By how much? It would be virtually impossible for you to have both the rear wheels off the ground at anyone time in normal or bush situations but your honesty in this matter is duly noted. Tis a shame that after the expense it hasn't worked out. The extension housing on the later models with super select is longer and the one piece shaft is consequently shorter that the earlier ML running split shaft and centre bearing. There has to be a fix for this, we just have to figure out what it is. Maybe take some shots and measure how far till the shaft touched the chassis brace.... food for thought.

[ag9111]

"impossible for you to have both the rear wheels off the ground at anyone time"

Speed hump at speed= Airborne rear end= major damage= tow truck.

[craig1]

even if you got bogged to the diff the back wheels are hanging there

[BlinkyBuoy]

Understand where you're coming from Wallace - yes, under most bush or beach driving situations it would be rare to have two rear wheels completely airborne. Personally I don't push my vehicle hard off road because I'm not keen on breaking things or expensive recoveries from remote locations.

Having said that, I can think of many tracks where I would be bouncing to full articulation on both rear wheels simultaneously on forestry tracks (think erosion humps for example - you don't have to be going too fast over those to get the rear end bouncing to full stretch) or bouncy beach tracks that sneak up on you and before you know it you're getting a bit more bounce than is necessarily comfortable for all occupants

The fact is, this supposed "fix" appears to be a scam. In my case, a $400 scam. And will no doubt cost me significantly more to restore to an original two piece tailshaft configuration if that is necessary. Perhaps other Tritons with extra heavy duty springs on the rear don't drop their axle as far, but again, I'll believe it when i see it.

I would suggest there are probably a number of embarrassed Triton owners out there who have done this modification and don't want to admit the problem to cover their own shame or whatever.

Have learned many things in my short years of 4X4ing, but one of the biggest lessons is if someone doesn't wanna put something in writing in terms of a mod' or addition to your truck, be very, very wary. Never thought I'd say it, but my experience over two previous 4X4's has been that ARB stuff is usually right and fitted properly. Yeah, they're mighty expensive, but they don't tell lies (in my experience). The old rule of quality over price just seems to ring more and more true every year...a shame our fellow Aussies wanna bend us over for a quick buck, but that seems to be the way this country is heading

[Buzzy]

Sorry to here this Blinky its a big dissapointment.
I was going to go down this direction as well.
Thx alot for sharing this though mate as you have probably saved quite a few guys going through the same saga, myself included.
Hope you sort it out without to much stuffing around or excess $$$$$

[GLX-RSilver]

Sorry to here that Blinky, but i knew it would happen, thats way i haven't done mind as i found that out when i put mind on the hoist. Sure it's unlucky or unlikely to have both rear wheels off the ground at the same time but it could happen. The way around it would be to make a thicker smaller diameter tailshaft or even get a longer gearbox yolk made to change the tailshaft angle.

[Greedy]

I haven't looked under a triton with a one piece tailshaft (auto or superselect) but do they have the crossmember at all? If they don't, surely that crossmember could be removed as it's really only there to support the centre bearing. No doubt, the thieving engineers would have to get involved (no offence intended). Just my thoughts

[Peruano]

I haven't looked under a triton with a one piece tailshaft (auto or superselect) but do they have the crossmember at all? If they don't, surely that crossmember could be removed as it's really only there to support the centre bearing. No doubt, the thieving engineers would have to get involved (no offence intended). Just my thoughts

My thoughts are on a modded crossmember. I might have to get under and have a look to see if it's a welded piece or bolted on. If it's bolted maybe a flater version would give the needed clearance????

[Greedy]

My thoughts are on a modded crossmember. I might have to get under and have a look to see if it's a welded piece or bolted on. If it's bolted maybe a flater version would give the needed clearance????

Nah. It's welded on

[subi_man]

I haven't looked under a triton with a one piece tailshaft (auto or superselect) but do they have the crossmember at all?

yeah mate, they have a crossmember, but it has a more pronounced "U" shape

[Stu]

the crossmember looks way too solid to just be supporting the tailshaft

[Eelesy]

I haven't looked under a triton with a one piece tailshaft (auto or superselect) but do they have the crossmember at all?

yeah mate, they have a crossmember, but it has a more pronounced "U" shape

I think they are also a bit closer to the front on the vehicle.

That and the superselect gearbox is about 100mm longer. so it clears it easier

[trickydevil]

I saw a double cardian joint on a jeep. Not sure if this would work on a triton, does anyone have experience in this area????

[Greedy]

I saw a double cardian joint on a jeep. Not sure if this would work on a triton, does anyone have experience in this area????

GLXR-Silver may have one on his. Can't remember the thread though

[Eelesy]

I saw a double cardian joint on a jeep. Not sure if this would work on a triton, does anyone have experience in this area????

GLXR-Silver may have one on his. Can't remember the thread though

GLXR-Silver has a slip joint. from memory he was looking into gettin a double cardian joint on his but there was an issue and it would not work. expensive too

[Mud16]

Hey I have the one piece tail shaft and have had the rear wheels off the ground and mine comes close but doesnt touch and I am ment to have the same rear springs as blinky so go figure I might go an catch up with Mark soon and discuss this one??

[Try-it-on]

Is this an issue with the 2010 MN Manual?
I am already booked in to get my Ironman suspesion upgrade and lift, and so need to know what issues this might cause further down the track. I guess I wait and see if I get any shudder, and THEN worry about it then.

[borngeek]

yo TIO this is an old thread.... (pre super select etc)

possibly things have changed since then.... plenty ML guys no shudder with the manual.
Tony (GLXR MN - in buildup thread) is playing with lift now... possibly going to get shudder? dunno about ironman but cant see there being so much of diff between MFG's of sussy.. I am sure there will be a solution from the suspension boys...

pity you are not going ultimate... did you choose ironman for a specific reason?

stevejobs

[sam]

There's NO comparison between ironman and ultimate imho like comparing a bmw with a kia

[Wallace]

TIO see attached
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1658&p=23707&hilit=ironman+crack#p23707

[ag9111]

I lifted my MN Man and ended up with a shudder

[Try-it-on]

Several reasons for going Ironman.
Ultimate quoted on monotube, Ironman quoted on twin tube. I preferred the twin tube.
Ultimate aren't in Canberra, and I have no intention of trying to install suspension myself, so that meant hassles of buying from Ultimate, but finding someone else to do the work, whereas Ironman supply and fit right here locally.
I am getting a lot of other work done at the same time, so I got a very good deal by going with one company and getting them to do everything.
I asked around, and searched on several forums, and whilst some people had a problem with Ironman they seemed to be the minority, and some of those were people I believe chose the wrong setup from the start. The Ironman dealer here went to great pains to ensure we were making the correct choice for what I need from my vehicle the majority of the time. The vast majority have had no problems and love their Ironman setup. Admittedly not all were driving Tritons.
If there is a problem, I can take it back to a local dealer with whom I've spent a reasonable amount of money, and intend to spend more, and know I'll be looked after. Whereas should there be any problem with Ultimate - yes I know it's not likely, but stranger things have happened - getting the vehicle to them with a problem would be painful, if not expensive, whereas here the Ironman dealer is close enough to get there with just my NRMA towing allowance.
I realise that Ultimate are incredibly good, but there were too many other factors involved to make them my first choice.