(With thanks to Meshing Point January/February 1999)

I have not heard of any halfshafts breaking recently, although I did break one in the Ulster last summer in Ireland. Should this happen to you it is somewhat annoying and disabling. I changed the halfshaft in the Ulster at the side of the road much to the locals interest and amusement. If you don't carry a spare or the necessary tools to do this job there is another way to get you home. All you need is a spare brass wheel nut and some grease.

1. Jack up the car and remove the wheel and brake drum.

2. As the halfshaft is broken there is no need to remove the halfshaft nut, nor use a hub puller. With some careful tapping and leverage the hub will simply pull off.

3. You now need to push the remaining part of the halfshaft in towards the differential. Once pushed into the casing about 3/4" it will lock the differential.

4. Cover the brass wheel nut with grease. (On early cars you could use a spare wheel nut if no other

could be found!) Place it between the two pieces of the halfshaft. Replace the hub and brake drum etc.

This will get you home but don't drive too far, it puts a lot of strain on the hub itself Cornering is rather erratic with only one wheel driving!

Another concern in the halfshaft department is the woodruff key and its liking to breakage. This is usually down to the outer hub moving on its taper with the halfshaft, eventually resulting in key breakage - or worse still keyway breakage, the later rendering the shaft utterly useless.

There are various schools of thought on how to attain good hub to halfshaft fit. I would warn people away from using grinding paste as this can reduce the taper causing the shaft to pull through too much. Don't be tempted with the thinking that once won't hurt, how many times has it been done since leaving Longbridge! I have found that careful hub selection and regular tightening has worked for me so far. I have a special halfshaft wheel here at home. It's simply a Ruby wheel with the centre removed. I put this wheel on, put the car down off the jack and tighten the nut up through the hole with a socket and 4ft bar. With this method no strain is put onto the hub or studs.