ChrisDefender wrote:

Well, after reading that thread I am now no wiser as to go for the genuine or the updated Ashcroft

blackwolf wrote:

Personally I think that the main issues with the adaptor shaft are alignment and assembly. Several have, after failure, been found to be insufficiently inserted into the drive cup, but it isn't clear whether this is because they were never assembled correctly (likely) or have worked their way out (unlikely). So correct assembly is essential.

I think that the main cause of failure is that the gearbox output shaft and the transfer box input shaft are not properly aligned, due either to incorrect specification or incorrect manufacturing. If so, this would mean that some vehicles will have adaptors that fail regularly at short intervals, and others may never fail at all. Again history bears this out, with some Def2 members having had repeated failures at roughly predictable intervals, others having very high mileages with no failures.

If this is correct, then it suggests that if you have a fairly decent mileage on your shaft and it hasn't failed, then it isn't going to. My suggestion therefore is to have a look at the one that comes out and if it is still good, refit it with plenty of molybdenum disulphide grease (the black stuff used in CV joints etc). If the one that comes out looks dodgy, then replace it.

If you have a high mileage shaft and need to replace it, then a standard shaft will probably last a similar high mileage. If you have a low mileage failure, then fit an Ashcroft kit to ensure better lubrication (a low mileage failure suggests to me that there is an alignment issue and there is constant fretting of the joint as it wiggles in operation).

Bear in mind also that the most likely component to be the source of the misalignment is the extension housing on the gearbox, so if you fit a replacement gearbox you may, if I am right, alter the failure characteristics of your coupling.

I last fitted a new clutch to my own 2007 double cab at 150,000 miles a few years ago. At that time the original coupling was bone dry but a better fit than the brand new, genuine, standard replacement I had already bought on the assumption that the original must be on the way out. Because of this, I lubed it generously and refitted the original. I did also change the transfer box, which could conceivably introduce an alignment issue.

Now, with the mileage now a little over 240,000 miles, I need to replace the clutch again (squeezing 90k miles out of a standard clutch is quite an achievement in its own right!) and have just ordered the parts to do this. It will be interesting to see what the original coupling is like now, after very nearly a quarter of a million miles.

Impressive mileage on a clutch