Bought a replacement driveshaft from JR driveshafts

For the price and the 2 year warranty i thought why not

1st one arrived with a split outer boot

2nd one arrived with another split outer boot

3rd ones on the car and it cant take anymore than 3k rpm then it vibrates your teeth out!

Avoid this joke of a company at all costs! Looking forward to my conversation with them tomorrow

If you are going to Name and Shame on several forums,

it is best you say who you actually mean a bit more in detail.

 

Is it 'J&R Driveshafts' (Birmingham) you mean or some other company.?

 

So what did they say when you got back to them, other than sending out a 3rd shaft.

 

george

Yes thats the one

They are sending me another but i wont be fitting it

Got a genuine one on the way

Bought a replacement driveshaft from JR driveshafts

 

...

3rd ones on the car and it cant take anymore than 3k rpm then it vibrates your teeth out!

 

Er, the rotational velocity of a driveshaft is proportional to your road speed, not your engine speed.

Well why does it vibrate over 3k rpm?

60mph in 6th and its fine

Change to 3rd and floor it and it vibrates its nuts off until the redline? (Its a derv)

But its not slight vibes, sounds terrible and shakes the steering wheel like crazy

My experience is the opposite tbh.

 

I bought a driveshaft from them, the cv boot did fail a couple of months later, which then took out the cv joint.

 

I rang them, explained what happened, they said ok, pay for another shaft, then return the old 1 and we will refund it.

 

I nearly didn't bother to return the old 1 as postage was looking expensive, but I rang them up to ask for a returns number for the failed shaft.

 

They arranged it to be collected the following day (although tbh DPD arrived just over an hour later by mistake lol), a couple of days later I rang to ask where my refund was and was told it takes 3 days for them to get the shaft back, then it has to go through there returns dept. and that I should call back in a few days. So I called them up again on the 8th day and they refunded me there and then.

 

Nice and polite on the phone, no problems at all.

Well why does it vibrate over 3k rpm?

60mph in 6th and its fine

Change to 3rd and floor it and it vibrates its nuts off until the redline? (Its a derv)

But its not slight vibes, sounds terrible and shakes the steering wheel like crazy

It doesn't clearly. Your vibration must be from somewhere between the pistons and the final drive pinion since it's occurring at a given engine speed.

So why was the original driveshaft vibe free then?

All that was wrong with it was it was knocking at low speed

The fact the first 2 turned up with split boots is a bit rediculous anyhow

So why was the original driveshaft vibe free then?

All that was wrong with it was it was knocking at low speed

The fact the first 2 turned up with split boots is a bit rediculous anyhow

I don't know; what I do know is that your fault description is engine speed related, and driveshafts turn at road speed, so you're looking at co-incidence rather than causation until proven otherwise.

Well it happens around my peak bhp which is 200 and thats in the 3k ballpark so its happening at around peak bhp

Proof will be in the pudding when i fit the genuine shaft

Well it happens around my peak bhp which is 200 and thats in the 3k ballpark so its happening at around peak bhp

Proof will be in the pudding when i fit the genuine shaft

That seems very slow for peak power revs (yes on a TDi). Leaving that aside, I'm wondering if it could be a clutch grab or DMF issue.

Nope nothing wrong with clutch / dmf

Graph of power

Up thread you say "60mph in 6th and it's fine, drop to 3rd and it starts vibrating". I'd be doing 2_000 or near enough (that I can't reliably read the error on the rev counter) at 60mph. 60 in 3rd is about 3_000 (from memory; usually I'm not watching the rev counter if I'm spinning the engine that fast in the intermediates) but the crown wheel, diff cage and driveshafts are doing the same revs either way. They're not even transmitting more load unless I'm accelerating or braking!

 

Why are you so convinced that your issue has to be one specific component beyond that it's new? If you'd said "I get vibrations whenever i go over 60mph" then I could rationalize that as a balance or harmonic issue.

Because the car was perfect before hand except a slight knock at low speeds from the old driveshaft!

Fit new driveshaft and it will vibrate your teeth out over 3k rpm

I know my car and i know there was no issues previously, every time i drive it im above 3k rpm so i know that the problem wasnt there before hand

Had a recon box, new oem clutch and fly 10k miles ago! The car itself is perfect

Ever bush is polybushed, suspension is kw v1 coils, i do all work on the car!

Basically fitted a new driveshaft and this problem appears, and its not as if its the first shaft thats been delivered this is the 3rd one!

Can't wait until the genuine shaft arrives and you are proven wrong

I just dont understand that a car can be pretty much perfect then fit a new part and from the first turn of the key its rotten

Its nigh on impossible another part would break at the exact same time as replacement of a driveshaft

Did you do the fitting yourself, or someone else?

 

EDIT< sorry just spotted,

'You do all your own work on the car'.

 

You need to double check your or their work, 

even something as simple as a Weight Balance being knocked of a rim while off the car,

someone else fitting or helping,

even not centering a wheel on a spacer if fitted.

 

* A possible imbalance with the new Drive Shaft,

if the other was not a return item,

can you weight the Original and the replacement that has caused the imbalance/vibrations.

 

george

The original is jammed solid into the old hub

I have a new hub and bearing on along with the new shaft.

Dip the clutch so there is no load and there is no vibes at all, upon driving tonight i've noticed increased vibes throughout the rev range when on load getting progressively worse until 3k rpm when it drones and vibes around!

Dip the clutch and all is silent, so i can only assume the hub and bearing are bob on!

The proof will be in the pudding when the new genuine shaft arrives and im pretty confident it will be rectified!

If not i will physically eat the hub and post it on youtube

The proof will be in the pudding when the new genuine shaft arrives and im pretty confident it will be rectified!

If not i will physically eat the hub and post it on youtube

 

Not doubting your abilities but when you dip the clutch the driveshaft is still turning at road speed, so would still be vibrating if that was the issue would it not?

My guess would be a clutch/dmf issue or an engine/gearbox mounting, coincidences can and do happen.

Youtube vid could be interesting

I've had gearbox failure / clutch failure and flywheel failure before on these boxes

I definately without doubt can say its neither of these

Dogbone engine mount is new along with both powerflex bushes fitted recently

The other 2 gearbox mountings im guessing are alright (Checked them not long since) Just gotta wait until this genuine shaft comes and will update

I really have changed almost everything on the car myself so im no diddy, a driveshaft is a piece of pie to change

I've had the whole subframe off, changed anti roll bar on front along with all bushings, fitted kw v1 coils, uprated to 312's

The car is basically mint and has never been to a garage in my ownership, granted i am no mechanic but the suspension was put on with axle stands on my drive in 3 hours which is pretty good going

Like i said buddy im in no way doubting your abilities I was just saying in my experience as a Mechanic i have never known a Driveshaft not to vibrate above certain speeds when you press the clutch, it will vibrate regardless of being under load or not.

Good luck with it though and update when you get the new genuine shaft fitted.

  In my experience of diagnosing faults and repairing cars one of the most important things to have [apart from a hammer] is an open mind. Hope it works out well, please keep us posted.

Not doubting your abilities but when you dip the clutch the driveshaft is still turning at road speed, so would still be vibrating if that was the issue would it not?

My guess would be a clutch/dmf issue or an engine/gearbox mounting, coincidences can and do happen.

Youtube vid could be interesting

That's exactly my point; a vibration that occurs at given revs is pretty much always engine mount or somewhere between the pistons and the diff. (or gearbox output shaft for front engine RWD)

Would power output not make a difference?

Cause i know cars running say double the bhp love popping shafts left right and centre

It is running 50bhp over stock

Would power output not make a difference?

Cause i know cars running say double the bhp love popping shafts left right and centre

It is running 50bhp over stock

What breaks shafts is trying to transmit too high a rate of change of torque and hence loading beyond the elastic limit of the shaft in torsion. With RWD cars it used to be possible to break 1" solid shafts by lifting a wheel and then dropping it suddenly once it was spinning, with only about 100bhp. If you're in the habit of of doing wheelspin getaways out of junctions with steering lock on, then I could see it.

UPDATE

The leon is back!!

2nd hand genuine shaft fitted and no vibes / no noise! Car is back to being perfect!

So i 100% completely re-iterate my original findings!

JR driveshafts - Birmingham are a complete joke of a business, wouldn't fit one of their driveshafts to my skateboard! That was the 3rd one from them! I have a 4th sitting in a box which is as much use to anyone as a chocolate fireguard!

This is where no.3 will spend the rest of its useless days (until next thursday)

The old saying still stands.... Buy s***e buy twice