vitara 4u2 drive shafts

[plugspanner]

I have managed to rip open the cylindrical section of my passenger drive shaft on my 1999/2000 vit 4u2, the diff end.


is this common and are they the same as the grand vitara as the ones on ebay say they are the same from 98-2004?
I do have a spare one but not sure which side I have as I cannot find it at present.
it does seem to be a weak ally structure and not steel.
any help would be great.

[Rhinoman]

GV shafts will fit, they are around an 1" longer but the Calmini kit moves the driveshaft outwards anyway. From that pic it looks like your problem is not the CVs but something wrong with your suspension set up that's causing the CV to run out of travel and burst open.

[plugspanner]

yes you are right
the front diff drop bolts on the rhs have snapped off the axle case and the bracket is bent.
I have just put the old diff into the spare axle case I have and where the bracket bolts on it is much stronger than the cheese that the original one seems to be made of.
the axle was moved back about 1-2 inches and I think this allowed the lhs cv to come out too far.
as for the suspension set up it will not go any other way so I guess it is fitted right.
I am going to get the broken one rewelded and keep that as a spare.
so I can get a gv drive shaft then, thanks for the info.
any one got one?

[twiss]

Scottie may do he broke a GV and had some parts going a while back...

[plugspanner]

I managed to get a cheap £15, older drive shaft with knackered hub splines so but taking off the good inner cv joint I transferred all the parts to the 4u2 shaft, it all fits and looks a much stronger cv and it is of course a shorter can for it as well, the only snag is there should be a large 65mm? circlip inside the inner cv joint so had to order one, the local Suzuki dealer sadly could not supply it as his drawings only show the later longer type cv's?
the spare axle is now fitted with the 4u2 diff and all it needs is the circlip fitting and then the drive shaft can be fitted back on.
I have found a chap who can re-weld the broken off drop bracket mount and can make it even stronger, he did a great job on my mx bike kickstart housing a year or so ago.
just hope this replacement diff housing lasts longer, it does seem to be a much sturdier casing than the 4u2 one's.

[twiss]

I wonder if you could get someone to weld some re-inforcement onto it?
Not sure what that bits made of though

[plugspanner]

well if you look at an early diff housing area of the bolt holes from above it looks like a solid block/casting, the 4u2 ones have just 3 webs leading back to the main casting.
my man will fill those voids with welds and it should be as strong as the ealier ones.
also the sliding cv tubes will have exhaust clamps bolted around them to stop the inside from doing a 'john hurt', (alien), this in theory should make it stronger and as it is only spinning around off road then the balance of it should not be a problem.