Having owned my Fiat Panda 4x4 1.2 MY2007 for 12 years(20,000) and she is now coming to her serviceable end of life(96,000) but cannot bring myself to part with this "Go Kart on Steriods". We have been through numerous drop links including heavy duty ones, track control arms, steering control arms, rear and front suspension dampers from bilstein, magneti and top deck, rear and front disks, bosal split exhausts to one piece Klaurius full exhausts, front and rear springs, "fire" engine never skipped a beat. We have become so intimate from topside to underside and shared situations where only snowploughs dared to venture. Have come to know this little mountain goat very well and still enjoy driving it as I am so reminded of my first motor Go Kart in 1973, with right tyres and tight suspension it gives you every bit of feedback from the road surface, you can feel the grip in mud or snow, so you find the grip.

Less of the ramble of Panda 4x4 infatuation, was really wondering if anyone had tried the cheaper prop shafts as opposed to the GKN/Spidan GKNP20007 pucker ones. Have seen Panda prop shafts on Alibaba for £100 and now Ebay has a selection of Prop shafts that never existed when my centre bearing began its inevitable disintegration some 4 years ago. The de-attachment of its rubber and cord mount from housing by a "Million Spins" and still have never found a conclusive fix for replacing the UJ and splitting the shaft for middle support bearing replacement. This seems to lead to all kind of balance problems let alone the technical knowledge to remove UJ.

Try Does Shelly Shafts in Wolverhampton. He can fix anything. I used him to balance my Alfa V6 propshafts - these spin at engine speed.

When mine went some years ago, i just bought the cheapest online I could find, came in via ebay from somewhere in Spain.... It fittet in with no effort or modifications needed, i remember it as being around the 350£ equivalent...

not complicated to change the main bearing. Its just tight.


Mark the propshsft with a centre punch

grind the old one off


smash the two halfs apart

Hi Koalar, any chance you can run by me the marking procedure for the prop shaft to ensure it is replaced in same position as when removed. Some say nail varnish as orientation indicators?

Do you know if it is a GKN prop shaft?

Resident in Scotland but a 4x4/Prop shaft specialist is a possible route to fix, really needs someone who has done a few and have arrived at a competent solution through hands on experience.

its better to use a physical mark than paint that can rub off.

heres an example

Koalar,

Did you need to mark the flanges either end when removing prop shaft?

What make of middle bearing did you use, quite a few on the market? Saw a SKF one.

Did you replace UJ?

Koalar, you should write a guide up and post.

Unfortunately don't have the 4x4 Panda

I have worked on other propshafts. The two piece type either bolt together or held in place with a circlip as in this case.


when i take them down i mark the ends as well. This is from the old days of MK2 Escorts where it was recommend in the manual and i have done so ever since. With modern machining i doubt this is still strictly necessary


there is a guide on piston heads that i have linked to in the past. Its not a Panda but the centre bearing and splines are very similar. See if i can dig it out.

this isn't the thread but shows how similar they all are

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1203765


as it looks identical to a BMW

it looks like there only one way for the panda propshaft splines will fit

I would still mark it though in case its a different manufacture


https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/432911-panda-4x4-how-replace-centre-bearing.html


UJ dont normally go. If I had to replace both I might go down a different road and replace rather than repair.


The make of the bearing isn't as important as a reliable supplier.

koalar said:

smash the two halfs apart

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This IS the complicated bit if you haven't the right gear!

Most Easterly Pandas said:

This IS the complicated bit if you haven't the right gear!

Click to expand...

I don't have any specialised gear. A hammer, a decent size not a nail type, an angle driver but a hacksaw will do just slower, I have a large punch about 2 foot long but any bit of steel or chisel will do. If you haven't got a bench vice you will have to get creative. Its no different to popping out the drive shafts except the gearbox is still fixed to nearly a ton of metal. I'd lash it to the line post if I had to and didn't have a vice. There's always a way

koalar said:

Smash the two halfs apart

Click to expand...

You should be able do it with Fox Wedges. Use two wedges from opposite sides. When you tap them together they give a perpendicular force which separates the parts more easily. Alternatively, you could also put one wedge at each side of the shaft again in opposite directions.

You can buy them on eBay or make your own with some serious angle grinder action.