Then you've lost me completely; I understood you could separate the shaft (indeed you need to to replace boots) & replace just the joint. As the shaft appears connect the diff to the hub, where/what is this intermediate shaft I know you've mentioned several times? Because I while I thought I knew what you meant, I obviously don't. As for language/choice of words, this is partly an English/American thing & partly me assuming that the set-up (being used to SFA 4x4's) would be like that on a FWD vehicle, where there's a single shaft (i.e. on each side) which contains a CVJ.
Anyway, the situation is now 1,000 times worse, because, despite being in reverse & 4Lo, with the parking brake on, it rolled off the jack & cracked the axle tube. My immediate reaction was to arrange to have it hauled away (although even that is not straightforward) but while I was sorting out that disaster & cleaning up the mess - ironically, I'd just topped off the diff - I had plenty of time to to look at what was involved & now I know what's involved in removing those shafts, it doesn't look to be more difficult than, say, replacing the TC on an XJ - or am I missing something/kidding myself? My main reservation was doing all that & then still having the knocking/clonking to contend with but now this intermediate shaft business is yet another dimension (for me). In some ways, the challenge quite appeals - but realistically, perhaps I ought to stick to old XJ's (& Citroens, even Jaguars), all of which seem so much simpler.
