North West Propshafts is a specialist propshaft repair and replacement service based in Chorley. I used them after noticing a clinking noise from the van when changing gear or accelerating, just before a planned Scotland trip over the bank holiday weekend.
The van is a long-wheelbase model, and the problem turned out to be serious enough that my usual garage advised postponing the trip. Their view was simple: it was not safe to drive as it was.
This was not a planned upgrade or routine bit of van maintenance. It was one of those awkward vanlife problems where the timing is poor, the fault affects whether you can travel at all, and the vehicle itself is not always easy for a normal garage to accommodate.
My usual garage found a lot of play in the universal joint, but the size of the van made the next step more complicated. Not every garage could get it on the ramps, and a propshaft issue was not something I wanted handled by trial and error.
Why I Chose North West Propshafts
After ringing around and searching online, I found North West Propshafts and emailed to ask whether they could help. The first useful sign was the speed and clarity of their replies.
They came back quickly, explained what they could do, and booked me in for the following Tuesday. They asked me to arrive by 9:30am at the latest so they could guarantee same-day completion if work was needed.
For a van that is used for regular travel, that mattered. Having the vehicle off the road for several days would have created a much bigger problem than the repair itself, especially with a trip already disrupted.
There was also a practical reassurance in dealing with a specialist. A propshaft fault is a fairly specific problem, and once another garage had already identified play in the universal joint, it made sense to take the van somewhere set up to deal with that part properly.
Dropping the Van Off in Chorley
I arrived at around 9am and was greeted by a friendly person in reception. The process was straightforward. They took my details, explained that they would need about an hour to remove the old propshaft and assess what was actually required, and said they would call once they knew more.
That clarity helped. With this sort of repair, you are not just buying a part. You are relying on the diagnosis, the explanation, and whether the options are presented in a way that makes sense.
They also gave me directions to the nearest bus stop so I could head into Chorley while the van was being worked on. That is a small detail, but it made the day easier.
If you are using a van as both transport and travel base, being stranded in a small village for several hours is not ideal. Being able to leave the van with them and spend the day elsewhere made the whole process feel more manageable.
The Diagnosis
About an hour later, they called with an update, exactly when they said they would. The explanation was clear.
The front section needed replacing, but they had also found that the rear section had previously been repaired using cheaper parts, which were starting to fail. At that point I had a choice: deal only with the front section, or replace the full propshaft.
I chose the full replacement. That was not because it was the cheapest route, because it was not. It was because the van covers a fair amount of mileage, often loaded for trips, and I did not want to save money in the short term only to end up back in the same position later.
For a weekend-use van that only does short local journeys, the calculation might be different. For a van used for longer travel, reliability and peace of mind carried more weight.
Same-Day Propshaft Replacement
The work was completed by around 2pm, and they called to say the van was ready. From arriving at 9am to collecting it the same afternoon, the turnaround was one of the strongest parts of the experience.
That same-day completion is particularly useful when the van is central to travel plans rather than just a spare vehicle. A repair like this can easily affect work, weekends away, ferry bookings, campsite bookings, or a longer route that has already been planned.
In this case, the trip had already been thrown into doubt by the original diagnosis. Getting the van back the same day made the situation feel contained, rather than turning it into a drawn-out problem.
Cost of the Repair
The full cost came to £900 plus VAT. That is not cheap, and it is the main limitation to be aware of.
If you are looking only for the lowest-cost repair, or if the vehicle is near the end of its useful life, a full replacement from a specialist may feel harder to justify. In this case, the price felt fair rather than low.
North West Propshafts are a specialist company, and they build propshafts themselves rather than simply fitting a generic part. For me, that made the cost easier to accept, especially given the speed of the work and the confidence that the whole assembly had been sorted properly.
The important point is that the cheapest option is not always the best option for a van that is used for travel. If the van regularly carries weight, covers motorway miles, or gets used for longer trips, the cost has to be weighed against reliability as well as the immediate bill.
Who This Service Suits
This kind of service is most useful when you already know the problem is likely to be propshaft-related, or when another garage has at least identified play or failure in the universal joint.
It is not the same as dropping into a general garage for a broad inspection. The value here is in the specialist diagnosis, the ability to deal with the propshaft properly, and the turnaround once the van is with them.
That made it a good fit for my situation. The van was long-wheelbase, the fault was safety-related, and I needed a proper repair rather than a temporary fix. A normal garage had already checked the van and found the issue, but the repair itself needed a more specialist setup.
If your van is only doing short local journeys, or if you are trying to keep an older vehicle going for as little money as possible, you might look at the options differently. For a travel van that needs to be dependable, the case for doing the job properly is stronger.
What Stood Out
The communication was the strongest part of the experience. Emails were answered quickly, reception was friendly, the process was explained without fuss, and the update call came when promised.
The options were laid out clearly, without pressure to choose the more expensive route. That made it easier to make a practical decision based on how the van is used, rather than feeling pushed into a repair while already dealing with a stressful situation.
For vanlife the main benefit is confidence. A propshaft fault is not something you want in the back of your mind before a long drive, especially after another garage has told you the van is not safe to take away.
In this case, the full replacement gave me more confidence than a partial repair would have done, because it removed the known issue at the front and the developing issue at the rear at the same time.
Information
Address: Regency Works, Regent St, Coppull, Chorley, Lancashire PR7 5AX
Phone: 01257 791 681
Website: northwestpropshafts.com
Latitude: 53.6231812697821
Longitude: -2.66139139047592
What3Words: ///privately.opposites.screen
Directions: Head for Regent Street in Coppull and use the Regency Works address for navigation.
Note: This information refers to the Coppull workshop.