How many CVs have you broken?

[Duhockey]

what a character

LOL, I remember that and he wasnt the only one chuckling!

I think we were chuckling not so much at your misfortune but in the irony that it always seems to be you and it doesnt matter if they are made of diamond I think you would find a way of breaking them!

of course the fact that you were going to back down and come up a diff way until Gerdo peer pressured you into trying it didnt hurt either! LOL

 

[sn0wrunner]

0... Because I drive a rover

lol! and you are on this forum... why?

 

[Spencer]

lol! and you are on this forum... why?

Because I used to have a 4runner and you guys are more mod acceptable and less snobby

 

[Gerdo]

LOL, I remember that and he wasnt the only one chuckling!

I think we were chuckling not so much at your misfortune but in the irony that it always seems to be you and it doesnt matter if they are made of diamond I think you would find a way of breaking them!

of course the fact that you were going to back down and come up a diff way until Gerdo peer pressured you into trying it didnt hurt either! LOL

Peer pressure!

That was a weird break. Zero wheel spin. Totally level axle. Just sheer torque. Had to be bad metal. True, you were locked. If you weren't locked maybe the other front wheel would have shed some of the power and wouldn't have popped that axle.

 

[sn0wrunner]

Because I used to have a 4runner and you guys are more mod acceptable and less snobby

Nice! a 4runner owner at heart!

 

[glenyoshida]

Time to update again. I've broken a couple more bringing the total up to 11 now. I contacted RCV and at this moment they do not have the unbreakable CVs for the third gens although they are testing out a set. They are supposed to retail for around $1800/pair when they are released.

I'm working on building a set with stronger outer joints since that seems to be what fails the most often. The new cage and race should be machined and available in a couple of weeks. I'm going to make up two pair to test out. One for my rig and another set for another rig to test out.

The inner joint (the tripod) and the shafts (inner, mid, and outer) will all be OEM. It's only the outer joint that is getting beefed up.

I think they will probably end up being around $450/each. I'm guessing that since most people don't rock crawl much or more importantly, don't break CV Axles, that the interest will be pretty low in actually buying them. Around here you can buy many used or rebuilt CVs for $900 bucks. I've spent about that much in the ones I've broken but I've run a lot of trails over the past 6 years and only three out of the 11 axles were OEM the others were aftermarket with weak parts.

I do wonder about the RCVs. I'm seriously considering getting the "unbreakable" RCV axles if the ones I'm making up now with the stronger outers don't work out. It's a tough call. Stronger is not always better. If the RCVs don't break, then what's the next weakest link? I don't mind changing out a CV but blowing up my spiders or ring gears and then needing to replace my differential or transfer case would really suck. Especially since the front diff has an ARB locker and 4.88s in them. That's not near as easy of a trail fix as a CV and it's also kind of a pain to carry around a third member set up with 4.88s as a spare.

Something that might make the $450 axle (I think I'll call it a Lotus axle) worth the initial cost is that it's repairable. If the outer joint with the cage is roughly twice stronger, then the inner joint or shaft would be more likely to be the weakest link. Rough estimate would be $75-100 to repair. The big question is how much stronger will the overall axle be?

What's your opinion? Would you pay $450 for an axle if it greatly reduced the amount of CVs that you would break?



The stock cage is on the left. The new stronger cage is on the right.

 

[Gerdo]

This may be a great option. Hobbies cost money and if this is the fix to the weak link then I would go for them. I would upgrade as needed.

Great job stepping up and taking on the challenge to produce the Lotus axle!

 

[Rc4r]

i just ripped the inner boots on both sides...

after the 2nd or 3rd pai of cvs id just do a sas

 

[Duhockey]

i just ripped the inner boots on both sides...

after the 2nd or 3rd pai of cvs id just do a sas

alot cheaper to upgrade your CVs than do a Sas...

 

[Rc4r]

Agreed. But maybe not in the long end if you repeatedly have to replace them

 

[Duhockey]

Agreed. But maybe not in the long end if you repeatedly have to replace them

Even if you get a cheap Trailgear kit Tacoma | Toyota, Suzuki Samurai, and Jeep Off Road Parts and do it yourself, one of the 2k$ kits will probably run you about 3-4k to do it right. If you want a locked Solid axle kit that will run you 4-5k. (keep in mind these are leaf spring kits that ride like crap and flex horribly compared to coil based swaps. Coil based swaps will run you a bit more.)

So lets say it cost you 4k to do your own leaf based SAS. The good quality axles we get from CVJ are about 200$ and then 50$ core fees (Im rounding for easy math)

so lets say they run you 150$ an axle which is actually a bit cheap.

you would have to break 26 axles to make that worth it. Thats if you did your own SAS. I think Glen has broken like 15? I think now? Sn0wrunner maybe 6? And thats over the past 2-3 wheeling seasons I think....

thats no where near the 26 axles it would take to get even close to the same amount of money it would cost to get a solid axle. Plus, part of the great thing about the 4runner is the nice ride it has. Now you may have a solid axle, but you dont have close to the ride you used to.

I've thought quite a bit about SAS over the past couple years, For me its hard to justify especially if Yoshida is successful with these new CVs at 500$ a piece. I like the ride my 4runner has and I can go pretty much everywhere I want to go already. And Im not locked yet either.

 

[04rnr]

if you people would learn how to wheel, you wouldnt be breaking CVs :shrug::cheers:

 

[sn0wrunner]

My CV total is now up to 9. I'm gunna catch you soon glen!

for me the price point would be $100 each for that upgrade. CV's are just too cheap and easy to replace. $900 is alot to avoid a 30 minute trail break and theres no saying the cage will be indestructable or other parts of the CV wont fail.

I've broken a cv on 3 of the last 4 trails I have run. It is an easy fix as long as you have a spare axle, but to be honest it is just getting damn right annoying now. I would pay $450 if they proved to not break. But lets say they break half as often as I'm breaking remanufactured OEM ones, I don't think I'd spend the money because it would be cheaper to just do the OEM route.

I say RCV gives me and Glen some axles to test out. We'll figure out if they are actually "unbreakable".

if you people would learn how to wheel, you wouldnt be breaking CVs

No joke! The last trail I broke one on was Yankee Hill. I suck! It was still a fun day though :uzi:

 

[Rc4r]

Even if you get a cheap Trailgear kit Tacoma | Toyota, Suzuki Samurai, and Jeep Off Road Parts and do it yourself, one of the 2k$ kits will probably run you about 3-4k to do it right. If you want a locked Solid axle kit that will run you 4-5k. (keep in mind these are leaf spring kits that ride like crap and flex horribly compared to coil based swaps. Coil based swaps will run you a bit more.)

So lets say it cost you 4k to do your own leaf based SAS. The good quality axles we get from CVJ are about 200$ and then 50$ core fees (Im rounding for easy math)

so lets say they run you 150$ an axle which is actually a bit cheap.

you would have to break 26 axles to make that worth it. Thats if you did your own SAS. I think Glen has broken like 15? I think now? Sn0wrunner maybe 6? And thats over the past 2-3 wheeling seasons I think....

thats no where near the 26 axles it would take to get even close to the same amount of money it would cost to get a solid axle. Plus, part of the great thing about the 4runner is the nice ride it has. Now you may have a solid axle, but you dont have close to the ride you used to.

I've thought quite a bit about SAS over the past couple years, For me its hard to justify especially if Yoshida is successful with these new CVs at 500$ a piece. I like the ride my 4runner has and I can go pretty much everywhere I want to go already. And Im not locked yet either.

Alright you got me.

 

[sn0wrunner]

let me clairify on it a bit. Id pay $100 for that cage if it proved worth it

yeah I'm interested to see how these things do.

 

[Rockdawg84]

I can go pretty much everywhere I want to go already. And Im not locked yet either.

Then we need to get you out on some tougher trails. LOL J/k I love wheeling the eastern slope and on the front range (lived in FT Collins for about 4 years) But let me say that IFS won't cut it in Arizona if you want to do anything even medium hard. That is why i have an 84 runner on 39's that by the way is leaf sprung and both flexes and rides great. I would be very interested in these new CVs but if the price gets much over $1000 I believe a SAS will be in order for me as I believe I can get the number much closer to $2000 since I already have a Hi-pinion ford 44 sitting in my driveway. Honestly in many ways though I think that dual Tcases would be a better upgrade before a SAS for our runners. Love your build by the way :bigok:

 

[J-money$$$]

My $95 napa cv joints are working good. I just demolished one last week on claw hammer. I took in the pieces and they gave me a free one. Those unbreakable cv joints sound cool but way expensive, that's trail gears sas kit and a front axle. $1800 goes a long way.

I think the cv joints are pretty strong, I'm running a front Aussie locker and they still take some skinny pedal to break. I think if your dual cased you may find yourself breaking lass cv's just because you will be moving much slower and smoother.

 

[sportscarfan]

let me clairify on it a bit. Id pay $100 for that cage if it proved worth it

I doubt the machine shop making them could get them out the door for less than $100ea, unless many hundreds of them were ordered.

 

[Gerdo]

if you people would learn how to wheel, you wouldnt be breaking CVs :shrug::cheers:

Those are feuding words!
You're in Denver, come wheel with us. • Index page

 

[04rnr]

Those are feuding words!
You're in Denver, come wheel with us. • Index page

Ive been to that site, and having a "private" section for select/certain members, the better than the other members etc etc, is not the type of place for me.