Big ass update.
A few weeks ago i ripped an inner cv boot on my right passenger cv, i priced out reboot kits and replacements and thought that to bypass all the trouble of rebooting the stockers that some Duralast Gold axles from AutoZone with a lifetime warranty sounded great! The price was only different by about $8.
Looks good right?
I proceeded to swap both sides out on a saturday before a wheelin' trip the next sunday. Everything went pretty smooth with the R&R of both sides. WELLLLL, the passenger side lasted less than 24 hours! I had already made several difficult and technical lines before the carnage so im not sure if it all happened at once or it failed in stages. When it kicked the bucket fully i had the front over a couple foot ledge and was looking for traction to get the rear up and over. I was sitting on the gas tank and passenger lower link after losing my line a bit. My front Icons were fully drooped out, i contribute that to the breakage but i am still shocked at the break as it occurred with very little load on the shaft. I was almost clear when it snapped.
Before the break, a gnarly climb that i made up.
A few obstacles obstacles later and how it went down.
The mount skids got used also! This link now has a bend. Debating stock replacement or building my own.
You can see here that it looks like the joint locked up and got superheated before letting go.
A buddy cut the inner boot and removed the intermediate shaft as i didnt bring a spare. By removing the Int. shaft i was able to drive home with the inner and outer stubs installed to no ill effect.
Does this look infected?!
All i found after the pop.
I have been offroading, rock crawling, and trail riding for the better part of 12 years and have always had the mindset of; I work very hard for my money and for my mods on my vehicles, when i hit trails, whether they are 15 minutes from home or a 32 hour drive out to Moab, I like to hit optional lines and have a good time without worrying about breakage. I dont like turning around when stuff breaks and i hate holding up others on the trail so i like my rigs to work as planned. If shit breaks, oh well, you've got to pay to play but you can bet your ass i'll be upgrading said broken part.
Rather than start a cycle of returns at AutoZone, or even reboot my OEMs and have the strong likely-hood of another break while out having fun, I called [MENTION=11013]glenyoshida[/MENTION] of Lotus Development. I called the # from their site on a Sunday, not really expecting an answer but hoping to leave a message. To my surprise Glen answered, the owner and brains behind LD! I told him about my truck and how i use it, and the day's breakage. After speaking with him i decided a set of his Chrome-molybdenum axles would be perfect for my truck. Never once were these axles described as being unbreakable, they however will not explode if looked at funny like parts store axles and 12+ year old OEM axles. The only break to date on these axles that are run on 3 continents by heavy hitters was by our very own [MENTION=67615]Dirtco[/MENTION] recently. With no desire or plans to run 35s i feel very comfortable even if i lock the front of my 4runner that i am within the strength parameters of these axles. And still keeping an extra grand in my pocket over going with RCV axles. Which dont seem to have all the bugs worked out yet. I cannot speak highly enough of Glen as a fellow offroader and businessman. He was quick to answer any questions completely and with detailed whether via email or a phone call. Before, during, and after the sale! :reddance:
A wolf in sheep's clothing!
I yanked the broken and intact Autozone axles and returned them for a full refund. The Lotus install went smoothly and i am now enjoying being one of few to be running the trails in a 3rd gen t4r with chrom-moly axles.
Nathan
