CV Angles after King's OEM kit & SPC UCA install

[bloc]

Those look like some serous cv angles for sure. I just checked mine and I am right there with you. Came in at 26.25” hub to fender at full droop. I have the tough dog 45mm adjustable front suspension with their medium springs plus a 1/4” Dobinson strut (top hat) spacer. I added the strut spacer to give me some more lift in the front to get my rake under down to 1.5” (unloaded).
I blew my driver side cv 6 years ago prior to adding the 1/4” spacer and have been fine since adding it but boy those cv angles are now giving me the willies

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Does your suspension add down travel already? If so the added spacer may be playing with fire.

My King 2.5s added something like .75" of strut length at full droop, which translated to about an inch and a half at the hub. I don't remember dangerous angles but did feel they maximized things about as far as was safe to go..

 

[TLC2013]

Does your suspension add down travel already? If so the added spacer may be playing with fire.

My King 2.5s added something like .75" of strut length at full droop, which translated to about an inch and a half at the hub. I don't remember dangerous angles but did feel they maximized things about as far as was safe to go..

I don’t believe there is any additional droop with the tough dogs. I am not 100% sure as I am relying on google AI search results to come to this conclusion. I have wheeled it much harder since adding the 1/4” strut spacer and so far no issues….for now at least.

 

[kong24680]

If any of y’all are looking for a spare set of CVs, I’ll have a pair off my 2021 LX570 with ~80k miles available soon. They’re in great shape, and I’ll let them go for cheap.

 

[Artie]

Those look like some serous cv angles for sure. I just checked mine and I am right there with you. Came in at 26.25” hub to fender at full droop. I have the tough dog 45mm adjustable front suspension with their medium springs plus a 1/4” Dobinson strut (top hat) spacer. I added the strut spacer to give me some more lift in the front to get my rake under down to 1.5” (unloaded).
I blew my driver side cv 6 years ago prior to adding the 1/4” spacer and have been fine since adding it but boy those cv angles are now giving me the willies

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Thanks for taking the time to post these!

Your droop is slightly longer than mine and you’re without issues… leads me to think I may have a clogged breather tube or something else.

I feel like overfilling enough to cause a leak would be difficult given the location of the fill hole… it takes me a bit to get the filler out of the way and the plug up there so there is plenty of time for the extra to dribble out.

Possible that damage occurred during install but on both sides would also be unlikely unless installer is just very sloppy.

I’ll check the breather tube. I don’t recall if there are 2 for the front diff or if that’s for the t-case.

 

[TLC2013]

Thanks for taking the time to post these!

Your droop is slightly longer than mine and you’re without issues… leads me to think I may have a clogged breather tube or something else.

I feel like overfilling enough to cause a leak would be difficult given the location of the fill hole… it takes me a bit to get the filler out of the way and the plug up there so there is plenty of time for the extra to dribble out.

Possible that damage occurred during install but on both sides would also be unlikely unless installer is just very sloppy.

I’ll check the breather tube. I don’t recall if there are 2 for the front diff or if that’s for the t-case.

You are welcome, happy to assist. There is just the one breather on the front differential. Its routed inside the driver side fender/wheel well. Easy to get eyes on.

 

[Moby]

Kings have a ton of droop. Mine look this way as well. I had my truck at Tor Fab after I installed the Kings and they were concerned not so much about the angles for boot wear as the possibility of the axles actually coming out during hard wheeling. They suggested limiting straps, which I haven't gotten around to yet as I don't wheel hard. At some point I'll probably add straps though for peace of mind.

 

[TeCKis300]

I’ve developed some slight seepage at the axles on my front differential and found this thread and would welcome yalls input.

The dfferential is one of the new diffs with 3.9 gearing that cruiser outfitters sells, the axle seals are installed at the factory in Japan. It was Installed last August and 17,500 miles ago along with the Kings at my local Cruiser Shop.

Drivers side:

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Passengers side:
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At full droop the wheels spin freely, no issues that I can tell. There is some boot noise from the angle the CV is at and you can see it folding back on its self in the video, other than that noise they are quiet.

Drivers side.

Passenger side.

Drivers side full droop:
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Passenger side full droop:
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Fender measurements to center of wheel are the same on both sides:

On the ground: 22.5”
Full droop: 26”

The Kings are from Filthy Motorsports and went in at the same time as the diff.

I’m curious what yall think, are those measurements in the range of needing a diff drop? Should I have the seals replaced and just keep an eye on it? My local Cruiser shop will be getting it for some other work in a few weeks so they’ll dig into it further but in the meantime I figured I’d satisfy my curiosity and try to learn something new before hand.

Those look like some serous cv angles for sure. I just checked mine and I am right there with you. Came in at 26.25” hub to fender at full droop. I have the tough dog 45mm adjustable front suspension with their medium springs plus a 1/4” Dobinson strut (top hat) spacer. I added the strut spacer to give me some more lift in the front to get my rake under down to 1.5” (unloaded).
I blew my driver side cv 6 years ago prior to adding the 1/4” spacer and have been fine since adding it but boy those cv angles are now giving me the willies

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Those 26" to 26.25" full droop numbers are pretty comparable to other setups, including my AHC Long Travel that sits at 25.75" at full droop. Seems to be in a reasonable range.

More data here. I'll add your two refences if you don't mind.

Thread 'Suspension Travel Comparison (measurements)'

Nov 8, 2020

EDIT, adding more data. Also looking for CV data. Anecdotally, stock CVs max at 28 degrees but will be weak near those severe angles. RCVs are good to 32 degrees. A diff drop can improve angles about 5-7 degrees.

Been meaning to do this to get some objective numbers to compare ride height versus droop travel versus compression travel. What better to do on a rainy day.

Hope is that others may contribute and I'll update my table. We've known for awhile that some aftermarket suspensions increase what is already excellent droop travel. OEM spacer added to an otherwise stock LC...

• TeCKis300
• Replies: 86
• Forum: 200-Series Cruisers

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• 

 

[turbo8]

Those 26" to 26.25" full droop numbers are pretty comparable to other setups, including my AHC Long Travel that sits at 25.75" at full droop. Seems to be in a reasonable range.

More data here. I'll add your two refences if you don't mind.

Thread 'Suspension Travel Comparison (measurements)'

Nov 8, 2020

EDIT, adding more data. Also looking for CV data. Anecdotally, stock CVs max at 28 degrees but will be weak near those severe angles. RCVs are good to 32 degrees. A diff drop can improve angles about 5-7 degrees.

Been meaning to do this to get some objective numbers to compare ride height versus droop travel versus compression travel. What better to do on a rainy day.

Hope is that others may contribute and I'll update my table. We've known for awhile that some aftermarket suspensions increase what is already excellent droop travel. OEM spacer added to an otherwise stock LC...

• TeCKis300
• Replies: 86
• Forum: 200-Series Cruisers

• 
• 

At 26" droop on Tundra arms, my passenger side inner CV boot would constantly tear with OEM Tundra CVs. That is when switched to RCV CVs.

I think if they are past 26" at droop, that will cause issues with OEM CVs on stock width suspension arms.

 

[TeCKis300]

At 26" droop on Tundra arms, my passenger side inner CV boot would constantly tear with OEM Tundra CVs. That is when switched to RCV CVs.

I think if they are past 26" at droop, that will cause issues with OEM CVs on stock width suspension arms.

I wonder how much stress on the boots is come from max extension versus taller ride heights?

I agree if the extended Tundra CV is stressed at that droop, the OE arm will be more stressed.

 

[TLC2013]

At 26" droop on Tundra arms, my passenger side inner CV boot would constantly tear with OEM Tundra CVs. That is when switched to RCV CVs.

I think if they are past 26" at droop, that will cause issues with OEM CVs on stock width suspension arms.

I would be curious to know what others are seeing with their lifts kits for the droop /down travel. How much does the stock suspension have? I never took a measurement when I was all OEM.
I now have over 6 years of use and abuse on my tough dog lift and the only issue has been blowing the driver side CV and it was shortly after the install and well before adding the 1/4” strut top spacer.
The tough dog suspension is pretty tame compared to other lift kits out there, I imagine OME, Ironman and Dobinson are seeing similar measurements or greater then 26”?


After a couple years of running the spacer without issue I am pretty confident I am ok with with the 26.25” droop…..famous last words, next mud post of mine will be “RTH needed blown CV” with no cell service on a trail

 

[Artie]

At 26" droop on Tundra arms, my passenger side inner CV boot would constantly tear with OEM Tundra CVs. That is when switched to RCV CVs.

I think if they are past 26" at droop, that will cause issues with OEM CVs on stock width suspension arms.

My measurements may not be absolutely exact either, I didn’t remove my center cap but I gotta be close. When I rotate my tires I’ll get this exact. Reading the thread @TeCKis300 posted is interesting and the safe limit may be 26” or just over. Sure, 25.75 can be within the reasonable range but at the end of it.

The RCV CV’s look like serious business. Idk if we wheel hard enough for them and if my droop is too much with the OEM what do the RCV’s offer to handle that, is it tougher boots?

I’m beginning to wonder if I should explore diff drop options. What are the pros and cons there?

 

[TLC2013]

My measurements may not be absolutely exact either, I didn’t remove my center cap but I gotta be close. When I rotate my tires I’ll get this exact. Reading the thread @TeCKis300 posted is interesting and the safe limit may be 26” or just over. Sure, 25.75 can be within the reasonable range but at the end of it.

The RCV CV’s look like serious business. Idk if we wheel hard enough for them and if my droop is too much with the OEM what do the RCV’s offer to handle that, is it tougher boots?

I’m beginning to wonder if I should explore diff drop options. What are the pros and cons there?

The RCVs are a serous investment, and bulletproof. I imagine you’d break the front differential before those RCV axles fail you.
I look at it like I’d rather have my CV be the failure point instead of the front diff. If something has to be the sacrificial lamb I’d prefer it to be a CV over a differential….
For context, I regeared and added a locker for not much more then the price of upgraded CVs.

 

[kong24680]

At 26" droop on Tundra arms, my passenger side inner CV boot would constantly tear with OEM Tundra CVs. That is when switched to RCV CVs.

I think if they are past 26" at droop, that will cause issues with OEM CVs on stock width suspension arms.

How do you like the RCV’s? How many miles have you put on them and any issues with clunking?

I’ve got a set sitting in my garage waiting to be installed

 

[turbo8]

How do you like the RCV’s? How many miles have you put on them and any issues with clunking?

I’ve got a set sitting in my garage waiting to be installed

No issues so far after 3 years. Not sure on the mileage.

 

[kong24680]

No issues so far after 3 years. Not sure on the mileage.

Glad to hear. Some of the guys on the bronco forums were having boot issues, clunking, etc.

 

[bloc]

I’ll have to do some digging but pretty sure I posted comparing stock and king 2.5 extended strut lengths side by side with measurements.