Driver Side CV Achilles Heel? (1 Viewer)

[grinchy]

Answers the tools question. Looks like I'll need to add to my toolkit:
shop lift (for clearance for the big pry)
BFH
two plus foot pry bar with flat end
steel chisel
a new 'dust seal' (if using experienced CVs)
Front diff oil.

I'm thinking I can replace the shop lift and the big pry with the previously mentioned pickle forks . . .

 

[linuxgod]

I suppose if something is gonna give, better the CV than the internals to the diff...

Might be interesting to add a poll for people to comment left (DS) or right (PS) for those who have had a failure.

Someone help me here but I would think lockers would be less susceptible to breaking a CV. If you have an open diff the wheel in the air is spinning fast while the one on the ground is still. Seems like the impact of that spinning wheel hitting the ground would be more likely to snap the CV with an open diff than if they are both turning at equal speeds and 100% of torque is being applied to the wheel on the ground which has traction. In this case it looks like both front wheels are on the ground but have limited traction so torque is getting shifted back and forth between them. Granted if your diff is locked and only one wheel has traction that one is going to get all the torque, but my sense is in a semi-traction situation like this it might be better. Or perhaps it doesn't matter if traction is still jumping between both wheels because torque would follow traction?

Side question: These guys are on larger tires, but I assume still stock gearing. What's the impact of shorter gears on the likelihood of breaking a CV? Seems to me like more torque to the wheels means it's more likely, but I could be wrong here

 

[linuxgod]

Answers the tools question. Looks like I'll need to add to my toolkit:
shop lift (for clearance for the big pry)
BFH
two plus foot pry bar with flat end
steel chisel
a new 'dust seal' (if using experienced CVs)
Front diff oil.

I'm thinking I can replace the shop lift and the big pry with the previously mentioned pickle forks . . .

You can probably avoid carrying a prying bar so long as you have a chisel and a cheater (like a high-lift handle).

FWIW 39mm axle nut socket and a torque wrench are the key items. Also FSM torque specs as you have to tighten the nut down to about 150#, loosen it, then retighten further to about 250# during reassembly. BFH, dust seal, extra diff oil, catch can, etc are all good to have, but in a pinch you could probably improvise (i.e. catch your diff fluid and you don't need extra, if you don't have a chisel a decent flat head screw driver might work, etc).

I suppose the best way to figure out what you might need is to break down your CVs in your driveway and practice.

BTW I'd love to see two videos around this - one on how to do a field replacement of the busted CV, and the other on how to do field triage (separate the CV and disconnect the driveshaft). I've watched a mechanic pull my CVs previously and getting it out of the diff was a PITA, so there has to be a better way. I *think* I know what to do in the latter case, but as with anything it would suck to bugger it up and make the situation worse.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Seems like (not a scientific analysis) most of the CV issues on this forum have come within a few thousand or even few hundred miles of installing a lift, then no issues after replacement. Makes me think maybe the DS suspension install is a bit more difficult/requires more pry-bar use and the CV is getting damaged during install? Certainly wouldn't explain what these guys are running into, but I researched this when my DS boot started leaking like crazy after my OME install and remember seeing a lot of issues correlated to the lift install. Obviously a bad CV (friction wear from leaked grease?) and a broken CV (stress induced failure?) would likely have different causes, so I guess my point is that we probably should separate the two.

 

[TexAZ]

I'll play along.... I snapped a Drivers side CV axle shaft at the inner joint.
Issues that lead to the failure: (35" tires, Tundra conversion, 4" lift. )

first and foremost - improper alignment. I used the adjustability of the SPC upper arms to move the wheel forward in the wheel well. Cleared 35s without rubbing the body mount.
also bound up the inner joint, as it isn't nearly as open as the outer joint.

2nd: most of the weight of the truck was on the drivers wheel crossing the "Golden Crack" in Moab.
little gas, little brake, lots of torque and pow snap with lots of explicatives after that.

i am running the Tundra conversion. I had a NAPA drive shaft ordered and picked up the next day. (Different story. the NAPA in Moab sucks donkey balls)
we rented a jeep and went back to the truck. replaced the axle in a little over an hour and headed backwards the 16 miles of trail at night. Wife drove the Jeep back down poison spider like a champ!

if you don't have an impact and 39mm 12pt socket, get them and carry them if you are capable of doing such repairs. i started using an oil catch pan as a tool/ parts container and on longer trips bring along a quart of gear oil and a roll of shop rags. it is a fairly straight forward replacement.

the NAPA axles are junk. i had a boot tear between moab and Breckenridge. replaced the axle with less than 200 miles on it. got home and ditched the NAPA (2nd) for OEM.
contacted SPC and talked with them at length.
Apparently you shouldn't go an inch forward with the adjustment. they said they only tested up to .75 forward.
now with everything dialed back, i still clear everything, 3/8" forward adjustment and still rocking axle #3 from that trip.

 

[grinchy]

Two more left side CVs in the most recent 4x action vid. And a rear axle. They show one of the trucks with 3x spare CVs along.

 

[msnow]

Two more left side CVs in the most recent 4x action vid. And a rear axle. They show one of the trucks with 3x spare CVs along.

Yeah I saw that last night too. I have the tundra conversion and the right answer is probably dont put 35s and lockers on a 200 but thats not really the fun answer. I am trying to decide if their perspective of the shafts are the fusable link to not kill the diff is the right perspective. I know I could upgrade to chrome alloy tundra shafts but then does the problem just move up stream. I wish someone would come up with a bomb proof locked 35s solution for the 200 because the tire fits the look of the vehicle so well and gives you just that extra clearance where nusciance obstacles are not an issue in my opinon. Also when you wheel in the US with all these wranglers and soon to be Broncos rolling around on minimum 35s the trails have gotten chewed up with that rut size. So you just end up dragging diffs all the time with 31s, not the end end of the world but thats the reality I now see.

 

[CharlieS]

I have a specialty tool (OEM Tools 27305) for popping the inner axle off that is in my cargo boxes. Somebody here posted it and it was cheap enough, so I just grabbed one off eBay.

 

[Tex68w]

Also when you wheel in the US with all these wranglers and soon to be Broncos rolling around on minimum 35s the trails have gotten chewed up with that rut size. So you just end up dragging diffs all the time with 31s, not the end end of the world but thats the reality I now see.

I see this becoming the norm as well. Every time we are on a trail it's mostly Jeeps on 35's and 37's, add the soon to be released full-size Bronco which will be rolling around on the same size meats and we will be outclassed. The larger rubber will wear in the trails and obstacles and make attacking it with a 31-33" that much more difficult than it already is. Eventually I'd like to build out our 200 and have it triple locked on 35's, I hope that there is a proven standard baseline for that build when that time comes.

 

[grinchy]

I have a specialty tool (OEM Tools 27305) for popping the inner axle off that is in my cargo boxes. Somebody here posted it and it was cheap enough, so I just grabbed one off eBay.

I wasn't in for $50, but the 'powertools' version of this tool (2" wide space, visually identical) on Amazon was only $30 . . . so yeah, in. I just have to get over the mental weight penalty of rolling with a spare CV.

 

[grinchy]

 

[TeCKis300]

Two more left side CVs in the most recent 4x action vid. And a rear axle. They show one of the trucks with 3x spare CVs along.

Ooof!%! That rear axle break was brutal. That's an extremely heavy build, diesel torque, and hardcore track. Combine all three and hardware will break.

I really hate to believe there's an inherent weakness in the CVs though to the degree they go like popcorn. Something about that Sparesbox build is not right. Either UCA pulling alignment too far forward, too much suspension droop, or likely both in combination. Then there's the unknown of it being a Toyota genuine CV or Sparesbox/Napa quality unit? The way they are snapping CVs with the front end relatively unloaded at full droop. Really suspect.

 

[TLC2013]

Thanks for sharing. Thats alot simpler then went I had imagined. I thought you'd lose the front dif fluid when the CV was pulled, is that not the case?

 

[TeCKis300]

Thanks for sharing. Thats alot simpler then went I had imagined. I thought you'd lose the front dif fluid when the CV was pulled, is that not the case?

Yeah, will loose some fluid but probably still have enough to limp home.

The front diff carrier in this pic is upside down but you can see the fill plug next to the CV output which is above the CV axle centerline. Normal fill is to the bottom of the fill plug.

 

[Artie]

Watching most of those ‘4WD 24-7’ videos always gives me the same anxiety I get when watching anything with a hyperextend knee or elbow injury... I’m just waiting on the snap of the CV. That giant 200 breaks so many he literally had to ask which one this time around... it’s either el cheapo parts or he needs to drop 1000 pounds off that build, more likely both.

 

[afgman786]

Just finished the video not to long ago and was going to find this thread to post up about it again. Jeez that UTE snap was brutal! That was a lot of bounce for that much weight.

I'd assume the sparesbox 200 is running their CVs being some aftermarket part. Hope it has to do with pushing the wheel too forward and the weight more so than the stress of a 35" on the CVs.

 

[Climbingnut]

Wow! That was a brutal break on that big 200. The D90 with treps made things look easy though. Not great touring tires, but they look tailor made for mud and rocks. My 200 is triple locked, but I have no desire to put 35’s on it. I’d like to go for a true 34” X 11” tire, but not really available in my part of the world.

 

[CharlieS]

It couldn’t possibly be that they like the drama because it drives views and they are sponsored by a parts supplier that rolls with them. Nah. Never.

 

[tominboise]

So, resurrecting this thread, I now have a clicking CV axle on my 2008. It appears that the same axle is used on both the left and right sides. Is that the case?

 

[turbo8]

So, resurrecting this thread, I now have a clicking CV axle on my 2008. It appears that the same axle is used on both the left and right sides. Is that the case?

Yes, they are the same.