Making the front axle stronger for 37" tyres (2 Viewers)

[80Nomad]

Thinking in switching my 35" AT tyres to 37" Maxxis Trepadors. That will definitely cause more tension on the axle shafts and cv joints.
Have been looking at RCV Ultimate axle set or Trailgear Longfield axle set which has a better price. Can anyone who is using any of them comment how good products are these and if there are better alternatives out there what would those be?

RCV Ultimate CV Axle Set

TrailGear Longfield Axle Super Set

 

[joez]

RCV. Better product, better company.

 

[80Nomad]

As I understand with the RCV's I will also need to purchase the ABS tone rings additionally.

 

[scottryana]

just take the ABS tone ring off your existing but fields and swap them onto the new RCV birfields. Pretty easy.

As I understand with the RCV's I will also need to purchase the ABS tone rings additionally.

 

[Broski]

RCV All the way. Like Joez Said better & better. As far as the ABS I just removed mine.

 

[riberware]

I've been running 37s for 10 years now daily driver and occasional mild offroading, RCV Axles + ARP knuckle and drive flange Studs is the way to go.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

What are you using the truck for?

If you are wheeling the rocks and generally pushing your rig then I’d say either is fine. They are both chromoly shafts...

If you are just trail riding with majority DD duty or a camping rig then just stay stock. Upgraded shafts aren’t really necessary unless you intend to put yourself into situations requiring questionable judgement.

That said, I’ve had the Trail Gear “Longfields” in two rigs (same shafts) and maybe 5k miles. Majority of miles were to and from local trails on the East Coast. The 80 is a giant bulbous Van - I don’t treat it like a buggy and I’ve had zero issues. I had stock shafts previously and broke two of them, HOWEVER both stock shafts were very worn so breaking them was not a huge surprise.

Trail gear haters are gonna hate. I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the company and their products. I’ve had zero personal experience with RCV so no comment there.

 

[80Nomad]

Thanks for the replies guys, from where I'm from we don't do rock crawling, we have a lot of mud and swamps so mostly the difflocks are engaged. I usually try to drive carefully having in mind the possibility of braking axle shafts. But with the idea in changing from 35 to 37" I will start braking shafts for sure.
My truck has the 1HD-FT engine, so its a HDJ model. From RCV's website I see they offer different axles for HDJ and VDJ models? If yes then the ones I linked in the first post will not fit, and I should rather look at these, as these are the only ones they offer for the HDJ model: Ultimate CV Axle Set for Land Cruiser HDJ ('91-'97)

I would of though they both have the same axle shafts?

If that's the case then the price difference is not that big anymore, although I think the Trail Gear axles have better design because of the added M8 grease zerk at the end of the stub shaft which allows grease to pass into the internals and makes life a bit easier.

 

[80Nomad]

I've been running 37s for 10 years now daily driver and occasional mild offroading, RCV Axles + ARP knuckle and drive flange Studs is the way to go.

Out of interest which gear ratios are you running with 37" tyres?

 

[cybrstar]

Why upgrade components? I’ve wheeled with guys that are running 39’s on the stock axles and I’ve never to this date seen anyone snap one. We wheel these Fj’s hard but smart. But is you like using the skinny pedal then by all mean you should upgrade. Remember the Fj80’s axle shafts/birfs are like 30% bigger/thicker than what came on the mini trucks/fj40’s. But with brands on axleshafts Pick your poison on brand A or Brand B as they are all chromoly shafts. I’ve had trail gear in my crawler and never had an issue.

 

[BILT4ME]

Why upgrade components? I’ve wheeled with guys that are running 39’s on the stock axles and I’ve never to this date seen anyone snap one. We wheel these Fj’s hard but smart. But is you like using the skinny pedal then by all mean you should upgrade. Remember the Fj80’s axle shafts/birfs are like 30% bigger/thicker than what came on the mini trucks/fj40’s. But with brands on axleshafts Pick your poison on brand A or Brand B as they are all chromoly shafts. I’ve had trail gear in my crawler and never had an issue.

The only input I have for this is that mud is way different than rock crawling for axle shafts.

Yes, you have shock loads for axles on rock crawling, but in mud, you don't break traction because the entire wheel and tire is engulfed in the mud, causing huge resistance, in addition to the weight of the vehicle.

Different areas of the country have different types of mud, and that will determine how much resistance you get.


Also, I think the 1HD-FT trucks have a different spline count, but I'm not positive. Check with Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters. @cruiseroutfit

 

[bwakeling]

Been on 37;s with RCV;s and part time for 6 years. No issues in places like MOAB and muck. Moving to 40's now.

 

[Feldrian]

Thanks for the replies guys, from where I'm from we don't do rock crawling, we have a lot of mud and swamps so mostly the difflocks are engaged. I usually try to drive carefully having in mind the possibility of braking axle shafts. But with the idea in changing from 35 to 37" I will start braking shafts for sure.
My truck has the 1HD-FT engine, so its a HDJ model. From RCV's website I see they offer different axles for HDJ and VDJ models? If yes then the ones I linked in the first post will not fit, and I should rather look at these, as these are the only ones they offer for the HDJ model: Ultimate CV Axle Set for Land Cruiser HDJ ('91-'97)

I would of though they both have the same axle shafts?

If that's the case then the price difference is not that big anymore, although I think the Trail Gear axles have better design because of the added M8 grease zerk at the end of the stub shaft which allows grease to pass into the internals and makes life a bit easier.

RCVs are gun drilled and have zerks as well.

You're not going to see a huge difference in drive line stress between a 35 and 37" tire. As far as torque goes it's only a 1" larger lever (sightly less than +6%).