Gulf550
08-11-2012, 07:18 PM
Well recently I decided to jump the gun and purchase new CV axles for QDII from RCV performance. All though they are very expensive, I think it is money worth spending if you do alot of wheeling.
The installation went really well, if you have a service manual or know someone who does the directions are straight forward.
Right off the bat you can tell the RCV axles are more heavy duty than the stock cv axles. I wish i had a scale to weight them, but there was a noticable difference in the weight of the axles as compared to the stock ones. The axles come already assembled and pregreased.
In the picture below is a side by side comparison between the stock and rcv passenger axle.
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1443&d=1344725006
Piture of passenger side RCV axle:
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1444&d=1344725029
There is one thing about the passenger side rcv axle that has me concerned. The stock CV axle has a seal on the inside where it slides over the axle shaft. The RCV axle does not. You can see this in the below pictures.
Stock:
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1442&d=1344724984
RCV Axle:
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1446&d=1344725128
I have already contacted RCV about this and provided them pictures. They said it should not be a problem but will most likely incorporate a seal since the stock axle already has one.
During the installation process, I decided to replace the passenger side axle shaft seal
new seal installed:
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1445&d=1344725117
The seal was alittle tricky, I do not have the required tooling to remove the axle shaft, so I used a screwdriver and slowly picked at the seal until it was removed and just slid the new seal over the axle shaft. Since I didn't have a socet big enough to fit over the axle shaft so I could "press" the seal in place, I purchased an piece of exhaust tubing from autozone just big enough to fit over the axle shaft and would fit on the outer edge of the seal and tapped it into place.
If you look close at the above picture, the axle shaft seal goes on then an o-ring is installed, I don't know if that o-ring will be sufficient enough from preventing the grease from coming out or not. On the plus side there is a grease fitting on the end of the axle.
The installation went really well, if you have a service manual or know someone who does the directions are straight forward.
Right off the bat you can tell the RCV axles are more heavy duty than the stock cv axles. I wish i had a scale to weight them, but there was a noticable difference in the weight of the axles as compared to the stock ones. The axles come already assembled and pregreased.
In the picture below is a side by side comparison between the stock and rcv passenger axle.
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1443&d=1344725006
Piture of passenger side RCV axle:
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1444&d=1344725029
There is one thing about the passenger side rcv axle that has me concerned. The stock CV axle has a seal on the inside where it slides over the axle shaft. The RCV axle does not. You can see this in the below pictures.
Stock:
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1442&d=1344724984
RCV Axle:
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1446&d=1344725128
I have already contacted RCV about this and provided them pictures. They said it should not be a problem but will most likely incorporate a seal since the stock axle already has one.
During the installation process, I decided to replace the passenger side axle shaft seal
new seal installed:
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1445&d=1344725117
The seal was alittle tricky, I do not have the required tooling to remove the axle shaft, so I used a screwdriver and slowly picked at the seal until it was removed and just slid the new seal over the axle shaft. Since I didn't have a socet big enough to fit over the axle shaft so I could "press" the seal in place, I purchased an piece of exhaust tubing from autozone just big enough to fit over the axle shaft and would fit on the outer edge of the seal and tapped it into place.
If you look close at the above picture, the axle shaft seal goes on then an o-ring is installed, I don't know if that o-ring will be sufficient enough from preventing the grease from coming out or not. On the plus side there is a grease fitting on the end of the axle.