CV Weak Link

[TrialByFire]

I broke my third drivers-side CV today (well actually, this time it was my wife).


First, so that no one thinks this is going to happen during moderate off-roading, a couple of photos of where it happened.




Here are some thoughts and recommendations.

1. All three times I was able to get a trail-fix and drive out back to civilization. (We drove home 80 miles in 4-LO today.)

2. Use a pry bar and put the CV back in place as well as possible, then block, shim, or whatever you can think of to keep the shaft centered between the strut legs. Avoid even moderate flexing and things should stay in place for the drive out.

3. Anything steep and you will be hosed as all torque will go to the front. Try backing up the hills.

4. With 33's and a SuperLift, you will need to take things very slow to avoid breaking! Avoid getting the front wheels in a bind and trying to climb out. Back up and re-approach. Under no circumstances get the front wheels spinning. Once your front wheels are up on top, you can bump it a little to get the rear over and you should be ok.

5. We need chrome-moly CVs!!! Are you hearing this JBA? Armadillo? Even a hardened housing would be of help as all three times I broke, it was the housing that split--not the shaft.

6. Carry spares (on the QDII, the left and right are different). It will not be a trail fix, but at least you can have a local shop swap the new one in in an hour or less.

[Matt]

wow man i've never seen someone break CV's as much as you.... what brand have you been replacing them with?

[TrialByFire]

wow man i've never seen someone break CV's as much as you.... what brand have you been replacing them with?

I'm replacing them with the NAPA reman brand.

They are really weak! It's not like I'm just hammering...I am actually taking things pretty easy. My wife did get a little anxious today when it popped, but nothing that should have done the damage it did.

[Omelet]

Wow! How much have the NAPA ones been costing you? Do you happen to have a PN for both sides?

[Sal-XK]

I think the QD2 XK's are having this issue more then anything because the amount of torque you guys can get to one wheel maybe. But the good news is I think JBA is going to make there super CV's and steel diff for the XK\WK after all. Chris will no for sure I think he's hinting at getting them. But this is why a tread lightly with the front especially careful not to make them spin to much. But that looked like an awesome trail man!

[TrialByFire]

But that looked like an awesome trail man!

It is a great trail about 75 miles south of Albuquerque! This was my third time on it (the first two w/o breaking) so I let the wife give it a go.
The remanufactured shafts may be the problem, but I don't remember the first OEM shaft I broke looking any different.

[Matt]

Can new ones be bought from the dealer? Might be worth giving that route a shot... remanufactured shafts may be hit or miss for the quality control on the vendor who make the original casings. An OEM part in a case like this may have more controlled specs (material, heat treat, tolerance, etc).

[criket]

I'm waiting for someone to try the SRT CV's and see what happens there.

If I was you dude, I'd take a piece of that casting that broke, call the manufacture (or NAPA to get the number) and call customer service. Send them that piece of casting that broke. Inform them about the weak housing. They should look into the problem and try to resolve it. Sometimes they may even send you a free CV or something.

At least thats what I do sometimes when we have quality issues where I work.

[TrialByFire]

Wow! How much have the NAPA ones been costing you? Do you happen to have a PN for both sides?

The driver side is: NMD 958415
The passenger side is: NMD 958414

They run about $62 each with a core return ($140 w/o)
The NAPA ones listed as "New" are not available.

[Omelet]

The bad news is it sounds like the steel diff won't work with the QD2 ELSD. I have yet to hear if the new shafts will work with the OEM diff or only the steel diff.