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.