CV Weak Link

[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.

[Matt]

^^that's a good idea. Would also check the rest of the casting to see if there are any part numbers or contract numbers from the vendor. Could very well be a lower grade cast since they doubt we'd be using them offroad like this (most CVs that i've replaced at the shop were due to the boots wearing, you'll never break a cast like that on road)

[criket]

^^that's a good idea. Would also check the rest of the casting to see if there are any part numbers or contract numbers from the vendor. Could very well be a lower grade cast since they doubt we'd be using them offroad like this (most CVs that i've replaced at the shop were due to the boots wearing, you'll never break a cast like that on road)

Yea the main reason for informing the manufacture is to inform them of the problem, not to bitch at them. Sorry if I came off like that. They may have had a bad production run that day, materials not mixed well, heat no hot enough, or something else.

At my work, when a customer calls with a complaint, most of the time we give them a credit. I have sometimes sent them a free 40 lb sample of our product to make up for the issue. I'd rather lose $200 of product on a free sample than to lose a customer that buys 2-3 truck loads a week. But that's my point of view.

[Matt]

Yea the main reason for informing the manufacture is to inform them of the problem, not to bitch at them. Sorry if I came off like that.

I never thought you were impying to "bitch at them".... that never gets you anywhere.

Having the contract/vendor/etc numbers off the cast would help them track down where the housings were originally made. That's the first step in finding out the root cause.

[TrialByFire]

Custom shafts are worth checking out but my main concern is whether the casting is designed to be the weak link in the front drive. Changing the passenger side axle out was a six-hour job, so a CV swap is far preferable. Unless we have access to the Jeep designers, the only way to find out is by experience. Any suggestions?

One of my buddies on the run thought that the casting looked 'pretty coarse-grained' for such a critical part. I think I will pursue a conversation with the folks at NAPA tomorrow just to see what they suggest. There are no exposed vendor part numbers on my spare shaft that I could see. I wish now that I had saved the pieces from the original OEM part to compare.