RCV Heavy Duty CV Axles

[Sal-XK]

Pj, so your front diff wasn't locking after the CV broke? I recall trialbyfire driving out of moab with a broken CV in 4hi but could be mistaken.

I believe he was in 4LO

[TrialByFire]

I believe he was in 4LO

I was in 4LO both times. Once I drove out about 15 miles. The other time, it was about 90 miles home @50 mph. The QDII has a "limp mode" in the computer that is really nice!

I don't see spending $1000 each for CVs that, as Holaday says, would just make the new weak link more costly and inaccessible. I can buy a lot of $60 spares for $2000. Also, I didn't notice any difference between the OEM CV and the NAPA replacement, but the castings may not be the same quality. I wouldn't know.

[07JeepXK]

I was in 4LO both times. Once I drove out about 15 miles. The other time, it was about 90 miles home @50 mph. The QDII has a "limp mode" in the computer that is really nice!

I don't see spending $1000 each for CVs that, as Holaday says, would just make the new weak link more costly and inaccessible. I can buy a lot of $60 spares for $2000. Also, I didn't notice any difference between the OEM CV and the NAPA replacement, but the castings may not be the same quality. I wouldn't know.

I would rather have a cv that i would never have to worry about then breaking everytime i wheel the XK hard, lose out on wheeling time and figure out how im going to get my jeep home. The cv's on our vehicles are way too weak. That doesn't necessarily mean if you installed the RCV axles that you will now blow your front differential or transfer case because the cv is no longer the weak link.

I'm not sure what napa replacement you got but the one napa gave me is garbage. Just compare the boot between the napa and oem. My passenger side cv is the oem original with 109,325 miles on it and nothing wrong with it. The drivers side napa cv that has been on maybe 15,000 already is leaking from the boot and needs to be replaced. Keep in mind the only reason I have the napa cv is because I somehow managed to strip the threads on the original drivers cv when I swapped out the wheel bearing.

[TrialByFire]

You make some good points but here is what I am worried about:



This happened along with a busted passenger CV. We wheel a 6500 lb vehicle with a front axle that is about 1" in diameter. Right now, the CV is the weak link. It costs $60 to replace and can be done on the trail (if we have a spare) in about 30 minutes. I am starting to know what tactics to avoid to prevent CV breakage, so there is a learning curve involved. If the OEM CVs are truly stronger, it is worth the extra $$. If the RCV CVs were $500 each, it would be at least tempting.

[pjmjr508]

when I broke mine and it was only once it was the passenger side. I wheeled it really hard when I broke it along with having 7 people in seatbelts at the time didn't help either. I replaced it with a Napa one. I haven't really wheeled it hard since then yet so if I break it again I will prob get the RCV ones.

[07JeepXK]

You make some good points but here is what I am worried about:



This happened along with a busted passenger CV. We wheel a 6500 lb vehicle with a front axle that is about 1" in diameter. Right now, the CV is the weak link.

Is this the passenger side cv you broke? Or is it the shaft that goes inside of the passenger side of the diff???

I'll be the guinea-pig as long as someone doesn't beat me to it. I guess it doesn't help any that you guys have the electronic limited slip up front that can go to full lock. That probably part of the problem along with the power of the Hemi.

[Matt]

That's actually what worries me the most. I would love to find out that once the CVs are bullet proof we'd actually lose traction before another part of the drivetrain grenades..... which is possible with the limited tire sizes we can run, even with 4" lift. The price of the CVs is just too much for me to risk.. but I'm all for seeing what happens if someone else is up for it.

[TrialByFire]

Is this the passenger side cv you broke? Or is it the shaft that goes inside of the passenger side of the diff???

That is the shaft that goes from the diff to the passenger CV. I blew both up at the same time (sawing plus a little bouncing--but nothing violent!). We managed to extract the broken shaft pieces from inside the front axle with a good magnet, without disassembling the front diff (whew!).

[07JeepXK]

That is the shaft that goes from the diff to the passenger CV. I blew both up at the same time (sawing plus a little bouncing--but nothing violent!). We managed to extract the broken shaft pieces from inside the front axle with a good magnet, without disassembling the front diff (whew!).

I'll contact RCV tomorrow and have then make an inner shaft for our XKs that's stronger than the oem shaft.