Heavy duty CVs

[AMMO_HOOAH]

I've been looking for a while, but i haven't been able to find any heavy duty cv's for our trucks(or atleast something that'll work) I read about a company called RCV Unlimited making heavy duty ones, but I can't seem to find any information on them. What are you guys doing to beef up the cv's and streering components? Also has anyone actually figured out the wheel travel differance for the RCD kit vs. stock? This is all for my '96 AWD, 5.0 btw. Thanks for all the help.

 

[410Fortune]

Only kit with long travel CV's (custom) is the Dixon Brothers kit. This kit has custom CV shafts, and thats part of the reason it costs so much $$$

The factory ball joints limit the travel then the CV joints and steering, so the RCD kit is not going to go above that unless it eliminates the ball joints...

You dont need heavy duty CV shafts, the OEM ones and replacements can keep up with the factory A arms and ball joints no problem

 

[AMMO_HOOAH]

Works for me, just wanted to make sure thay'd keep up with the locker, manual 4low, and 35/37s in the trucks future. Also how does the stock stearing stand up to abuse? Thanks for the info.

 

[410Fortune]

You are not the first to wheel the IFS locked with big tires, it actually holds up quite well from what I understand.

As Gerrald he should know!!

 

[zhanx]

i run 33's with 4.56 gears and an Aussie locker holds fine, chad (nissanboy) ran 35's and only had problems when he decided it would be cool to do like 3.5'" Torision Twist.

 

[AMMO_HOOAH]

Sounds like it'll be just fine. How do you like the 33s with the 4.56s? I did the math, and I think those will put me to stock gearing with 35s. I'm sill a while off on all that though.

 

[james t]

Johnstone blew the center chunk out of his without breaking a CV.

 

[rynstvy]

I've been looking for a while, but i haven't been able to find any heavy duty cv's for our trucks(or atleast something that'll work) I read about a company called RCV Unlimited making heavy duty ones, but I can't seem to find any information on them. What are you guys doing to beef up the cv's and streering components? Also has anyone actually figured out the wheel travel differance for the RCD kit vs. stock? This is all for my '96 AWD, 5.0 btw. Thanks for all the help.

here are some heavy duty cv's from chassis tech http://www.airbagit-store.com/product.asp?returnURL=default.asp&ID=93391

 

[expo5.0]

i broke my axle housing and cv... with a 27" tall tire

 

[expo5.0]

whoa, didn't see that last post.

whatever you do DO NOT buy something along the lines of ANYTHING from chassistech, aim, or airbaggit.com

 

[rynstvy]

whoa, didn't see that last post.

whatever you do DO NOT buy something along the lines of ANYTHING from chassistech, aim, or airbaggit.com

why they cheapos?

 

[expo5.0]

in the bagged truck "scene" that they widely serve they are simply the worst place to order anything from. their stuff is cheap, will break, or comes broken, and they have awful customer service/do not uphold their warranties.

 

[rynstvy]

in the bagged truck "scene" that they widely serve they are simply the worst place to order anything from. their stuff is cheap, will break, or comes broken, and they have awful customer service/do not uphold their warranties.

kool thanks good to know

 

[Hartman]

anything "heavy duty" from chassis tech is likely to be quite the opposite.

 

[expo5.0]

forget being the opposite of heavy duty- they were likely to be for an S10 and also to have a hidden 40% re-stocking fee associated with returning them.

 

[james t]

Back in the day (im sure its the same way now) nothing from them fit. I think they used the same spring hangers, shackles, and flip kits for every vehicle no matter what the application. They're lowered coils and leaves sucked too. About the only thing they had worth buying was drop spindles.

 

[GJarrett]

You are not the first to wheel the IFS locked with big tires, it actually holds up quite well from what I understand.

As Gerrald he should know!!

Yes it will perform surprisingly well and strongly as long as you use just a little uncommon sense.

I've only blown a CV once. You'll have no problems with 33" tires and an open front axle, but once you go to 35" tires and a locker, you have to be a little careful with your right foot and aware of the limitations of CV strength issues when the CV is at extreme angles. A CV is fairly strong when it is straight but once it is ****ed at an angle it becomes much weaker.

One thing a front locker does do for an IFS is it allows you to climb obstacles with much less power. IFS rigs get air a lot because of their limited flex and usually when climibing a steep hill as soon as one of the front tires gets air then you lose forward momentum since the other tire won't have power from the open diffy and so you are effectively going back into 2wd at the precise moment you need 4wd the most. The result is that your hill climbing technique with an open IFS is probably to hit the gas hard and scream up the obstacle. The reason I am mentioning this is because common wisdom states that big tires, IFS, and a locker = kablooey. However I think it may actually help because now I don't have to aggressively attack a steep hill at high power - with the locker I can go up with much less power and simply motor up the hill since if I lift a front tire I don't go into 2wd now since the other one is still engaging the obstacle for me.

My CVs have worked fine even on 35's and locked - except for once on the Steelbender trail in Moab. Since I have limited approach angle, I will often try to climb a vertical face by approaching the wall at a slight angle, then turn my tire into the wall so it grabs the wall while my front bumper is pointing slightly away to clear it, then I'll power up the wall while straightening up. While doing this manuever, sometimes the offside tire that isn't climbing will drop all the way down and get air until it also grabs the wall while I am straightening out. That's what blew my CV. When the offside tire contacted the rock wall it was at full droop and the steering was turned sharply (so the CV was at its angle limit) and it didn't handle the strain and it grenaded.

Avoid doing stuff like that with a locker and you'll be fine. You can wheel with much less concern with an open front IFS, but still be aware of the strain when a big tire that gets air suddenly hits the ground and grabs traction while you're heavy on the right foot. All of us that still have IFS on built/locked rigs carry spare halfaxles and you'll also need to - it WILL be the weakest point in your rig when you go on the trail, and you need to be prepared to deal with that.

 

[AMMO_HOOAH]

Now that is the kind of reply I was looking for what took you so long to reply I will definatly add both side CVs to my off road repair kit along with the tools to replace them. Thanks again for the input.

 

[rynstvy]

Now that is the kind of reply I was looking for what took you so long to reply I will definatly add both side CVs to my off road repair kit along with the tools to replace them. Thanks again for the input.

i was wonderin where else can you get cv's other than the dealer, are they expensive?

 

[AMMO_HOOAH]

They're like $75 from autozone