John_Rock's 2001 Sport Trac 4x4

[corkey]

anything new in your thoughts about the front not being centered ?

i broke a cv too on the drivers side, seems they may get offset somehow, and allow the joint to slip apart,

 

[John_Rock]

anything new in your thoughts about the front not being centered ?

i broke a cv too on the drivers side, seems they may get offset somehow, and allow the joint to slip apart,

I thought that's what the limit straps are supposed to prevent. How long are your limit straps? Supposedly the ones Superlift sent me are 19.5". But I haven't checked them yet. I haven't installed them yet. They actually look to be short, but maybe they stretch under pressure?

 

[corkey]

my limit straps are set about 1 inch short of full droop on my coilovers.
i will have to measure them to see how long they are, they came off of Turdle, but i may have to tighten them up a bit, as it seemed like my cv came apart , not broke apart,

 

[gmanpaint]

How long have you gone without the straps installed?

I would be terrified to run without them. The swaybar, ( I run without) is not enough of a limiter to save them C/V's.

Get them straps installed ASAP!

 

[corkey]

i was also thinking of how many miles are on my cv's too, i have had the Ex for more than 130,000 miles, and never changed a cv yet,
yours broke with low miles, compared to mine, ,

 

[John_Rock]

I thought that's what the limit straps are supposed to prevent. How long are your limit straps? Supposedly the ones Superlift sent me are 19.5". But I haven't checked them yet. I haven't installed them yet. They actually look to be short, but maybe they stretch under pressure?

I just read the directions again for the Limit Straps.

Drill 3/4" down from factory hole and drill a 15/32" hole.

I was measuring from the factory hole I saw in the diagram.

 

[corkey]

mine are exactly as per diagram, but in the morning in the light i will measure the strap,

 

[John_Rock]

i was also thinking of how many miles are on my cv's too, i have had the Ex for more than 130,000 miles, and never changed a cv yet,
yours broke with low miles, compared to mine, ,

I definitely never had the problem of the driver's side inner CV axle pulling apart until I installed the Superlift.

 

[corkey]

i saw a thread by Mountaineergreen about this same thing, he had a bent bracket, so next weekend i am going to check all of my brackets.
it seems one of them was affecting the diff placement, moving it to the passenger side a bit,, ,

 

[John_Rock]

i saw a thread by Mountaineergreen about this same thing, he had a bent bracket, so next weekend i am going to check all of my brackets.
it seems one of them was affecting the diff placement, moving it to the passenger side a bit,, ,

I just found his post showing the bent bracket.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1678455&postcount=55

 

[corkey]

how about this placement, , sure looks off to me,


now i know why the drivers side let go,, it has to be almost 3/4 of an inch to the passenger side,

 

[John_Rock]

Mine looks to be in the same position....

 

[corkey]

than it has to be a Superlift mistake,or yours is bent too , the bolt holes should be under each other in line , to keep the diff centered,,

 

[IZwack]

Yeah but why does the axle need to be centered? I mean I dont see anything drivetrain related (axle shafts, etc..) thats being stressed. The CV shafts slip in and out (not fixed) of the spider gears so that's free to move (which is what its supposed to do since the IFS suspension patch of travel is an arc).

 

[corkey]

Iz,
If the differential is not cantered it means one side is closer to the outside lip of the inner cv joint than the other is,and also that much closer to coming apart when the suspension droops and the outer which is not made the same way as it is fixed pulls out when drooping.
I know the suspension is in an arc , but with a SLA suspension system it is not a perfect arc and at full droop it pulls apart the inner ,or pulls it far enough out to cause it to get near the edge which is weaker and breaks,,

 

[IZwack]

But I though you were breaking the CV assembly, not the splined part that engages the differential. IMO, the only way you can destroy a CV, besides over-torquing, is to pull it apart (which can't happen in this situation since its allowed to slide in/out of the differential), or use it beyond its operating angle (which is what's probably happening).

 

[gmanpaint]

Maybe shorten your limit straps by bolting up higher, or bolting farther out on the LCA.

Your straps may have stretched also, causing more droop.

I can recall Mountaineergreen & Turdle, also ran the limit straps according to Stuperlifts specs (inline with the swaybar links), and they went thru a few dr side C/V axles also. Seems to me, the straps are too long for that location.

 

[John_Rock]

Yep, I put my driver's side strap on today. And it definitely stretched/settled in and I'm sure it will give more and I may pop another driver's side CV if I don't get the axle to stay in the center. Superlift said the straps were 19.5". I didn't measure them, but maybe we need 18" or 17" straps.

 

[John_Rock]

Currently I'm struggling with replacing body bushings in the dark. Yippee!

And in the morning I will have to find replacement body bushing bolts since I had to cut off the old ones.

 

[Turdle]

Maybe shorten your limit straps by bolting up higher, or bolting farther out on the LCA.

Your straps may have stretched also, causing more droop.

I can recall Mountaineergreen & Turdle, also ran the limit straps according to Stuperlifts specs (inline with the swaybar links), and they went thru a few dr side C/V axles also. Seems to me, the straps are too long for that location.

Evan never did have the straps-but I did. However I am convinced the bent diff bracket is the cause for the cv's breaking, because after Evan straightened that bracket, he never broke a cv.

I bet I bent it again in colorado the day I went down the ATV trail and broke 2 of em. And if you think about it, the passenger side must be stuffed and making a racket ---the cv is being "overshoved" into that side.

Even though the axles are "allowed" to slip doesn't mean they do. When I removed the broken ones the stubs were still "locked in" by the inner plastic ring and needed to be pried out.

Pete, was your broken stub locked in or did it slip out easily?