Problem with Trakmotive Extended Travel CV Axles

[k7jxv]

I have a 2000 Explorer XLT that I have done about a 1.5-2 inch lift on using shackles in the rear and torsion twist in the front with keys. Some time ago, replaced the CV axles, as they were making some noise and vibration. I decided to go with the Trakmotive Extended Travel Axles, as they were the only ones listed as working with a lift. I went with the FD-8021XTT and FD-8004XTT for left and right respetively.

Upon installing them in the truck, I noticed that I could hear what sounded like rubber squeaking at parking lot speeds coming from the front end. The noise would go away above about 10mph, but I thought that was odd. Lo and behold a few months later, my new axles started clicking and crunching just from regular street use. Upon looking underneath, I found that the outer boots on both sides were basically shredded and grease was everywhere. Looking at the axles closer, it looks like the boots were all bunched up and just wore through themselves. You can even see in the attached picture that I took from Rock Auto how the outer boots look like they are bunched together and would be rubbing on itself.

I contacted Trakmotive, and they said that I should return the vehicle to stock height and exchange them with RockAuto where I bought them. I thought it was wierd that they told me to put it back to stock height when they are advertised for lifted vehicles. Anyways, I didn't want to wait weeks for the return and be without my rig, so I went to O'rly in town and bought a set of Precision OEM axles. I've put a ton of miles on the Precision axles, and have done hundreds of miles off road, and there is no hint of failure.

So that long story leads up to my question... Could I have possibly done something wrong installing the axles? I feel like with the way both of the front axles failed in the same way at the same time, that another set of the same Trakmotive axles are just going to fail again. I asked Trakmotive support this same question and they pretty much blew me off. I searched the forum, and everybody seems happy with their Trakmotive axles. So it makes no sense why both of my axles blew up, and I don't wanna waste my time putting another new set back in only to have them do it again. I'm probably just going to keep runing the Precision ones anyways. But sucks having $400 worth of fancy long travel axles sitting around that I can't use, and will cost even more to ship back for replacement. Thanks in advance.

 

[wollimann]

Could I have possibly done something wrong installing the axles?

Defenitely no, these axles are not worth the money, have the same issues with that crap.

Extended Travel CV Axle Half Shafts

I've heard from others of issues of these rubbing the shocks, have you experienced this at all? Hmm, no I haven't had any rubbing. I have Rancho RS5000 type shocks all around. Don't know if that matters. All the suspension mounting is at stock locations, and maybe 1-1.5" torsion twist.

www.explorerforum.com

Changed all boots, but the axels became play now and they make noises.

 

[410Fortune]

Stock cv axles work fine with a torsion twist
You are not actually adding any travel to the suspension by adjusting the ride height with the torsion bars, you are simply changing the ride height
This suspension tracks about 8” at the wheel and tire, 4-5” of up travel and 3-4”
Of down travel. By cranking the t bars you simply change it to like 1-2” Of down travel and 5-7” of up travel. Stock cv axles do that just fine

The cv axles have never been a weak point in these front ends we regularly see 250k miles on factory cvs
Extended Length axles are only needed when you move the wheel further away from the differential… which doesn’t happen without some major custom parts.

Crappy aftermarket cv axles will have boots that the ribs rub each other and the material they use is so cheap that the boots eat themselves very quickly…the fix can be as simple as removing a clamp and stretching the boot out a bit, then re clamp
Or just avoid the crappy aftermarket parts with boots like this. Factory cv axle boots can rub the ribs together for 200k miles and never wear down… it’s the quality of the boot material trackmotive used

What we really need is not a cv axle that extends in length, but one that is capable of working at steeper angles… this would allow more wheel travel without binding… extending the length does nothing for us but introduce another failure point

Stick with your el cheapo parts store cv axles… a few years ago you could get $70 cv axles at oreilly or Autozone with a lifetime warranty… now I think they wised up and these parts have a 1-3 year warranty depending on price. I have had very good luck with cardone or duralast cv axles in factory rigs

 

[Squirrelmaster]

Stick with your el cheapo parts store cv axles… a few years ago you could get $70 cv axles at oreilly or Autozone with a lifetime warranty… now I think they wised up and these parts have a 1-3 year warranty depending on price. I have had very good luck with cardone or duralast cv axles in factory rigs

This. The Duralast CV axles still have a lifetime warranty, though when I bought a set six months ago they have gone up in price to around $100. I've wheeled the crap out of those Duralast axles in that six month period without any issues, which I unfortunately cannot say about the $400 a pop OEM CV axles on another of my street-driven vehicles.

 

[k7jxv]

Stock cv axles work fine with a torsion twist
You are not actually adding any travel to the suspension by adjusting the ride height with the torsion bars, you are simply changing the ride height
This suspension tracks about 8” at the wheel and tire, 4-5” of up travel and 3-4”
Of down travel. By cranking the t bars you simply change it to like 1-2” Of down travel and 5-7” of up travel. Stock cv axles do that just fine

The cv axles have never been a weak point in these front ends we regularly see 250k miles on factory cvs
Extended Length axles are only needed when you move the wheel further away from the differential… which doesn’t happen without some major custom parts.

Crappy aftermarket cv axles will have boots that the ribs rub each other and the material they use is so cheap that the boots eat themselves very quickly…the fix can be as simple as removing a clamp and stretching the boot out a bit, then re clamp
Or just avoid the crappy aftermarket parts with boots like this. Factory cv axle boots can rub the ribs together for 200k miles and never wear down… it’s the quality of the boot material trackmotive used

What we really need is not a cv axle that extends in length, but one that is capable of working at steeper angles… this would allow more wheel travel without binding… extending the length does nothing for us but introduce another failure point

Stick with your el cheapo parts store cv axles… a few years ago you could get $70 cv axles at oreilly or Autozone with a lifetime warranty… now I think they wised up and these parts have a 1-3 year warranty depending on price. I have had very good luck with cardone or duralast cv axles in factory rigs

Yeah, the whole reason I got them was to deal with the extra angle that they would be riding at. I know the overall suspension travel isn't affected by just twisting it up a bit, but I was concerned with them being at a steeper angle while doing normal driving. It even says right on the product page:

"TrakMotive Extended Travel CV Axles are designed with a sliding center bar that provides up to 40mm more travel than an OEM CV shaft. Additionally, the CV joints can achieve up to a 47° articulation angle compared to a maximum 23° articulation angle on an OE CV joint. Extended Travel Axles will work with any lift kit that uses the stock axle."

These are marketed as being able to handle the extra angle. They aren't marketed as working with the hub further away from the differential. It says it's designed to work with rigs that run the stock axle, not some crazy long travel lift kit. 40mm (1.5 inches) more travel to me is saying that they are capable of handling 40mm more up and down motion without wearing. As the wheel droops down, it moves further away from the differential, which is why they use the sliding center bar.

I'll also note that my Rancho shocks with the spacer at the bottom (supposedly) give me about an extra inch of downward droop vs the stock shocks, which is another reason I went with the extended travel axles originally. Also the Precision Axles that I'm currently running, I got at O'Reilly have a lifetime warranty on them. And they're only $100 each.

The Precisions seem to be working so far like you said... my main concern was why did the Trakmotives wear out so fast with barely any lift only doing street driving, when they're supposedly designed to run at higher angles?

 

[k7jxv]

Defenitely no, these axles are not worth the money, have the same issues with that crap.

Extended Travel CV Axle Half Shafts

I've heard from others of issues of these rubbing the shocks, have you experienced this at all? Hmm, no I haven't had any rubbing. I have Rancho RS5000 type shocks all around. Don't know if that matters. All the suspension mounting is at stock locations, and maybe 1-1.5" torsion twist.

www.explorerforum.com

Changed all boots, but the axels became play now and they make noises.

Thanks! This is exactly what I was wondering. All the searching I did, and this thread never popped up for me! Glad to know that this is a problem. Sucks that Trakmotive is not admiting that they have an issue with these things. We should get our money back on them, not swap them out every 3 months when they crap out.

I had another thought about these too... What if you just cut off the clamp, and moved the boot out a little bit? I feel like it might rub on itself much less. I think I might give it a try, since they have the warranty, and I really have nothing to lose. They're just sitting on a shelf at this point anyways.

 

[wollimann]

What if you just cut off the clamp, and moved the boot out a little bit?

I would say, do not waste your precious time and hard earned money on these parts!
Every rubber (seal to hub) or thermoplastic part (boots) will crack
and the inner axle part get "dancing" inside the differential bearing,
causing a humming sound in your front end.
Take a look and you can imagine, that this is not a durable construction.

Hate these disposibles!

 

[410Fortune]

They claim these work at double the angle of the stockers??? How exactly? That would require some custom
Cv ends… they sure look like all the other cv joints on the market…. That I would love to see

As I said earlier in the post wife’s FJ cruiser has cardone cv shafts the boots would
Rub and deteriorate so I would warranty them…
But on the new set I reset the clamps further out so the boots no longer rub, been fine since

Cheap cvs cheap boots…

 

[mitchx3]

Normal/Original CV's have an rzeppa joint on the wheel end and a tripod joint on the inner end.
The rzeppa can do higher angles than the tripod, but the tripod can deal with the change in length of the axle during suspension travel.
The extended travels are rzeppa on both ends so they can do higher angles. They add that sliding element in the middle of the axle to deal with the change in length (a capability they lose when they drop the tripod end).

It sounds like the originals can work with a lifted front, but I wonder if there are [efficiency|reliability|predictability|whatever] gains by not operating the tripod joints near their angle limit. Maybe I'll measure the angle when it's not -10f outside.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Stock cv axles work fine with a torsion twist
You are not actually adding any travel to the suspension by adjusting the ride height with the torsion bars, you are simply changing the ride height
This suspension tracks about 8” at the wheel and tire, 4-5” of up travel and 3-4”
Of down travel. By cranking the t bars you simply change it to like 1-2” Of down travel and 5-7” of up travel. Stock cv axles do that just fine

The cv axles have never been a weak point in these front ends we regularly see 250k miles on factory cvs
Extended Length axles are only needed when you move the wheel further away from the differential… which doesn’t happen without some major custom parts.

Crappy aftermarket cv axles will have boots that the ribs rub each other and the material they use is so cheap that the boots eat themselves very quickly…the fix can be as simple as removing a clamp and stretching the boot out a bit, then re clamp
Or just avoid the crappy aftermarket parts with boots like this. Factory cv axle boots can rub the ribs together for 200k miles and never wear down… it’s the quality of the boot material trackmotive used

What we really need is not a cv axle that extends in length, but one that is capable of working at steeper angles… this would allow more wheel travel without binding… extending the length does nothing for us but introduce another failure point

Stick with your el cheapo parts store cv axles… a few years ago you could get $70 cv axles at oreilly or Autozone with a lifetime warranty… now I think they wised up and these parts have a 1-3 year warranty depending on price. I have had very good luck with cardone or duralast cv axles in factory rigs

Can confirm. Still running the OE CVs and all the bushings and what not have long since deteriorated and the CVs hodl up. The only original parts in the front suspension area is just hubs and spindle everything else all fell apart from towing and wheeling.

What I noticed is I made a mistake and ordered longer travel shocks for this rig and when I top out its the boot that rubs on the LCA, seems like that is the next failure point. If we want longer travel we oughta do it the right way hahahaha BTF FTW!!!