"drive axles" vs standard axles with CV's

M

Manxaru

Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2021
Messages
57
Reaction score
3
Anyone car to school me on drive axles (with u-joints) like the truggy's run. 

Are they a good idea for lower power cars? In my case, a mid-travel manx with only 300hp? Would be nice to get away from CV maintenance, but not sure about the cost/benefit ratio. 

Anyhow have a suggested vendor to talk to? 

Thx! 

 
AlpineFunco said:
Nope. They don’t plunge and will therefore crack tailoring arm tabs and possibly the frame itself.
Click to expand...
Or the transaxle case and if they come lose they destroy everything around them. Had a buddy with them and one came lose beat the crap out of the frame. CV service is not the most fun job but better than the alternative just my .02

 
They work for some cars and not for others. Consensus here is if you run them your trans ot trailing arms are 100% guaranteed to break, but that's not true. I know of several cars running them with a 2D and LS1 with zero issues. I've also seen the damage they can do to the trans side covers or trailing arm tabs. 

 
If you're running a 5 link rear suspension, the axles don't need to plunge and u-joint axles might work. I tried them on my trailing arm car and because of the amount of travel, there was a lot of plunge and they ripped off the tabs on my trailing arms. I got them repaired and gusseted and the next casualty was the side cases of the trans. The final straw was when one of the u-joints broke. When I tried to cycle them, they seemed to plunge, but not fast enough for the suspension as it cycled.

Each time, I told the builder of the axles about it and he said it was impossible, even though I had high res digital pics of the carnage. He would look at the pics and continue to claim it was impossible. I switched back to CVs and upgraded to 934 everything. Midboard hubs, axles, CVs, side cases, bolts, boots, everything.

 
I've seen safety hoops welded around the axle on the frame to prevent the slap around of an axle if the ujoint breaks. Almost as if expected to break. 

 
Lord of the Dunes said:
If you're running a 5 link rear suspension, the axles don't need to plunge and u-joint axles might work. I tried them on my trailing arm car and because of the amount of travel, there was a lot of plunge and they ripped off the tabs on my trailing arms. I got them repaired and gusseted and the next casualty was the side cases of the trans. The final straw was when one of the u-joints broke. When I tried to cycle them, they seemed to plunge, but not fast enough for the suspension as it cycled.

Each time, I told the builder of the axles about it and he said it was impossible, even though I had high res digital pics of the carnage. He would look at the pics and continue to claim it was impossible. I switched back to CVs and upgraded to 934 everything. Midboard hubs, axles, CVs, side cases, bolts, boots, everything.
Click to expand...
This. Work on a 5 link, no good for trailing arms. But I wouldn't even use them on a 5 link. Wasn't it Extreme that made and professed them?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Id still stick with cv axles.Maintanance is not too bad i do mine once a year just to check things out clean inspect regrease.

 
CV = Constant Velocity. This means that the joint rotates at the same speed all the way around the revolution, even at extreme angles, providing a smooth rotation through the joint/axle and reducing vibration.

U-joints have an inherent "Speed Up" in their rotation, where the joint will rotate faster then slower through one revolution, which gets worse as the joint articulates to it's extremes. This will cause alternating loads on all components the axle assembly is attached to, causing many of the failures that have been mentioned above.

 
great video and i would never recommend a u joint setup regardless of if it worked or not.  bad news, and if it worked for you, consider yourself lucky

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top