Lotus Heavy Duty CV Axles

just saw toytec started carrying these


Thoughts?

 

Looks promising..however id gladly just go buy two spare junk ones for 100 bucks or less then buy two new ones for a grand..haha

 

For that kind of money, I would only think about them if they had a lifetime warranty. (Not sure if they do or not)

And I would rather the CV be the weak link, easy to change, than strengthen the CV and blow up front diffs.

I would still be curious to see how they do though.

 

Good point on the CV breaking instead of Diff..

 

No.

First: Its nothing ground braking; they just redid the outer joint with better/thicker metal (everything else is OEM, including Im assuming, the boots). They will still be susceptible to the inherent weaknesses of a CV axle. If are a serious you rock crawler, SAS or go home.

Second: Be wary of manufacture claims. I dont think that "6 times stronger" equates to 6 times less chance of failure. Especially since the claim only refers to the outer axle housing and the rest of the axle is unchanged.

Third: At ~$1000 a pair (shipping not included), you can buy ~10 cheap replacement axles or about 6 re-manufactured OEM axles from CVJ Axles.

Forth: The outer housing isn't the only thing that fails on a CV axle, its just the part that "normally fails." If you strengthen the outer housing, how much more stress are you putting on the inner housing and the rest of the axle and what will be next "weak link" on these axles? It would suck to brake your brand new $500 axle.

Lastly: What kind of warranty are they willing to put on this sucker? Will it be void if it broke while rock crawling?

 

The last thing id ever do is spend 1 grand on a CV haha.. Maybe if you have a LT then who cares cause you must love your IFS to death anyways.

 

Thanks, I read it somewhere on ttora a long time ago and figured it made a lot of sense.

Sucks the front end is so weak on 1st gens, kinda makes me want a 2nd gen

 

2nd Gen IFS isnt much better .

 

But it is better....

 

You'd be surprised. I'd lay money the 8" IFS front axle on 2gens is stronger than a Dana 35

ToMoCo obviously bumped the materials grades or heat treatment into another level.

 

I thought they had issues with their IFS blowing out .

 

Not at all. I've toasted 2 OEM ring and pinions in my REAR e-locker axle, haven't broken a CV axle yet.

2gen CV axles are worlds stronger than the 1st gen units. My pet theory is Toyota applied some longfield concepts (different alloys/heat treatment processes) to end up with stronger birfs in the new stuff.

 

Well in that case and from what Im reading on toyota-4runner.org, Id rather brake a CV axle than blow my front diff.

 

id want to see these run with a locker,see how they do//what happens

 

This


I've toasted 1 ring and pinion in my front end and 1 CV, open on 33s. And 1 R&P in my rear end. Now im on 35s and ready to blow some more stuff up

But, if i had to do it again I probably would have gotten a 2nd gen and stayed with IFS. And then got a 1st gen later to SAS it.

 

The CV axles still fail before the diff. I'm just saying they don't snap if you look at 'em wrong like the 1st gen units did.

Some of this probably has something to do with the fact that the same front end was used on AWD (Full Time 4wd as ToMoCo called it) V8 4Runners, and Toyota had to redesign some shit to allow the front end to hold up to the 4.7L V8.

This 8" front end was produced around the same time as the "8.4" (really 8" ring gear) rear end, which is also stronger than Toyota's previous 8" diffs for many reasons.

Apparently, with the latest round of axle designs, they made some progress.

And in respect to that, both Sasquatch and Bronzo haven't had any issues breaking CVs on the trail. Of course, they don't wheel like retards. I'm sure if they locked it up and put enough rustle in their jimmies, they could do it.

A 1st gen would probably torch their diff, because they're using the older 7.5in IFS front end.

 

This

 

I was talking about the 1st gens here. Apparently from what I read on the other forum, these axles are actually pretty strong and outlast the diffs. IMO, id rather blow an axle than diff so Ill stick with OEM CV's.

I never knew the 7.5" was such a bust. Bummer .

 

Ha..no. LT guys run Tundra CVs as LT pushes the wheels out 3.5'' on each side..stock CVs don't reach..

No way man, LCAs are weak on 2nd gens compared to us. Their front diff is a little heftier i think but other then that..i don't think its much better.

yea its not the greatest when you look at other diffs. But it actually is better then mos IFS diffs..