Front Axles Chromoly VS. RCV Axle

[JoeLopezTexas]

I'm going with the RCV's and premium warn hubs locking hubs to accommodate the 30 spline outer and provide a fuse. I'm not excited about paying more, but don't wanna have to deal with a broken ear on a trail somewhere. So gonna deal with the extra cost now and not go out for drinks this week to make up for the expense.

Most Importantly Thanks for the input!!!

 

[KyleQ]

I'm still not sold on the RCV, too many ultra 4 guys took them out because of "strange issues". I'm still a fan of the factory 10 shafts with CTMs.

$50K+ vehicles doing high speed through rocks and desert are a far cry from what 99.9% of people do with their Bronco's.

One of the downsides of going with a solid body and cap style joint, such as the Yukon Superjjoint or CTM, is that without any needle bearings the trunion & cap require a lining of grease in order to rotate and retain proper movement. These joints are greased directly through the caps. Also as they spin, they consume the grease and therefore it’s necessary to lubricate them nearly every single trip (aka grease 8 caps everytime you go wheeling). Sort of a PITA. Also they don’t recommend any high-speed rotation (aka 4-Hi) due to this nature to sling the grease out.

I don’t know what the maint req are for the RCV joints, but if I had to do it again I’d look at them to overcome these two issues.

Yukon says to grease the joint four times a year - you should be greasing your ujoints and axle parts more than that, so really its no big deal.

The RCV's are great for hi-speed driving, the superjoints and ctm's cannot be run at speed.

 

[bmc69]

I went with lockouts for 2 reasons first they were cheaper, second it provided a fuse so i would risk breaking a ring gear.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether to use those tiny little lockout "adapters" RCV provided or just go with drive slugs. ?:? I like the idea that the hubs are "fuses" but I don't want them to be too weak..and the only source for those adapters is RCV.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Before I dropped the coin on RCVs I think I would have to seriously consider going to a dana 60 front, if you find that the RCVs aren't enough your pretty much maxed out, 60 with decent shafts could still be upgraded.

Good point!

 

[KyleQ]

Good point!

After owning, breaking, rebuilding and upgrading a D60 when I have to work on my other D44 projects I absolutely laugh at how cheap things are. D60's sure make you jaded on cost... ECGS and NorthernDrivetrain are great places to get Spicer products at great (if not the best) prices.

 

[ransil]

One of the downsides of going with a solid body and cap style joint, such as the Yukon Superjjoint or CTM, is that without any needle bearings the trunion & cap require a lining of grease in order to rotate and retain proper movement. These joints are greased directly through the caps. Also as they spin, they consume the grease and therefore it’s necessary to lubricate them nearly every single trip (aka grease 8 caps everytime you go wheeling). Sort of a PITA. Also they don’t recommend any high-speed rotation (aka 4-Hi) due to this nature to sling the grease out.

I don’t know what the maint req are for the RCV joints, but if I had to do it again I’d look at them to overcome these two issues.

RCV maint says to grease them once a year, there is a zerk fitting on the end of the axle to shoot grease into them, RCV has there own grease $50 tube

 

[bax]

Im making a set of maple axles. They should hold up fine. but I will carry some RCV for trail spares

 

[iwlbcnu]

Another plus for RCV is that that take now effort to turn the steering when locked, where as standard axles will bind. You also don't get the inside tire skipping like you do with joints.
As far as the hub being a fuse, I run the Warn premiums and when it blew I was done. When it exploded it wedged everything really good. I had to take a drill and drill out the hub ring and then chisel it out. I keep meaning to buy a set of flanges for dedicated trail runs.
Only RCV failures I had read about were people with buggies with to much turning radius.
Mine is a street/trail rig, so possible highway snow runs, RCV hands down!!!

 

[sprdv1]

The RCV shafts arent any stronger than a chromoly shaft.. the magic they have is the elimination of the ujoint in favor of the spherical. Ujoints and the ears they attach to on the shafts are the weak point... if you CTMs or similar, your weakpoint is now the ears of the shafts.

exactly right...


Pretty happy with my RCVs so far, I don't have a real heavy foot either, for the most part

 

[bronconut73]

exactly right...


Pretty happy with my RCVs so far, I don't have a real heavy foot either, for the most part

But I thought RCV's were made of 300M and not chromoly

 

[badmuttstang]

RCV's all the way it will take me awhile to afford them for the Bronco but definitely the way to go if your going to wheel it and don't want to risk a break down due to a u joint

 

[snipes243]

I'm having a hard time deciding whether to use those tiny little lockout "adapters" RCV provided or just go with drive slugs. ?:? I like the idea that the hubs are "fuses" but I don't want them to be too weak..and the only source for those adapters is RCV.

Hadn't had a single issue with the hubs, they have held up great behind my 393 and heavy right foot;D. There is also a replace inner spline section for if you already have warn hubs they were about 80 a piece from CCOR. I have been thinking of buying one to convert the single warn hub I have for a spare.

 

[bmc69]

There is also a replace inner spline section for if you already have warn hubs they were about 80 a piece from CCOR. I have been thinking of buying one to convert the single warn hub I have for a spare.

That's all I have..that little spline piece to convert my existing Warn hubs. It's that little guy that worries me.

 

[welndmn]

$50K+ vehicles doing high speed through rocks and desert are a far cry from what 99.9% of people do with their Bronco's.



Yukon says to grease the joint four times a year - you should be greasing your ujoints and axle parts more than that, so really its no big deal.

The RCV's are great for hi-speed driving, the superjoints and ctm's cannot be run at speed.

Don't forget, over 1/2 of the ultra 4 Rv's run CTM's, I'm not sure where you saw they were not rated for speed, but they are driven fast on all the time.
They do require normal (maybe more) greasing, but that's part of prep.

 

[bronconut73]

CTM's and Yukon Super Joints can be ran at speed but you go through grease quickly.
It "is" pretty expensive grease too.

 

[xcntrk]

CTM's and Yukon Super Joints can be ran at speed but you go through grease quickly.
It "is" pretty expensive grease too.

The Yukon's use anti-seeze for grease.

The only point I was making with these is that they require at least 4 lubrications per year under advertised use; and if you run them at speed then you're looking at even more lubrications. That's a lot of maint to keep them in good working condition.

 

[KyleQ]

Don't forget, over 1/2 of the ultra 4 Rv's run CTM's, I'm not sure where you saw they were not rated for speed, but they are driven fast on all the time.
They do require normal (maybe more) greasing, but that's part of prep.

Huh - must be a misconception then, I great mine before every outing.

CTM's and Yukon Super Joints can be ran at speed but you go through grease quickly.
It "is" pretty expensive grease too.

Nothing is cheap in the D60 world - the price difference between yukon shafts and joints to RCV's is also grand canyon huge...

 

[JWMcCrary]

The Yukon's use anti-seeze for grease.

yep, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the exact same copper anti-seize you buy in the little tubes.

 

[Yeller]

But I thought RCV's were made of 300M and not chromoly

300M is a high grade of chromemoly. Strength wise if heat treating is equal there's not a huge difference. The big advantage to 300M is how many times it can be twisted to maximum yield (the point of breaking) and not fatiguing and breaking. I forget what the factor is for that but it was 1000's of times more

 

[bmc69]

I'm just waiting for someone to make axles out of this stuff.

http://www.questek.com/filebase/src/Articles/FerriumS53inFastenerTechno.pdf