Axle CV Joint Failure

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DonMitsu

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This weekend I was climbing a hill that wasn't particularly difficult when I dropped my left front axle. It completely pulled out of the front diff. I do have Johnson Rods and 265/65R18 BFG All Terrain TA KO2 tires. I'm trying to get the vehicle repaired as quickly as possible and purchased: https://www.lucky8llc.com/collectio...oducts/proud-rhino-sya-off-road-extension-kit in an effort to avoid this problem in the future. Has anyone else had this issue, or used this bump stop kit? Do the straps improve reliability without sacrificing capability?

Thanks
 

mbw

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the half shaft is completely intact? just pulled out? I didn't know that was even possible.

I might be wrong, but I don't think the bump stop kit will help with whatever happened here.
 

DonMitsu

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The kit specifically states in the description:

"With the bump-stop spacers, you gain additional down travel and may run the risk of over flexing the axles of your Land Rover. When this happens, you run a higher chance of binding the CV joints beyond their capability, which can cause failure. The limiting strap will prevent this from happening and keep you moving on the trails."

Looking at the truck it appears the front diff is mounted with rubber bushings. The bushings look to have failed and probably put the diff and axles at an awkward angle while I was climbing a steep hill with both diffs locked
 

mbw

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Do you have photos? I honestly don't have much to add, but just looking to learn as much as we can from your unfortunate situation. Let us know what you have to do to fix it.
 

DonMitsu

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I'm going to go ahead and replace the front diff, both front half shafts, and all bushings just to make sure all is good. And I ordered the bump stops with limiting straps as an extra precaution. It's been a great truck for over 6 years, but We're about to go up in the mountains and I don't want to take any chances
 

ryanjl

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Whoa whoa whoa. That bump stop kit you bought has nothing to do with your problem of dropping a CV joint--if anything, it will only exacerbate the problem. The straps in that kit are only needed because of the bump stop spacers in that kit change the stock geometry by going in between the air struts and the frame, creating a forced 2" lift that isn't there in stock form.

The bump stop kit exists so that if the air suspension goes **** up, dropping to the bump stops doesn't screw people running 32" tires or bigger.

If all you had was a johnson rod lift and bigger tires, there's something else going on. Your johnson rod lift doesn't change the stock geometry, it just changes the position of the stock geometry your ride-height sensors believe they are in. Within the full range of the stock geometry, your axle shouldn't be falling out.

Have you checked your control arm bushings? If one or more of those are borked, they can put your suspension outside of the stock geometry, which could cause an issue.
 
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DonMitsu

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Thanks for the reply, I just replaced the control arms about 10,000 miles ago because the bushings had warn out. The rubber bushings in the diff mounts had gone bad and possibly caused the geometry to be off.
 

ryanjl

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Thanks for the reply, I just replaced the control arms about 10,000 miles ago because the bushings had warn out. The rubber bushings in the diff mounts had gone bad and possibly caused the geometry to be off.

Wow. I'd never heard of that before, but I suppose it makes sense.

Before you install that bump stop spacer, check the thread on expedition portal. There are a lot of people who have had problems with it. There's a group of people trying to get Lucky 8 to make a 1" version, which they hope will not have the same issues.
 

Surfrider77

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Wow. This is the first I have ever heard of this problem. Keep us posted with your findings!
 

DonMitsu

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View media item 327
This was my left front half shaft. You can see where the cv joint closest to the diff just pulled apart. I'm still unsure what caused the failure nor how to prevent going forward
 

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