Hey guys, I have an '88 chevy K1500 with a 4" Rancho suspension lift and 33" tires. I keep having hell with my CV axles.  Ive replaced one or the other 3 times already, and they just keep breaking. Is the suspension lift causing all of these problems??  Im looking for some advice OR some aftermarket solutions for my problem. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.  

Thanks,

Randy  

yea i have the same problem i have a 95 chevy k1500 with a 6'  skyjacker kit on 33's i just seems like they brake if u have the 4 wheel on and u bounce or brakes through mud or snow and it ketches solid ground or dirt while ur front tires are turning. just try not to do that, lol and u should be ok.  cv axles are realy week and cant take much abuse but ur lift shouldnt have to much to do with recken them. if u find out about a cv axle upgrade let me no. oh and never drive ur truck with out a cv axle on the driver side. lol  

I appreciate the reply.  Like you said, they only break when engaged in 4-wheel drive.  If they were binding all the time that would not be the case.  

I never had much trouble with them in the beginning, then I rebuilt the motor.  I put a few goodies in it and now have about 275 horses instead of the factory 195.  When I dropped in the new motor is when I started having the trouble with breakage.  Im currently putting together a 383 that should be pretty nasty - about 400 horse and 550 ft-lbs of torque.  That should make my little 1/2 ton pretty mean.  

If the cv-axles cant handle the motor I have now, the 383 is really going to eat them up. I know of straight-axle conversion kits, but that gets really pricey. I just wish someone offered an aftermarket cv-axle that could hold a little more power and abuse.

Does anyone know of a cv-axle upgrade to help with breakage?

Randy  

Check out 4WOR's Red Sled articles.  They had the same problems and they eventually upgraded to beefier cv axles.  I cant remember who made them.  

Yea, Red Sled, I don't remember off hand either but I was there when Fred had to change one and I remember it being pretty burly compared to the stockers.

Or

You could always do what one of my old wheeling buddies does. He has a Chevy 1500 that kept eating CV's or boots so he just bought one with a lifetime warranty from AutoZone and would just change them out every few months or when they seemed to need it. It may seem like a lot of work but it's really a 10min job once you get it down...lol  

Yeah, the lifetime warranty thing is what I have now.  I think I got mine from Advance Auto Parts though, not sure.  

I definetly have changing them out mastered, but it still gets old.  It seems like just when I get warmed up and having some good ole' wheeling fun, they let me down.  But like I said, fixing them isn't what aggravates me, its the fact that they break - all the time.  

Id really like to get ahold of the engineer that had these installed from the beggining.  Not that they are a bad design, they are just extremely weak.  

Im going to go check out the "red sled" articles, but if I remember correctly they went to the 3/4 ton shafts, which have a diferent spline size/count.  I'll just have to look it up and read it again to see exactly what they did.  

Thanks for the input guys.

Randy  

Ok, I reviewed the "red sled" articles and the aftermarket CV axle-shafts turned out to be made by Rough Country.  I contacted Rough Country and unfortunately they dont make them anymore.  

So now Im back to where I started. A straight axle conversion is looking like the only answer. Any suggestions on this or about the CV axle-shafts?

Randy  

Anyone with advice/suggestions on this subject?  Your replies would be appreciated..

Thanks

Randy  

OK WELL IVE GOT A 99CHEVY TAHOE,MET TONS OF FRIENDS AT AZUSA ,CA WHERE  I SEE THE SAME PROBLEM.MY AXLES BREAK MAYBE BOUT EVERY 10 MONTHS,I WHEEL AND TOW MY OTHER TRUCK WITH THE TAHOE,I GOT A RCD LIFT, FRONT TIRES STICK OUT BOUT 3INCHES ON EACH SIDE MORE THAN THE BACK, SEEMS TO LOOK FUNNY BUT WHEELBASE DOES NOT STRESS AXLES COMPARED TO OTHERS THAT TRY TO KEEEP FACTORY LOOK WITH TIRES EVEN FRONT AND BACK.I NEVER LET OFF THE PEDAL AND CAN ABUSE ABUSE IT...MY TRUCK HAS LOTS OF GOOD STUFF ON THE MOTOR SO POWER SHOULD NOT BREAK IT THATS WHAT THERE FOR TO BEAT THEM UP AND NOT SCARED OF FLOORING IT IN THE MUD.MOVE TORSION BARS TILL U SEE LESS STRESS ON AXLES  JUST A SUGGESTION -TKLAN  KUSTOMS 75BLAZE  

FORGOT TO SAY 35INCH NITTO MUDGRAPPLERS    75BLAZE TKLANKUSTOMS  

CV's joints are there strongest when running fairly straight. If you have a lift via a Tbar crank or key and running big tires you are likely to have axle shaft issues. Lower front end so that they are near level static and they will hold up much better. If you need more height.clearance for tires, use a body lif or a lift that PROPERLY lowers diff and used new knuckles so the axle shaft angles are correct. BTW, 1500 axle shafts are not the strongest things to begin with anyway so you want to keep they fairly level.  

Hey snowman,i wonder if the shops that build axxles for the tuner cars,supposedly rated to 500 horses??? hondapower,could do a fwd axle,type half shaft? what about a porche type axle, is there a difference in the design that make them more durable.what other mfg ferrari,mercedies,etc,what do they do to make their shafts live.maybe cross polination would improve the breed.  

When you think about axle shaft, people think HP ratings but this is misleading. Axles should be rated in torque capacity because they determines the point of failure. When you consider Hondas and such with high HP, the axle torque is fairly low relative to HP (HP is torque x RPM /5252) Also vehicles are lighter and tire mass and diameters are much smaller which means less strain on axles. ALso while some FWD cars are pretty quick, they are kinda traction limited which limits peak torque on shafts. Getting back to where we were, CV's are great things but when you lift a 4x4 and install bigger rubber and run CV at a high angle from a crank or key you have kinda a catch 22 in that bugger tires require more axle torque to get same effort to road AND running CV's at a high angle reduces their torque capacity so you are setting yourself up for failure.