Is your car green?
Your gren is looking sweet as usual, I look forward to reading about the drive shafts!
Why do this? Not being smart - I'm just a novice off-roader and not sure I know what this is or why it's important? Your Gren is looking amazing.
When you raise the car, what you really raise is the chassis and body, but you do not raise the axles, therefore the engine is placed higher and the axles stay in the same place, so the cardan shafts completely change their geometry, remaining in a much greater coupling inclination, to avoid this, double-knot cardans are used that make it easier for the coupling angle to be the same as the factory one, avoiding breakage problems during insertion.
Ahh - Makes much sense now - thank you for the great explanation! I'm considering the 2.5" eibach lift springs, and want to make sure I'm not overlooking something that I should consider (as part of the install of this) to ensure everything is proper. Sounds like the double cardans are probably a good risk mitigating piece of kit if you run the 2.5" lift springs.
Is a double cardan driveshaft available?
Mine is the same on highway... any speed over 65 is terrifying. 35x12.50 BFG M/T aired down and it still doesn't feel great/safe on the highway. I'm going to try Eibach shocks/stabilizer when they become available and I'll also have the caster checked out.
I have an appointment set for Tuesday with Owl Vans to install a set of 30mm Eibach springs and 285/75/R17 KO2s on the stock steel wheels.
First, AWESOME member name 74CampySuperRecord!!
Today nearly 400km Autobahn, most 120-130, but also 150-160km/h. German autobahn, just one finger at the steering wheel!
I too am NOT having any issues. I also Have the 2.5 lift on 35’s but stayed with the stock stabilizer and honestly like the ride and handling. Recently drove to Idaho from Texas and performed perfectly even at high speeds. However, the lights on the roof rack are pretty loud at high speeds. Thinking about going with a lower profile rack.
What rack/light setup are you running?
Front runner rack and Colight lights…
My car was at a driveline shop yesterday for R&D. They’re building adapters that should be available within 2-3 weeks. Then I’ll be putting in extended brake lines or at least relocating them.
Car was at the driveline shop yesterday for R&D. Hopefully we will have a shaft within 2-3 weeks, adapters are being made for the diff and transfer case.
Just as paco said. To elaborate, many factory vehicles come with a CV driveshaft that is comprised of bearings, a boot, and grease. This is ok for small tires, low torque, and mild offroad applications. CV’s are also good as axle shafts if beefed up such as RCV’s since the torque transfer works in a different way. As a driveshaft it is a suboptimal component as it is prone to breakage from torque transfer, extreme articulation, or boot failure. All of this is greatly enhanced when lifted as the CV can only handle so much angle before the boot gets pinched and the torque load is placed upon the bearings at a suboptimal angle. What then happens is either the bearings get prematurely worn or dislodged from their races, or the boot gets pinched, dirt gets in, and then grease spews everywhere, the balls fly out, and then the shaft flails everywhere causing potential secondary damage. This is a hard down on the trail either requiring a tow off the trail or pulling the shaft leaving you without 4 wheel drive, unless you carry a spare.
Thanks so much @Bodhi’s Grenadier for taking the time to provide this great information - this is all new to me since getting the grenadier, so the detail and logic behind some of the decisions is super helpful to read! As Paco mentions too - this all makes perfect sense to me, and if I do decide to go with a lift, I’ll likely want to also budget for double cardans as well (and whenever they are available) .
Aired down? its bound to feel vague and wobbly with aired down 35's! You should air them up, min 35psi preferably 40+. The bigger the tyre the more vague the whole thing will feel. You have the added body roll from the lift plus the added body roll from the bigger tyres plus the added body roll from airing them down. You can't do anything about the first two but you can air them up at least, also max out the caster correction if you haven't already.
The CV driveshaft is a weak link in the drivetrain regardless of lift, stock, or portals because of its design and strength loss during application of torque at extreme angles. Although portals will put less angled stress on the CV joint, they allow for fitment of larger tires without altering the suspension geometry by adding an additional dropped drive component at the axle ends, which still translates to greater rotational mass and traction. If someone is dropping portals in they’re likely planning on heavy offroad use so I’m certain they’ve already got a DC shaft or are planning on getting one!Thanks so much @Bodhi’s Grenadier for taking the time to provide this great information - this is all new to me since getting the grenadier, so the detail and logic behind some of the decisions is super helpful to read! As Paco mentions too - this all makes perfect sense to me, and if I do decide to go with a lift, I’ll likely want to also budget for double cardans as well (and whenever they are available) .
Dumb question: Curious if this is still an issue with portal axles? Not that I ever plan to go that direction
