Front drive shaft broken

[Zimm]

The T-case side exclusively from what I can tell. Even in the case of the failed C clip situations.

The T-case side has a slightly higher angle than the diff and less airflow.

The two "solutions' I've seen have been double DC's.... which seemed real optimistic to work. Maybe for 2-4" lifts, the slightly better front CV and a case DC joint is the solution. I haven't seen that combo yet, or ever frankly. I never really considered it. My thought process was always a cut and turn with a DC. I just do what works. I'm not a pioneer.

 

[Dokatd]

Honestly at the 1.5" or so level I am starting to believe replacing the joint at the t-case with a better unit that has a better boot might be the answer. I have not seen any failures of the Terra Flex replacement joint so far. The reality is we haven't seen any failures outright joint failure yet either. Only the boot failing and loosing all the needed grease. And the C clip failing likely due to assembly problems. These joints should be packed heavily with grease, loss of grease is eventually fatal for the joint. But nobody seems to have let it get that far yet.

There is another alternative to the cut and turn, I haven't verified it can be done yet, but if I have another boot failure I may look towards that solution.

As well I am still expecting some movement from another driveshaft shop regarding a hybrid shaft with a DC and a CV.

 

[Commodore]

Honestly at the 1.5" or so level I am starting to believe replacing the joint at the t-case with a better unit that has a better boot might be the answer. I have not seen any failures of the Terra Flex replacement joint so far. The reality is we haven't seen any failures outright joint failure yet either. Only the boot failing and loosing all the needed grease. And the C clip failing likely due to assembly problems. These joints should be packed heavily with grease, loss of grease is eventually fatal for the joint. But nobody seems to have let it get that far yet.

There is another alternative to the cut and turn, I haven't verified it can be done yet, but if I have another boot failure I may look towards that solution.

As well I am still expecting some movement from another driveshaft shop regarding a hybrid shaft with a DC and a CV.

I’m starting to wonder if we can build a test jig and test the teraflex and the factory CV.

 

[Dokatd]

I’m starting to wonder if we can build a test jig and test the teraflex and the factory CV.

Kinda feel like Ineos already did that for us .

I'm not racking up the miles quite as fast on the Teraflex joint as I did with the stock, but I will get there. I feel like a few others here have put well over 5-6k miles on the Tera joint.

The Ineos boot on mine was hard and brittle. Honestly looked like it could have come from a vehicle with 100k miles and 20 years on it. Not sure if it cooked or that's how it generally was from the factory.

 

[Tom109]

Modern rubber compounds are a seriously selective application process.

 

[Commodore]

Kinda feel like Ineos already did that for us .

I'm not racking up the miles quite as fast on the Teraflex joint as I did with the stock, but I will get there. I feel like a few others here have put well over 5-6k miles on the Tera joint.

The Ineos boot on mine was hard and brittle. Honestly looked like it could have come from a vehicle with 100k miles and 20 years on it. Not sure if it cooked or that's how it generally was from the factory.

That is a good data point. I'm thinking of replacing my transfer case side CV or at least pulling the driveshaft and inspecting it. If the rubber is really that bad then why wait until it fails.

 

[Dokatd]

That is a good data point. I'm thinking of replacing my transfer case side CV or at least pulling the driveshaft and inspecting it. If the rubber is really that bad then why wait until it fails.

Replacing the joints is fairly inexpensive. And the benifit of doing it preemptively is that the replacement joints are able to be easily replaced in the field. The stock joints are crimped together and require a fair bit of additional work to change them. Get the hard part out of the way in your garage so you don't have to mess with it on the side of the road.

The Tera joint has a very soft supple rubber boot. The stock feels much more rigid and more like plastic.