CRASH said:
Don't bug out now, it was just getting good! :rattle:
I, like Brett, would like to see a Warn or a Superior 44 shaft tested, not the Yukon junk.
CRASH
Im not buggin out, just dont want this to turn drama, instead of a technical discussion. As far as personal experience, I have had the old style longs only (cryo treated stock birfs with a 4340 ring welded on, and 4340 stock style 27 spline inners), and I successfully ran 38 TSL/SXs, fully locked, 4.88 gears, and dual cases (stock gears in each case), no breakage (Texas/Oklahoma wheeling, steep rocky climbs, and BIG rocks, though not as tightly packed as out west), my roomate had the same setup and ran 38.5 SXs, and a single 5.0 to 1 case, no breakage, and a really good friend of ours competed NUEROC, full schedule in a 85 Xtracab, modded turbo motor, 37 Krawlers (red label comp style), dual cases, 5.0 to 1 in the rear case, and beat the snot out of it (30 spline 4340/300m new stuff), and I mean beat it, no breakage. I think at this time there are 2 reported failures in the last 18 months, one of which was intentional (Bajabilly, as bobbys tester) and it took him 6-9 months of intentional flogging (bouncing the truck at high RPMS, high traction) with a 4.3/auto/duals and 39.5s. I do agree that the Yukons are not as high a quality as the Superior or Warn (nobody is willing to pony up one for testing that I have seen), but the difference will not be as dramatic as you think. This comes down to a design difference. Its just my personal preferance. Anyone that thinks the ujoint style is the bomb, great, stick with it. I just offered an alternative that seems viable. I wish I had the money to put up right now. Heck, Id love to build Toyota housings for the XJ/TJ crowd (as ludacris as it may sound), because it would be cool. The breakage the Toyota crowd is seeing hasnt even been discussed yet. The steering arm studs like to shear (fixed with 9/16s studs from Sky, or ARP versions from Front Range), hub studs like to shear (ARP studs are available from Front range), and when you fix both, and use a reasonable enough gear ratio, it seems that under big tires (38+), high torque, and repeated usage, the hub internals will explode. It seems most are willing to accept this, and carry a spare, as the yards are full of em, and cheap.
I should have prefaced this whole thing with my idea of what a trail rig should/can be. Im one of the retarded few that still insist on driving a semi-dedicated rig to the trail, wheel all day, and go home. This attitude takes a serious mix of building it right for the trail, street, and SOME moderation when it comes to the trail (I say some, because alot of stuff is just irresistable to me!!).