Heavy Duty Drive Line??

[moxon]

Hey guys have been reading abit about these drive lines (JE REELS)
Not looking to go overboard and spend money for the sake of spending
like good reliability mainly as i have a few remote trips lined up

I have a 3inch ppm with 33" muds on my 4 door crd

What are your thoughts are they a must or is it all hype??

[double black offroad]

Originally Posted by moxon

Hey guys have been reading abit about these drive lines (JE REELS)
Not looking to go overboard and spend money for the sake of spending
like good reliability mainly as i have a few remote trips lined up

I have a 3inch ppm with 33" muds on my 4 door crd

What are your thoughts are they a must or is it all hype??

They dont fit the crd

[MightyMouse]

There's several areas to consider when changing driveshaft.

1/ Angle limitation of stock CV joint at TCase end. If you have long shocks or done other mods to increase droop travel then you can easily run out of angle on the CV joint. Its happy to destroy itself. Aftermarket use double cardan joints at the TCase end to increase the maximum angle.

2/ Shaft length - as you add lift and droop travel you need a longer shaft / increased spline length to cater for the increased movement. Taken to extremes the shaft can come apart ( i've heard of a rear actually doing this but its possible with both ).

3/ Clearance on the CRD crossmember

4/ Servicability - the OE shaft does not use circlips on the U joint and so its a bigger job ( read workshop ) to change a damaged U joint - aftermarket ones simply bolt in. The stock CV joint at the TCase can have lube issues - you can pull it off and relube it, but its not designed to be done easily. The standard plastic "bellows" on the driveshafts breaks up at the first sign of reasonable front end articulation letting crap into the spline area

However aftermarket shafts have grease nipples etc and DO require regular attention. You also need a minimum of six hands to rebuild a double cardan joint. however unlike stock it can be done.

5/ With many shafts you have to change the TCase and diff pinion flange. The tcase is ok ( its just a large nut ) but the pinion requires the preload to be maintained - so its a job for those who know what they are doing.

6/ Some shafts don't have slingers fitted at the diff or tcase end - not a terrific idea for long life. However these can be fitted if required.

I head a rumor that DBOR are working on CRD shafts, but might be a bit premature / wrong.

Hope this helps.

[Yom]

If you want to preserve the stock shafts for now and you're using the PPM Synergy shocks you could look into fitting limiting straps which prevent full shock extension, essentially limiting wheel travel. You can set these up to prevent the shafts from being stressed on articulation and droop. They do this by bolting to the axle and to the chassis and are a set length - are made of like seatbelt material.

[double black offroad]

Originally Posted by MightyMouse

There's several areas to consider when changing driveshaft.

1/ Angle limitation of stock CV joint at TCase end. If you have long shocks or done other mods to increase droop travel then you can easily run out of angle on the CV joint. Its happy to destroy itself. Aftermarket use double cardan joints at the TCase end to increase the maximum angle.

2/ Shaft length - as you add lift and droop travel you need a longer shaft / increased spline length to cater for the increased movement. Taken to extremes the shaft can come apart ( i've heard of a rear actually doing this but its possible with both ).

3/ Clearance on the CRD crossmember

4/ Servicability - the OE shaft does not use circlips on the U joint and so its a bigger job ( read workshop ) to change a damaged U joint - aftermarket ones simply bolt in. The stock CV joint at the TCase can have lube issues - you can pull it off and relube it, but its not designed to be done easily. The standard plastic "bellows" on the driveshafts breaks up at the first sign of reasonable front end articulation letting crap into the spline area

However aftermarket shafts have grease nipples etc and DO require regular attention. You also need a minimum of six hands to rebuild a double cardan joint. however unlike stock it can be done.

5/ With many shafts you have to change the TCase and diff pinion flange. The tcase is ok ( its just a large nut ) but the pinion requires the preload to be maintained - so its a job for those who know what they are doing.

6/ Some shafts don't have slingers fitted at the diff or tcase end - not a terrific idea for long life. However these can be fitted if required.

I head a rumor that DBOR are working on CRD shafts, but might be a bit premature / wrong.

Hope this helps.

Yes we are, the crd fronts are about 3" longer than the petrol and the rear is about the same shorter than the petrol. Found out the hard way didnt we?

[moxon]

Originally Posted by double black offroad

They dont fit the crd

ha didnt think of that when i was flicking through your site

[moxon]

Originally Posted by MightyMouse

There's several areas to consider when changing driveshaft.

1/ Angle limitation of stock CV joint at TCase end. If you have long shocks or done other mods to increase droop travel then you can easily run out of angle on the CV joint. Its happy to destroy itself. Aftermarket use double cardan joints at the TCase end to increase the maximum angle.

2/ Shaft length - as you add lift and droop travel you need a longer shaft / increased spline length to cater for the increased movement. Taken to extremes the shaft can come apart ( i've heard of a rear actually doing this but its possible with both ).

3/ Clearance on the CRD crossmember

4/ Servicability - the OE shaft does not use circlips on the U joint and so its a bigger job ( read workshop ) to change a damaged U joint - aftermarket ones simply bolt in. The stock CV joint at the TCase can have lube issues - you can pull it off and relube it, but its not designed to be done easily. The standard plastic "bellows" on the driveshafts breaks up at the first sign of reasonable front end articulation letting crap into the spline area

However aftermarket shafts have grease nipples etc and DO require regular attention. You also need a minimum of six hands to rebuild a double cardan joint. however unlike stock it can be done.

5/ With many shafts you have to change the TCase and diff pinion flange. The tcase is ok ( its just a large nut ) but the pinion requires the preload to be maintained - so its a job for those who know what they are doing.

6/ Some shafts don't have slingers fitted at the diff or tcase end - not a terrific idea for long life. However these can be fitted if required.

I head a rumor that DBOR are working on CRD shafts, but might be a bit premature / wrong.

Hope this helps.

thanks for your help mightymouse
sounds like you have been there done that with drivelines ha