M220 Chromemoly axles

ddays v2

Member
The Ricearch rebuildin

eh, I bought into the marketing when they first came out and wasn't too impressed. STEEP premium for something that starts to snap and pop loudly after hard use and then have RCV tell you that it's totally normal and not something they'll warranty. Seems to me that a good set of chromoly shafts with full circle clips get the job done just as well and there's a lot of other mods you can buy with the money you save.

This says it all - I did the same thing. Now I have the Rice Crispies mascots for axles. Do a google search on rebuilding RCV axles & tell me that looks like a fun evening. Banging the living shit out of your $1200 axles isn't my idea of a good time :rolleyes2:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
This says it all - I did the same thing. Now I have the Rice Crispies mascots for axles. Do a google search on rebuilding RCV axles & tell me that looks like a fun evening. Banging the living shit out of your $1200 axles isn't my idea of a good time :rolleyes2:

:cheesy: LOL at rice crispies for axles!! Totally sucked every time they'd go snap crackle and pop on the trail and have people around you say, "hey! what the hell was that noise?" Just what you want to hear after spending $1200 on something that's supposed to be "better". :rolleyes2:
 

Deezus

New member
:cheesy: LOL at rice crispies for axles!! Totally sucked every time they'd go snap crackle and pop on the trail and have people around you say, "hey! what the hell was that noise?" Just what you want to hear after spending $1200 on something that's supposed to be "better". :rolleyes2:
I have lots of friends who run RCV some make noise, some don't. But it's better than the noise from a broken ujoint.

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ddays v2

Member
some make noise, some don't.

You mean some that don't make noise YET....

How do you fix your broken RCV on the trail? I can pull a shaft and replace a ujoint in probably half an hour. I’d rather do that.

Exactly. There's no trail repair that I know of for an RCV shaft other than replacing it.

Edit: Great. Probably just put a hoodoo on myself with that ^^ statement :(
 

Deezus

New member
How do you fix your broken RCV on the trail? I can pull a shaft and replace a ujoint in probably half an hour. I’d rather do that.


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True enough but I still would go RCV. I had chromoly and they were great, but I've seen more ujoint breakage than RCV. Now I definitely haven't wheeled as long as some for sure but I do know people who run crazy, IMO, set ups that have been wheeling for years and have great experience with RCV.
They are also rated for up to a 42"tire lifetime replacement. They are 2 or 3 times more expensive and make noise(on JKs), just came out for the JL so we will have to see....
For me, it is an option but not a for sure because standard axles are less expensive and can be repaired on the trail.
And with money I save I can put on a bunch of bar lights.
Haha

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Deezus

New member
You mean some that don't make noise YET....



Exactly. There's no trail repair that I know of for an RCV shaft other than replacing it.

Edit: Great. Probably just put a hoodoo on myself with that ^^ statement :(
Some don't ever. But more do whuch is kinda strange. Also on JKs they don't always play nice with Dynatrac ball joints.

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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I have lots of friends who run RCV some make noise, some don't. But it's better than the noise from a broken ujoint.

Apparently, you're not aware of it but the number 1 reason why a u-joint fails is because c-clips can work themselves off and once it's gone, the bearing cap it was holding in place can fall out. This of course leaves your trunion to break and or tear through the yoke. Running a set of axle shafts with full circle clips will mitigate this problem and for about $400 less than the noisy RCV's I used to run. To this day, I have yet to break a u-joint on ANY of my Jeeps with this setup. Granted, I am just a mall crawler.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
How do you fix your broken RCV on the trail? I can pull a shaft and replace a ujoint in probably half an hour. I’d rather do that.

You don't. The few I've seen break do so at the shaft down by the splines. You know, the ones that twist and RCV calls normal.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Some don't ever. But more do whuch is kinda strange. Also on JKs they don't always play nice with Dynatrac ball joints.

Nothing strange about it. Some simply don't get played on anywhere as hard as their drivers seem to think.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say RCV's are bad shafts, I just don't think they're worth the $400 premium. If RCV would warranty them when they twist splines or start making so much noise, I might still be running them. But, they don't and there's a lot of things I can buy with $400.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Just curious, is rcv still jipping people off with their "lifetime warranty "?

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Well, you'd have to define what would be considered as something that needs to be warrantied. RCV doesn't think there's anything wrong with twisted splines or a joint that goes snap crackle and pop so by their metric, they aren't jipping anyone off. :yup:
 

Deezus

New member
Apparently, you're not aware of it but the number 1 reason why a u-joint fails is because c-clips can work themselves off and once it's gone, the bearing cap it was holding in place can fall out. This of course leaves your trunion to break and or tear through the yoke. Running a set of axle shafts with full circle clips will mitigate this problem and for about $400 less than the noisy RCV's I used to run. To this day, I have yet to break a u-joint on ANY of my Jeeps with this setup. Granted, I am just a mall crawler.
I'm aware of it for sure and like I said, I ran chromoly with no issues and was very happy. I'm just saying they are not the only option if you have money to burn and don't mind possible mouse issues.
Because we are talking JLs there's no way yet of knowing if it will make that noise the only thing we do know is that there expensive.
Also, I like having a weak point that's cheaper to repair..... Which chromoly gives you so there's that.


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ddays v2

Member
I'm aware of it for sure and like I said, I ran chromoly with no issues and was very happy. I'm just saying they are not the only option if you have money to burn and don't mind possible mouse issues.
Because we are talking JLs there's no way yet of knowing if it will make that noise the only thing we do know is that there expensive.
Also, I like having a weak point that's cheaper to repair..... Which chromoly gives you so there's that.


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There's no reason to believe the JL versions will behave any differently than any other previous version, so, yeah, noisy eventually.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Because we are talking JLs there's no way yet of knowing if it will make that noise the only thing we do know is that there expensive.

Actually, that's not true at all. The noise they WILL make if you play hard enough comes from how they wear. I just had this conversation with my friend Jim at Dynatrac as I'm considering running a ProRock 44 and at the moment, they only come with RCV's for a JL. Not only is he the first to say they WILL snap crackle and pop after a lot of hard use, he went on to explain in greater detail than I can re-explain as to why. That being said, as much as it is annoying, he still considers it to be "normal" and not a concern of strength. Needless to say, I may still end up with a set of RCV's again but only because they're the only thing I can get my hands on if I run a ProRock 44.

Also, I like having a weak point that's cheaper to repair..... Which chromoly gives you so there's that.

To be clear, RCV's are made of chromoly as well. Also, MOST chromoly shafts come with c-clips and more times than not, you have to specifically order full circle clips. That being said, I don't like having any weak point and I certainly don't think the shafts I'm running are in any way shape or form weaker than RCV's. They simply cost a lot less.
 

Deezus

New member
Actually, that's not true at all. The noise they WILL make if you play hard enough comes from how they wear. I just had this conversation with my friend Jim at Dynatrac as I'm considering running a ProRock 44 and at the moment, they only come with RCV's for a JL. Not only is he the first to say they WILL snap crackle and pop after a lot of hard use, he went on to explain in greater detail than I can re-explain as to why. That being said, as much as it is annoying, he still considers it to be "normal" and not a concern of strength. Needless to say, I may still end up with a set of RCV's again but only because they're the only thing I can get my hands on if I run a ProRock 44.



To be clear, RCV's are made of chromoly as well. Also, MOST chromoly shafts come with c-clips and more times than not, you have to specifically order full circle clips. That being said, I don't like having any weak point and I certainly don't think the shafts I'm running are in any way shape or form weaker than RCV's. They simply cost a lot less.
Ok well my thinking was that having a weak point was easier and less expensive to replace and thus easier on components like transfer cases. You know, something you'd rather replace versus something you wouldn't.

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Deezus

New member
Actually, that's not true at all. The noise they WILL make if you play hard enough comes from how they wear. I just had this conversation with my friend Jim at Dynatrac as I'm considering running a ProRock 44 and at the moment, they only come with RCV's for a JL. Not only is he the first to say they WILL snap crackle and pop after a lot of hard use, he went on to explain in greater detail than I can re-explain as to why. That being said, as much as it is annoying, he still considers it to be "normal" and not a concern of strength. Needless to say, I may still end up with a set of RCV's again but only because they're the only thing I can get my hands on if I run a ProRock 44.

Are you gonna run 40s on it? [emoji3] I only ask because I see a lot of guys doing that with JKs.

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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Ok well my thinking was that having a weak point was easier and less expensive to replace and thus easier on components like transfer cases. You know, something you'd rather replace versus something you wouldn't.

LOL!! Trust me, I've blown ring and pinions and a transfer case and neither are things I'd want to break again. That being said, the axle shafts I ran weren't the cause and really, there's no way to insure that they will break first.

Are you gonna run 40s on it? [emoji3]

:cheesy: Only if I want to work on a broken Jeep on the trail. Been there - done that and don't care to do it again. :crazyeyes:
 

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