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My 91 pickup has completely stock suspension. My old CV's were toast, so I bought some new Carquest axles from Advance Auto. $60 a piece and they included the correct dust seal on the front to mate with the spindle seals. Not bad. Or so I thought....
Here's my suspension all put back together with the truck sitting on jackstands on the frame. My suspension is therefore at full droop.
That axle wouldn't even bolt to the front diff flange without me jacking up a bit on the lower control arm, which should have been my first clue that this was going to be a problem. With the jack removed and both sides at full droop, the cv's on both sides are completely bound up. I can't turn either axle by hand, and attempting to turn the input flange of the diff is futile. Obviously then, these axles are too short.
Does anyone have a recommendation for an aftermarket axle, rebuilt or new, that actually fits?
My 91 pickup has completely stock suspension. My old CV's were toast, so I bought some new Carquest axles from Advance Auto. $60 a piece and they included the correct dust seal on the front to mate with the spindle seals. Not bad. Or so I thought.... Here's my suspension all put back together with the truck sitting on jackstands on the frame. My suspension is therefore at full droop. That axle wouldn't even bolt to the front diff flange without me jacking up a bit on the lower control arm, which should have been my first clue that this was going to be a problem. With the jack removed and both sides at full droop, the cv's on both sides are completely bound up. I can't turn either axle by hand, and attempting to turn the input flange of the diff is futile. Obviously then, these axles are too short. Does anyone have a recommendation for an aftermarket axle, rebuilt or new, that actually fits?
Is that a new lower control arm? The upper looks like it's aged and the lower looks brand new. Have you measured the old compared to the new?
Understood, and I'm sure it does. I'm waiting for some hub gaskets before I can put it all back on the wheels. But shouldn't the axle be able to accommodate full droop? I wouldn't think the axle should be the part that limits travel, right?
Last edited by supersaiyan93; 09-21-2016 at 07:54 PM.
Yeah, there is something wrong. While it may work with the suspension loaded, you don't want to run that way. What happens when you lift a wheel on a trail? The CV axle binds up and probably snaps. Not good.
Do you still have the old CV axles? I'd do a careful comparison of lengths and angle limitations of the joints. It's also possible that your upper bump stop is missing and allowing the suspension to droop too far.
I think I know the answer to this one, and I had it happen to me once before with reman axles.
The factory Toyota CVs have three bulges on the inner plate on the inside joint. It allows the three bearings of the "tulip" to extend a little further. Some reman axles just have a flat plate without the bulges. At full droop the tulip bearings push against the plate -- in my case they managed to pop the plate out!
If you pull to far on the inner cv the bearings will slide out of the cv grooves inside the boot. I think this is what RustBucket was saying. I have thrown a few tools around the shop dealing with this. You can feel them throught the boot and spread them back out to re insert the shaft.
09-21-2016, 10:58 AM
