Front Axle Shafts : C-Clips vs. Full Circle Clips
- Thread starter wayoflife
- Start date
I had to go to Fastenal to get a replacement when I messed one of mine up. It seemed like it was an odd size for the typical hardware store find.... something metric.
cozdude
Guy with a Red 2-Door
thanks guys
here is the u joints
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009X1XDZG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
and here is where i got the full circle clips as i couldnt seem to find ones on amazon that were for a stock 5-760x u joint
http://www.4wheelparts.com/Drivetra...t_c=12&t_s=237&t_pt=101521&t_pn=G/21400-118PP
let me know if this sounds/looks like to you before i order please and thanks!
here is the u joints
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009X1XDZG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
and here is where i got the full circle clips as i couldnt seem to find ones on amazon that were for a stock 5-760x u joint
http://www.4wheelparts.com/Drivetra...t_c=12&t_s=237&t_pt=101521&t_pn=G/21400-118PP
let me know if this sounds/looks like to you before i order please and thanks!
I purchased clips only there....
10frank9
Web Wheeler
Thanks! I've got a local store I will hit them up.
Sure thing! I purchased M30 ext clips. The Standard rings that were about the same size were not the right thickness. The M30s matched the clips that came with my joints perfectly.
Fastenal part number 1135326 for a 3 pack.
I knew I had spares in my trail tool bag, I just had to find them (reminded myself I need to organize this bag) :yup:
Clark Collins
New member
RCV shafts
The Rubi axles that I purchased from another forum member has RCV shafts in the front and G2s in the rear and 5.13 gears. They haven't been trussed or sleeved, but have gusseted Cs. Based on your posts and my kind of wheeling I don't intend to beef up these axles. You say that you've used RCV shafts before and since I already have them I have a couple of questions.
RCV sells a maintenance kit for the shafts that includes the needle for injecting their special grease into the zirk like end of the shaft. Is their needle a special size or will any grease gun needle work and is it advisable to use their grease or is any Moly grease acceptable? I haven't ordered their kit yet, but was planning to soon.
Do you think there are any advantages to the RCV shafts even though I know you don't think they are necessary?
The Rubi axles that I purchased from another forum member has RCV shafts in the front and G2s in the rear and 5.13 gears. They haven't been trussed or sleeved, but have gusseted Cs. Based on your posts and my kind of wheeling I don't intend to beef up these axles. You say that you've used RCV shafts before and since I already have them I have a couple of questions.
RCV sells a maintenance kit for the shafts that includes the needle for injecting their special grease into the zirk like end of the shaft. Is their needle a special size or will any grease gun needle work and is it advisable to use their grease or is any Moly grease acceptable? I haven't ordered their kit yet, but was planning to soon.
Do you think there are any advantages to the RCV shafts even though I know you don't think they are necessary?
Thanks for posting up the Fastenal part number. The last time I had to order a set, I was able to find them on Amazon but, I couldn't find anything that would work this time around. Fastenal is definitely where I would go to get these.
I have run RCV shafts and they are good shafts with very strong joints that will not bind the way u-joints can. Are they really that much better than a standard set of chromoly shafts with full circle clips and enough so to be worth the $400 premium? NO. At least, not in my opinion. Factory shafts break because they have c-clips and if you run full circle clips, you will find that standard chromoly shafts to be just as strong.
Thanks for the great information Eddie! As a newb, I'm gonna ask a newb question. With all the talk about breaking axle shafts, what are we talking in terms of force to actually break one? Rock climbing or something as simple as playing in the mud? I've had my '04 Rubicon for only two months and am still trying to figure some of this stuff out.
Okay, so a vast majority of front axle breaks go like this. Time and use causes the u-joint to wallow out your yokes. This in turn allows the bearing caps to rotate around and over time, will cause a c-clip or two to come free. Once the c-clip is gone, there is nothing to hold your bearing cap in place in the already wallowed out yoke and so it falls out. When this happens, you probably won't even know it and so the next time you push your front axle to climb a tough rock obstacle, your shaft will break as the trunion tears your yoke apart and/or breaks at the same time. Give it too much skinny pedal when this happens and you can take out your ball joints at the same time too.
Playing on the rocks will be a lot harder on your joints than would playing in the mud but regardless, you should keep an eye on your joints as a part of routine maintenance.
rogerk93
New member
I know it's all the rage to beef up a factory axle housing when planning to run bigger tires but, I can assure you that well before you'll ever come close to breaking a housing, you're almost certainly break a factory front axle shaft. Of course, being that the break will almost always happen at the u-joint, the assumption that many tend to make is that all u-joints suck and should be replaced with something more exotic and indestructable like a CV joint. But, before you drop some serious coin on a set of RCV's, I think it would be helpful to understand what is what, what exactly is going on and, why factory specific shafts tend to fail.
It is important to know that factory front axle shafts come with C-clips which are used to hold the u-joint bearing caps in place. Unfortuantely, time and a lot of wheeling will cause your u-joint bearing caps to rotate within the yokes. Over time, this rotation can cause the c-clips to pry off and once they're gone, it's just a matter of time before the bearing cap works itself free and falls out. Needless to say, without the bearing cap in place, the strength of your u-joint will be totally compromised and failure will occur. This is the most common cause of a factory front axle shaft break.
By comparison, most aftermarket chromoly front axle shafts are designed with yokes ears that will allow you to use full circle clips. As it's name implies, full circle clips wrap all the way around the bearing caps and by virtue of it, prevents them from ever coming off. In the photo below, will see a typical u-joint along with a standard C-clip on the left (what you find standard on a factory axle shaft) and a full circle clip on the right (what you typically find on an aftermarket chromoly shaft).
In this photo, you will see how a standard C-clip is installed and what can happen if it gets pried off. Once it's gone, there's little to hold the bearing cap in place.
This is a photo of what a typical factory front axle break looks like. As you can see, it occured at the u-joint and most likely because of a bearing cap had been lost.
And, here is a photo of what a chromoly shaft with full circle clips installed looks like. As you will see, the full circle clips go all the way around the bearing caps and cannot be pried off. This feature alone will help prevent an axle shaft break and for a lot less than a set of RCV shafts with CV joint.
Now, don't get me wrong, RCV's are really nice shafts and ones that I've run before. I just don't know if they're really something you need. At least, it has been my experience that standard aftermarket chromoly shafts will do the job just as well and at a considerably lower price. Certainly, with the money you save, there are a lot of other pricy mods you can buy or be well on the way to getting. Of course, this is all just my opinion based on my experiences. The purposes of this article is not to convince you to buy one thing or another but rather, explain the differences between a c-clip and a full circle clip and to show why factory specific front axle shafts tend to fail. I hope this has been helpful. :yup:
Great break down.