Has anyone actually had issues with lifting 3rd Gen on Black CV axles?

I bought some red ones to do with my king 2.5 lift. Lifted it like 1.5 inches. Maybe 2 at most.

The red axles were faulty and one was leaking grease from the get go, so I returned them and put them stock ones back on.

The angle seems fine. There's been no issues.

Has anyone actually had issues? I've never read about them actually having problems. Seems like king would say something if you needed them.

 

following

 

I’m curious as well.

 

Literally asked this question to Dobinson's and they said you do not need to worry about changing out black CV's at 2" lift and under. The red have an additional joint in there so the only place you might run into any kind of issue is if you are at full drop and give er the beans you might overstress the CV and with out that extra joint in there and it might go snap. If you are in some area where you are articulating enough to pick up a wheel off road don't go whiskey throttle and think about it before you go full lock on the steering wheel and you'll probably be fine.

One thread was started that someone had several broken CV axles from a cheap dealer installed lift but never got an answer from the OP on what height lift was on there.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/cv-joint-failure.143556/

 

This is great, thanks.

I don't really do the off roading articulation things. I do the fast speed whoops, pothole, and wash board thing.

Sounds like with this lift I should have no issues, but the red ones do provide a benefit with that extra joint. Good to know for the future.

 

Keep in mind the fast speed whoops very likely could get you in to full droop.... just going fast. You'll probably be fine if you are at 1.5 in of lift. Thats not too far off from a PRO at 1.1" and the pro's have the black CV's.

 

@Lovci you didn't mention if you swapped out UCA's either. If you have aftermarket UCA you could have more travel and more travel is what will get CV's in a bind. Another thing to keep in mind.

 

I do have aftermarket uca's. Interesting.

I can't afford right now to replace them unfortunately. If I had to I could but moving is expensive and so was this lift, especially with bad parts having to do axles twice..

I know people with 3 in lift that have no issues but I think they are mostly mall crawlers.

 

@teab

So it doesn't matter if it's in 4wd or not? It could still break at full droop?

And if it does break are you stranded?

 

No way to answer that other then it depends on too many factors. If you are in 2wd and aren't applying any torque to them they likely won't break. They key word is likely. More than likely you'll probably be just fine in 2wd or 4wd. If you're worried about it I would keep an eye on Facebook marketplace and keep an eye out for a used set of red CV's when the price is right and then swap them and until then just drive it.

 

I thought a diff drop would mitigate most of these issues?

 

One last question I edited in after you answered and I really appreciate you sharing your answers.

If it breaks am I stranded or could you limp home?

 

Your thought is a factual statement that a diff drop will help mitigate CV angles.

 

Mitigate, I am sure red axels would be a much better option. I saw someone running 4.5 somewhere in here on just a diff drop and Elkas, his truck is amazing but I know that might not be much of a long term solution. I don't want to go higher than 3.

 

There are too many factors to give a definitive yes or no. I've seen a u-joint joint snap at the wheel hub on my buddy's Jeep when we got it stuck, and we were able to limp it home. We managed to get it unstuck the next day with my stock TRD Tacoma, though it made a terrible noise the whole way home as the U-joint banged around. Whether you can make it home will depend on how badly it's broken, but it’s likely you could.

In the "what if" game, there are always worst-case scenarios, but as Captain Planet used to say, "The power is yours!"

*edit I'm an idiot and mentioned a CV on my buddy's jeep and it was a U-joint as wranglers have solid axles... total brain fart. example Still applies kind of....

 

Yep at certain lift heights you may need to consider diff drop's, sway bar drop, extended brake lines, UCA's, CV axles, track bar relocate, control arms, etc., etc. (not going to go down that rabbit hole). You'll want to educate yourself on what is needed for a 3" lift. The very expensive TRD 3" lift literally has everything needed to provide a factory ride when lifted at 3" to give you an idea what parts are needed to do it properly (or at least what an OEM think is needed to do it proper).