4x4Wire TrailTalk Forums Index

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Originally posted by mlclark:
Tony and Jake-

We need to be realistic about this. Any modification requires you to adjust how you drive. If you want to "kick it in turn 3," then that is your choice and most likely you will be shelling out some $$ for more parts.

Expecting parts to not break under abuse is analogous to desiring to be able to do circles in a dry parking lot with both ARBs on. You can do it, but it is not advised unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket. It is just a very un-realistic expectation for the gear.

Michael

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Michael, I think Curtis's experience as quoted below is as real as it gets.

"Close Rob, I am running 4:89s in the Dana 44 and 4:88s in the Toy up front.
The R&P let go because I was sliding backwards down the face of the climb with my foot on the gas and nailed the 35's into the base of the climb while spinning the tires forward. The combination of the 5000lb weight of the truck and the 4:70 reduction ratio gearbox engaged, shock loaded the drive line. R&P + ARB instant History. For the record, I was not smoking the tires, just turning them with a about 1/4 throttle. The hill was sandy, thus the loss of traction. The jury is still out on the set up on the R&P that I paid to have installed. I cannot prove one way or the other that the backlash was sloppy. If I could I might have recovered some of the rebuild. But I did it myself the second time so I know it's done right NOW!

Now normally, wouldnt the floating axle be the weak link designed to fail first thus the ease of replacement in its design.
Not necessarily, considering Curtis is running Warn alloy axles. The weak link, optimally, is the driveline u-joint. Dunno if Curtis has beefed those?

I may be wrong, but I think Curtis would prefer to do a axles shaft replacement on the trail over an R&P.
I'm sure you are not wrong, on that!

quote:

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Originally posted by mlclark:
Personally, I am leaning towards the "It does not really matter" camp.

Michael

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Yeah what YOU said...

Ya know, at this point it DOESN'T matter. Get the gears, build your rig and have fun. Stop worrying so DAMNED much people...

I mean worst case: you break the R&P, okay $230... not a small deal, but not the end of the world.

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Originally posted by Bulldog:
I know you hate forum fluffers who just cause controversy without warrant, but what happened to Curtis is exactly what I am concerned about. Of all things, he broke the R&P on a sandy hill.

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Tony,

I was with Curtis the day he broke... right in front of him in fact.

I can say it was a unique circumstance, and that you should not base your concerns for strength of gears upon that incident.

Sure there is question as to his setup of the R&P originally, we will never know what factor that did have in there...

I can tell you that I remember something about WEIGHT of Curtis's Rodeo (no lightweight) and the tempermental electrical connection of the ARB switches to be a factor.
IIRC, the ARB was NOT engaged when he started up the hill (switch was on)... but DID engage halfway through (tempermental). When that happened, he was slightly bouncing (BAD thing on slickrock). Next thing we know, BOOM!

So, as you can see... isolated incidence. And then you have Peter, who is set up similarly to you (GEN2 Migo), he runs the 5.38s with lockers front and rear, 35s, AND Tera lows in the tcase. He ran extreme trails(Pritchett, Moab Rim, Lower Helldorado) and came through unscathed.

I think this is more the rule than the exception. The GEN2 CVs WILL take more torgque etc... they have a longer center shaft. GEN1 has the boots right next to each other on the joint... GEN2 has a 2-4" section of exposed shat between the boot. That allows for more flexing and a more forgiving CV.

Power steering, thats another issue entirely... GEN1 is stronger. However, GEN2 can be modified with beefier bumpstops to strengthen that achilles heel.

So dont worry young grasshopper, you will have little to worry about once gears are in and wheeling. Just make sure they are set up correctly. (Worth the lil extra $$ to ensure that happens)

Curtis Johnson - 10 and 12 bolt
strawmyers - 12 bolt
Shep - 10 and 12 bolt
Bulldog - 10 bolt
ZooMigo - 10 and 12 bolt?
zuzusan - 10 and 12 bolt
Rip Lips - 10 and 12 bolt

Thats all i count from previous posts saying they actually have their deposits in... 6 for the 10bolt and 6 for the 12bolt. I'm pretty sure there are more, so if you're names not on the list, speak up and i'll add it.

and if your name is on this list, do you have a problem with 5.38's instead of 5.13s? If so, speak up... i believe we've heard from most of you, and most would rather see 5.38s.

BUT, I am not putting the gears in now. In fact it will probably be a good 2 years before I can afford a new truck and feel free to modify the Amigo to a much more trail oriented much less street oriented machine. The only reason I bought the gears now was to do my part to make it a reality.

BTW, has anyone heard more from Tera about a reduced price on Tera Lows for people who buy the R&P's? Or was that even a reality and not wishful thinking? I'm supposed to give them a call today.... I think I might put in my vote

[edit]I guess I should add that because of the future plans I have for my truck and what it will be used for by the time i put the gears in, the 5.38's seem to be a better choice from what I am reading. I don't know much about this kind of stuff yet, but that is what I have gathered collectively from watching some of you battle it out.

Because even if I don't go over 33's they (5.38's) will still work good because it will bring me into higher average RPM's which a a good thing for trail use with my particular engine (4ZE1). That is my understanding of the situation, sound about right?

As for the strength issue, I'll just take your word for it. But I am taking names so you better not be leading me wrong j/k

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Originally posted by Locomigo:
Yeah what YOU said...

Ya know, at this point it DOESN'T matter. Get the gears, build your rig and have fun. Stop worrying so DAMNED much people...

I mean worst case: you break the R&P, okay $230... not a small deal, but not the end of the world.

Its a trade off, and we have selected an EXPENSIVE hobby. So that being said... fuhgetaboutit... just get em and wheel em. I am suspecting there will be a low rate of failure anyway.

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If I "didnt worry about" it I would have bought a jeep!!!

I don't know a lot about this new hobby of mine but readng the topics that go on here has given me a whole lot of information and gets me that much more motivated. My biggest problem is the retention factor...

As for the 5.38's thats fine with me.

I don't plan on going over 33's and looking at the Gear Ratio Chart with 5.13's my RPM's are almost 3400, with 5.38's a little over 3500. My truck is not my daily driver so MPG is not a real big issue (although the little 14 some odd gal gas tank is) I can deal with the slight increase in gas use. To me it's not much different than the fluctuating gas prices, I'll just bring a little more $$$ for the gas.

As for the strength of the gears, again, I don't know a lot in regards to this. Forming my own oppion based on the discussions and knowing where I am in the off road experience I have nothing to worry about.