GMade R1 Axle Shaft to XVD mod

[offroadace]

So, after burning through 3 of 'Front Portal Gear Shafts (51114) I decided to start looking for stronger option. I posted asking about it and it seemed to be a common/known problem, or common enough for me to get annoyed.

After doing some thinking and additional research, based on information from Szczerba and eric113, I found the least cost intrusive option which seemed to be the RC4WD XVD's. I chose the 'XVD for K44 Front Axle' axles.
I also looked at parting out RCP TLT CVD's but it would have been close to 3x the cost and the straight add-on CVD's that were mentioned were $10 more per set. Since I have 4WS I chose the RC4WD.

These are not a "straight" conversion/add-on/etc. Some modification is required to the C-HUB's.

I needed 2 sets of the K44’s because I have 4WS.


The XVD pin guard is too large a diameter to fit in the C-Hub.


Has to bore the C-Hub’s out to 9/16. Might have been able to get away with 13.5 or 14mm, but didn’t want to wait to get one from the internet and Lowes/HomeDepot don’t have odd sizes. Might have overshot he clearance a little, but it works. 3 more to go.


After boring. Be careful not to remove too much material otherwise you’ll start removing the inner bearing seat.


XVD fit test. Looks good and no binding.


Axle shaft length measurement.


Axle after cut.


Flat ground in. 3 more to go.


4 axle shafts cut and flats groung out.


Test fit for clearance of flats.


Axle shafts reassembled and compared to stock I will have a better steering angle. This is a problem for the rear steer as the tires now rub on the shock springs and lower shock mount. Might have to change the mounting brackets around a bit to move them inward by switching the mounts from side to side to bring the actual lower mount to be inboard. Probably have to add a spacer to the top mount due to the angle change.

[bikerzee24]

Nice write up man, much better than the other one that is on this forum with blurry pictures. Do you by chance have pictures of the axles placed inside the knuckle and a before and after pic of the steering radius? What tool did you use to file down the flats on the shafts?

[crawlernut]

Good deal,Iam the one who started the cvd mod with the wheely king cvds, lol,yea those was bad blurry pictures,cheapy camera sorry, good write up offroadace! allways wanted to see if there was something else out there that would work, we all know that the stock gmade shafts are like stick pretzles,my son has the gmade now an just broke the wk shafts now i can tell him about this mod with xvds.

[Szczerba]

Awesome how to for these axles. Mine was buried in my old build thread.

[offroadace]

No, but I can take one tonight and update the thread, but only the after pic. I didn't think to take one of before. Maybe someone with a stock axle can take one looking down on the pivot point and post it. and I'll dl it and superimpose it to see the difference and re-post that, but you can see the angle difference in the last picture as well. Someone get a protractor out and measure the angle and 2x it.

RYOBI AG700 with a grinding disc. I used the RYOBI with a cutting wheel to cut the axle shafts. I didn't take measurements, just eyeballed the length and test fit after grinding. Took a couple tries before I got to where it slid into the portal gear for a tight fit. (that's what she said)

Drives nice now. Can't wait to take it out and test it at the KOH.

Now to put the XVD's in my Wraith, even though I haven't broken any axles in that yet.

And I guess special thanks goes to crawlernut for starting this type of mod.

Originally Posted by bikerzee24

Do you by chance have pictures of the axles placed inside the knuckle and a before and after pic of the steering radius? What tool did you use to file down the flats on the shafts?

[crawlernut]

No problem, but gotta say thank you for improving on this mod,excellent!

[cytogen]

Nice! thanks for the write up!

I'm gonna look up on getting an adjustable reamer. Hopefully that get the a closer tolerance between the housing and and axle.

[AxialJeepster]

oh yes there are many ways to do this mod. this being a KILLER one, nice work and thanks so much for sharing.

only thing i worry is i have had really very horrible luck with ALL rc3wd axle shafts breaking really easy (hense the v1-v2000) I suppose they are trying to fix that but its a simple material flaw. they are beefy ass shafts too.. but maybe its just me, Im not hard on my trucks either. so please if you may, update up with the stress you put on them and end result of the torture test, or whatever torture you smak down vvvvvv

thanks again nice work and great writeup

[Mr. Notorious]

That's a great writeup. I can't tell by the picture, but did you reinstall the red ring after boring out the knuckle? Will the CV joint fit in the knuckle without the red ring?

[offroadace]

Thanks.
Yes. The red ring is reinstalled. there is a small flange on the axle that holds it in place and keeps it from falling out of the hub. Also, the flange prevents the axle from being pushed all the way in before boring the hub. The ring is required. The bore is too large and the internal pin would not stay in place without the ring.

[derb]

If you use the wheely king knuckles and XVDs you don't have to modify anything. The knuckles fit in the C-hubs and obviously they will accept the XVD no problems.

[offroadace]

Probably correct. But I was trying to do this with as little financial impact as possible. I would have had to buy the WK knuckles as well to use them.
6 of one........

[bbaxter51]

When I did mine, I couldn't get the stock plastic ones to work, by the time I removed enough material, I cracked the housing. So I ended up finding a pair of alum WK knuckles off ebay for $16 shipped. A quick file to the top and bottom to get them to fit the hubs and they slid right in.

However after this mod, I have flogged the crap out of my 9.5lb 4ws rig and drove into situations where I would break stock outters on command. I've even rolled over backwards while keeping the throttle pinned! About 20 packs through my rig after this mod and I LOVE it!

Great write up, nice pics. A ton of people I'm sure will find this very useful.

[derb]

Good to hear your great experience. I'm planning that mod very soon, but only front steer for me.

[Mr. Notorious]

Good stuff...

I have a noob question... If doing the wheelie king knuckles, is there any specific XVD's to be looking for? For example, I see ones with Red Rings, Yellow Rings, etc. I see some for Honcho, toyota, 2.2, t-rex 60, etc... They do look slightly different, but I figure since we're cutting down the shafts anyways does it matter which ones we get? I found a cheap set of ones it says for bully 2.2.

[derb]

RC4WD make CVDs specifically for the Wheely King, so use those and don't touch the knuckles.

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...41248874,d.aGc

[spookyseven]

I really like this mod and the write up. At the same time I wonder if we could get M.I.P. or rc4wd to make a drop in replacement for these, they would just need to make the short stubby shaft with the flats.

[offroadace]

Spooky - I had contacted RCP and RC4WD about that same option and they stated it was a good idea but they had no plans to add that product to their line.

[spookyseven]

Bummer. I suppose they said that because they are not popular enough but people seem to shy away from them because of the stock shafts. Guys like Sczcerba and MTHead have shown that they can me made into a good axle. I have a pair I'd like to use, but I'm a slow ass builder.

[v84x4]

Originally Posted by spookyseven

I really like this mod and the write up. At the same time I wonder if we could get M.I.P. or rc4wd to make a drop in replacement for these, they would just need to make the short stubby shaft with the flats.

MIP's In the works as we speak.......

I have done the mod both ways and the MIP is way easier

Just wondering if there's enough interest?

The MIP's for "TLT" are the way to go as they are an exact fit into the stock knuckle (except for the obvious length & bearings)

What we are thinking of offering is a package deal
2 MIP shafts Pre Cut and milled with 4 bearings (ready to install)

Cant really talk price as it's agents the rules of RCC forum for the vendors
to have a feeler with prices but i can say that the price would be comparable
to the MIP "Wheely King" retail price

Any Interest please contact us at Sales@supershafty.com

Or just post up here your thoughts


OH........Nice Write-Up offroadace




Best regards
Rick