Snapped front CV shafts! #Pictures up#

[youde4]

I went out for a spot of 4X4ing in a small quarry yesterday and some how managed to twist and shear off *both!* the front splined bit of the CV shafts! I was gutted, their both about 5 months old from iInterparts, so nice and new, I was driving up and down some really steep gravel slopes using both lockers and at some point i noticed no grip and stopped. I looked underneath to find the drive shafts hanging down! Its not like ive been wheelspining on tarmac or turning with the front locker in, and ive done the same slopes before.
I ended up driving very slowly to the road and had to leave it there overnight and picked it up on a trailer this morning, luckily via syncrospares and its now fixed again, another 2 front cv,s!

Is it time for uprgrade to a 16"? I think so, its just enough reason to do so, especially with the ones floating around in germany!

Anybody else seen this happen before? Syncrospares havent let-alone most mechanics,
Im sending whats left of them back to the manufacturer to see if i can get some money back!

PIcs to follow

[syncropaddy]

Do you have a pic of this? Are you saying the CV joints sheared in the hub or the drive shaft sheared in the CV joint? Im guessing its a cheap CV joint that failed. Should've gone to Baxter

Ive never heard of this before

How would changing to a 16" stop this from happening cuz Im sure you can buy cheap 16" CV joints as well

[..lee..]

if i understand whats happened right then i`d be sending one back and possibly getting one tested myself. to twist off the outer cv joint end is unheard of. must be faulty parts ??????????????

[Simon Baxter]

Only 5 companies make the outer joint now.
I just checked, interparts is one of them.
Another one to avoid! thanks for the heads up.

[HarryMann]

Whoa... never heard of that on fronts, crap heat-treatment I expect... or missed the tempering process altogether. Get money back, not replacements, can't afford that hassle.

or turning with the front locker in,

Nothing wrong with that! Need to quite often in fact, just need to be strong enough in arm, unless you've got one of those sissy power steering racks .... hehehe

[Aidan]

or was it just circlip failure ?

[youde4]

Ye they sheared off in the hub! just on the splined bit before the thread for the wheel bearing bolt. How big a range are there? I paid £100 each not so long ago, and now they've gone up to £110. What CV joints does everybody else use?

Ye definitely sending them back, as this should have happenend, not when I was gravel and the wheels could have spun easier than shearing hardened steel! (if thats what its made from)

I mentioned the 16" as they use beefier joints, suspension, driveshafts etc, but yeah cheaper parts could still fail.

Pictures have to wait till monday as i left the broken bits in the workshop over the wknd

[youde4]

Heres a rubbish pic of where it broke

[..lee..]

non front diff lock 16" use same as 14" only 16" difflock front are different. dont know whether available anymore??????

[Aidan]

from germany but won't be cheap

[HarryMann]

Incredible (almost) it did both on loose grit! I imagine after one went the other went almost immediately?

Even more suspicious that machining tolerances or hardening and tempering processes were not carried out properly... the latter is more believable if produced in the far east.

Show them both, but try to keep at least one back until this matter is resolved - they'll probably try to insist on both!

If you have a camera that will take close-focus, maybe take a few of the broken ends, using a tripod or hold camera abs rock-steady with good natural light on the ends and without flash.

I would also keep in mind, as ammunition if required later, that a double failure like this on a steep climb, could have caused a serious accident.

[toomanytoys]

For it to snap off there is a material/machining.heat treatment fault... imagine what would happen if you were on a busy motorway at 60 mph.. stub fail.. hub not held in, bearing sepaerates.. brake disc gets trapped between caliper.hanger etc etc wheel comes off/locks up................

IMHO thats a a serious fail.. and the supplier/manufacurer needs to be informed and it needs investigating.. I wonder if they are of chinese etc origin??

Changing to 16" is a red herring IMHO.. I and many others on here have had no breakages on 14" stuff and been used pretty hard off road.. if anything has broke they have been well worn and a lot older than 5 months....

[syncropaddy]

Did it shear off where the relief groove is and where the splines start? Sounds like a material fault or they missed the heat treatment completely! Did the hubs and bearings get damaged at all? You could get a complete front end rebuild out of this if you do it correctly.

[..lee..]

If you need to return them insist on a recipt. ie received chocolate cv joint supplied by us. Oops sorry I'll do anything for you as long as you keep it out of the papers.

[sandwedge]

That sort of material failure should warrant a supplier recall, as has been suggested before get lots of photographic evidence before and during strip down. Then talk to your parts supplier if no joy with them go to trading standards, or talk to trading standards first to find the lay of the land.