Americas Front Driveshaft CV redesign

[Commodore]

Ineos crew, there is an issue with the front driveshaft CV at the transfer case side. The acute driveline angle generates heat causing the rubber on the CV to rip and spill grease. This leads to failure of the CV joint and ultimately immediate loss of forward propulsion. The failures have been well documented. Do you have plans to redesign this part or should owners start looking for their own permanent solutions?

This is a serious safety concern that needs to be resolved.

 

[Rayzar]

Apparently they are putting the able on a jig, grinding the welds off that hold the axle tubes into the diff housing, rotating it then welding it back up. DMW have dealers all around Australia. Apparently they will replace the whole front axle on an exchange basis.

Regards
Craig Murray

Watching this with interest. IF that front CV issue is resolved then i would seriously consider buying a Grenadier pending the cost to modify, and hope my purchase has a good working HVAC. Hoping ineos gets involved in this or doing something to address customers concerns as the Ineos aren't saying much lately.

 

[Clark Kent]

We're currently in Townsville visiting our son. JRace are 5 minutes away so I'll go visit them on Monday.

I dropped in today. Jay is the J in JRace. He was away but I got a good run down on their Grenadier development work from a team member. It's a comprehensive package that aims to address castor, the driveshaft, a modest suspension lift and a GVM* upgrade in a single kit. They are not doing an axle housing cut and turn.
I have emailed Jay to get his input and I will share more here after I get his response. Definately one to watch.

*Gross Vehicle Mass.
USA: GVWR
UK: GVW or MAM

JRace is an Australian Second Stage Manufacturer (SSM) which gives them federal certification and approval to do substantial modifications and re-engineering of vehicles while maintaining full compliance with the relevant design regs and roadworthiness requirements. That's an oversimplification. If you really want to know more go here.

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/vehicles/road-vehicle-standards-laws/second-stage-manufacture

 

[ORSO]

keep us updated

 

[Zimm]

So what is anyone willing to pay for this service? It's a very easy process that I have done too many times to count. And Ineos gave us great bushings at the end of the tubes for alignment. Certainly some serious stuff to consider, but not Rocket Surgery by any means.

So what would people expect to pay for this. Let's say as an exchange axle. You send housing and a modified housing comes back to you with any other necessary components.

is the entire axle assembly to be blasted and repainted, or are we getting back in the white?

Stripped or are you doing the teardown and reassembly?

I'd actually say, instead of an exchange, offer to do a batch of 10 to people that don't care if the rig is down for 8-12 weeks.

 

[ORSO]

A question for the experts: would it be possible and useful to replace the transfer side CV joint and the relative flange to accommodate a larger CV joint?

 

[Dokatd]

is the entire axle assembly to be blasted and repainted, or are we getting back in the white?

Stripped or are you doing the teardown and reassembly?

I'd actually say, instead of an exchange, offer to do a batch of 10 to people that don't care if the rig is down for 8-12 weeks.

That's certainly where things can fluctuate. Tear down and rebuild of the axle is not a problem, but that's shop hours that have to be paid and somewhat profitable. Shipping an entire axle assembly is also a bit more costly than just shipping a bare housing.

Then if you start getting into blasting and say powder coating the housing you are looking at even more money.

That's why I was curious what everyone's expectations are. I can do the work, but I don't know that it's worth it to me these days. But if I was Agile or the like I would be much more focused if I knew what people think it's worth to make their beloved Gren drivable again. I know Agile has a housing on the shop floor currently and they are looking at options. But the Carraro axle does throw some curve balls. One or two that I personally feel are a god send and some that are potentially disastrous.

 

[Dokatd]

A question for the experts: would it be possible and useful to replace the transfer side CV joint and the relative flange to accommodate a larger CV joint?

Funny enough, I have actually found an ever so slightly smaller CV that would solve the problem as it has more range in the boot. But I'm not certain the reduction in size is worth the squeeze.

 

[Zimm]

Now, Dumb question, and I've never seen it done, but why can we not just replace the Tcase with a DC/centering ball unit and keep a CV at the diff. Is there some sort of instability at the DC side cause by the CV or excessive stress at the CV?