CTM u-joints

[Panther]

I know this was discussed in an earlier thread but I wanted to bring it up again to better understand.

I have read the POR write up on the joints and did a search on old posts on their forum.

The part I don't quite understand is the deal with the axle shafts.
Do these u-joints require that you upgrade but the inner and outer axle shaft due to the larger CTM joint?
Or, can these be used with existing/stock shafts?

I know that 150 each is expensive but so is 2 grand for a D60.

Here's their page - http://www.ctmracing.com/

Any thoughts?
Lee

[FSJeeper]

They fit the stock shafts.

[blt2krl]

They (CTM) require the full circle retaining clips. The stock joints use the c-clip design. So I don't think they will fit in stock shafts.

[Panther]

Ok, so the full circle clips themselves would help but these joints require it.

Has anyone had the stock shafts machined for full circle clips?
I might have my machine shop to do it if it's possible.

[ November 05, 2002, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: Panther ]

[rockjeep44]

If you don't upgrade your axleshafts at the same time you upgrade the u-joints to CTMs then you're pretty much wasting your time because you'll just break axleshafts instead of u-joints. Upgrade everything and you'll have one hell of a 44.
-Andrew

[scotty]

i have full circle clips on my stock shafts,its an easy and very worthwhile mod.

what rockjeep said. with ctm joints you will break shafts. upgrade shafts,and you will break spider gears. put in a locker or spool,and youll now break pinions,or ring gears. put in warn hub fuses in,and when they let go theyll also likely take out your locker. if you put in a spool,ctm joints,upgraded shafts,be prepaired to pop lots of hub fuses smile.gif and you still may break R&Ps on occasion.

long as i can keep finding free to $100 WT parts rigs,ill keep on breaking stock shafts and u joints. if i break all my spare stuff,or start breaking it too often,its time to upgrade the front :D

its unfortunately a chain reaction. upgrade someting,and the week link moves somewhere else,so you have to upgrade again. now that my rear axle is holding up im breaking trasnfer cases. whenever i work that out,i imagine the week links will all be in the front end. when i put in my d70,im not sure where the week links will be :eek:

my thots anyway, smile.gif ctm joints are not a substitute for d60s :(

[Panther]

Ok, thx guys, I'm was just looking for ideas.
I hope to run 37s on my chero some day and am looking at the front weaknesses.
I was wondering why everyone was buying $600 shafts for the CTM joints and would like to avoid dropping a grand for an improved u-joint. Not trying to substitute a d60, just looking for a happy meduim.

Scotty, how did you go about doing the full-circle clips?

[tomd]

Will CTM still warranty the joints if you don't use stronger shafts? Just in case some crazy thing happened where you broke one.

[Michael F]

Scotty, what size snap rings did you end up using? Metric ones or those ones you had?

Panther, You can use a bench grinder with a new wheel or a large right angle grinder to carefully grind an area for the snap ring to fit level with the area the C clips fit in to.

I could not find a standard size snap ring that would fit properly and ordered metric ones that fit perfectly. You will need to have them installed loose in between the ujoint cap and cross before you install the joint in the axle.

[scotty]

mike,i ended up using the ones i showed you. they fit very nicely. i got some of them at the home depot and some of them at napa. when i broke the u joint over the weekend,i broke 2 ears off of the cross. the other 2 actually spread the ears out on the stubshgaft-i had a heck of a time getting the clips out(sice they had been forcibly crammed against the ears) and getting (what was left of)the u joint out to get it warrantied. i am sure wherever the caps and broken parts of the cross are,the clips are still on :D

panther,you may still be able to run 37s,it all depends on your trails and driving style. for a very,very long time i have not had any trouble with my front 44 and 38s by having a careful,delierate driving style and an open diff. i broke 1 u joint with a welded front diff,and broke the last u joint/axleshaft last weekend after 3 days of very assertive,foot to the floor,bouncing around,redeneck driving antics. i am very happy with my 44 considering the abuse i gave it before it finally broke.

i ran my factory driver side NT 44 with various NP cases for a couple years,with no breakage whatsoever.i swapped in a NT pass side axle to use a d300 and ran that for another couple years,again no breakage whatsoever. i swapped that out cause i wanted to use the WT axle im currently using. at the same time i swapped in a fresher motor,and the t18. after than i started havig prollems with the rear 44. it has been another couple years,and the prollems have started only recently due to the strong rear,manual tranny,and less conservative driving style.

what you will need to worry about is the rear.i have fugded up my rear housing to the point its not useable,and broken spider gears in the rear,even with milder driving. you can get by with the 44 front,but id reccomend putting a 60 or 14 bolt in the rear if youre going to do anything mre strenuous than drive on the street

mike,try and bring 1 of your snaprings to the next meeting sos we can compare...

[Panther]

what you will need to worry about is the rear.i have fugded up my rear housing to the
point its not useable,and broken spider gears in the rear,even with milder driving. you can get by with the 44 front,but id reccomend putting a 60 or 14 bolt in the rear if youre going to do anything mre strenuous than drive on the streetYeah, I have put some thought into the rear also and since I really don't plan on going any bigger than 37s, I'm thinking about a 9". You might disagree with me on this one but unless I can find another D60-2, I think a 14bolt is overkill and a 30 spline 60 is underkill (if that's a word).
I would go with the full size bronco or f150 version with 31 splines and the wide trac width. Yes the pinion is low but I would probably run a CV because it's a short driveshaft (29").
I thought this was am interesting plug for the 9"
http://performanceunlimited.com/illustrations/gears.html
I noticed they did have a 14bolt because it's probably superior to them all but good info none the less. Anyway, this is all in theory and who knows when I can get the parts and time to do the swap.