As much as this has been fun, people, I'm afraid that we're arguing the same
points over and over. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Of course you can't entirely discount the information provided by broken
parts. As Isaac said, they are a valuable and important part of the design
process. Of course it's impossible to rely on destructive testing for design
purposes only - too expensive, too dangerous, and extremely time consuming.
I have thought long and hard about a 24 spline front end, with longfielded
CVs and heavier duty axles. However, the Longfielding process doesn't appeal
to me for a few reasons. I won't bother discussing them here, but I'll
simply say that for a daily driven rover I can see some life issues. I don't
think this is the answer in my case. That, and the almost prohibitive cost.
Secondly, the rover axle case has been known to bend when coupled with
heavier engines. I remember Bill Leacock, while discussing Perkins diesel
conversions, telling me that bent series axle housings were a problem with
nose heavy vehicles. I don't know if this is a problem with coiler axles,
but since I already have a 100 lbs spare on my bonnet, a winch, a fairly
heavy bumper, and am planning an engine swap that will add 2-300 lbs to the
front axle, I'm quite worried about the welded steel rover housing letting
go. The Dana design seems to be better suited to carrying heavier loads and
the axle tubes are thicker.
The 10 spline parts that I am using are not "abused" as was said, they are
indeed "weak and inadequate" for my application. This has nothing to do with
abuse in my mind. I don't abuse the vehicle, as I don't expect these parts
to do what they are not designed for. That's why I'm in this mess - I'm
confident that I need to upgrade these parts. I've been babying it and
driving as smooth as I can and they have held up, however if I am in a
situation that requires a bit of rough driving and I can't simply winch
through, I'm worried that stuff will break. If I beat the poor thing every
time I was off-road (like many off-road drivers so) I'd be abusing it.
However by knowing that the parts are my weak link and trying my best to not
break them I'm not abusing them.
I guess the million dollar question is - why did I even bother with 10
spline axles in the first place? Simple - brakes. I couldn't keep driving
the rover axles after the engine swap. It was either 109 6 cyl brakes or
discs. I picked the weaker axles with discs over the stronger axles with
drums. I picked the safety of better brakes over axle strength - and I'm
glad I did. Brakes are now a non-issue, and I'm not willing to give up that
level of performance - even for a dramatic increase in axle strength. I've
had these in for a year now, have driven them halfway across canada, and
they have saved my bacon at least twice. I guess as much as breakage isn't
my cup of tea, safety is even more important. At least with rangie brakes
I'll never have to worry about stopping the beast.
You have all brought up valuable points and I'm taking them all into
consideration in order to come up with the best solution. Everything can be
broken, and everything will yield given the right conditions. However, by
using stronger parts and beefier axles I reduce the chance of being stranded
or being stuck in the middle of nowhere. There's really no use changing
parts out if they're not really needed, but I've read, heard and know enough
about these axles to know that they won't hold up to a larger diesel motor
and oversize tires.
J-L
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