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CV
Drive Shaft Review
with Bill Johnston
When I first talked to Tom about testing this drive
shaft, he told me something to the effect of "Drop it on a rock and
give it the gas. The worst you will probably see is a scratch circling the
tube".
His comment gave me a pretty good idea that this
wouldn't be a normal component test. So where did I test it? How about Las
Cruces, New Mexico at the Chile Challenge!
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At about the third obstacle on "Off
Broadway" (rated a solid 4), I got hung up on a boulder. It was about
three feet long and pointy. The sharp end was lodged under the body,
resting the weight of the zook on the new rear drive shaft. I heard
screams of "Don't Move! You'll tear out the drive shaft!"
.... Something snapped my mind back to the conversation with
Tom... and I hit the gas! What a royal rumble out back! Of course I
didn't go anywhere, and the screams grew more intense, but now I could
check the shaft for damage. The crowd thought I was either crazy or deaf,
but they figured I was done for the day. I pulled out the High-Lift®
and jacked up the zook about two feet in the air from the passenger
side. We rolled out the boulder and - as I watched the crowd shake their
heads - I checked underneath for carnage. |
After wiping the
white/grey powdered boulder remains
from the drive shaft I found some scratches on the shaft, and a small
(1/2" long) cut in the heavy rubber sleeve that covered the splines.
That was it! I checked the u-joints and everything was tight and secured.
I came out from underneath the vehicle and told the crowd "No
problems! Let's do it again!".
After that a nice couple in the Jeep behind me gave
me a new nickname that stuck (Bonzai Bill), I became known as "the
entertainment", and the crowd learned the name "Tom
Woods".
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My take on it:
Many of us try to lift our vehicles out of harms way when
the rocks reach up to rip at the underbelly full of vital parts. When the
changing drive shaft angles start to cause vibration there has to be a
reliable - we could say 'bullet proof' - answer. This is a case where
overkill is exactly what we need to count on. It's nice to be able to
"bolt-on and forget".
Bonzai Bill
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For the complete story please visit the installation article by
following
this link.
Tom Wood's Custom Drive Shafts
306 E. 31st Street
Ogden, Utah 84401
www.4xshaft.com
Toll Free in the U.S.
1-877-4XSHAFT
(497-4238)
1-877-4XJOINT
(495-6468) |
Worldwide
1-801-393- 4538
1-801-393- 4592 |
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