Delete FAD or Keep It

[Xtremetj]

I’m going to upgrade to chromoly shafts both front and rear while changing gears to 5.13’s in a few weeks.

I had my mind set on a 1 piece setup, either RCV or the Yukon Gears setup. I was set on deleting the FAD trying to eliminate another potential failure point.

After multiple conversations with multiple shops I think I’m going with the RCV setup. Is RCV the right choice? Thoughts?

Question is, do I delete the FAD or keep it and run the 2 piece setup?

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[Remmy]

Depends on how much you drive the jeep on the road system...I kept mine for the benefits on the highway...RCVs for the win.

 

[Xtremetj]

Depends on how much you drive the jeep on the road system...I kept mine for the benefits on the highway...RCVs for the win.

I don’t drive it much at all except to the trails and around town occasionally just to drive it. Otherwise it’s not a daily driver at all. only out about 4,500 miles a year on it. Which leads me to lean towards the 1 piece shaft.

 

[Gorilla57]

I originally had the 1 piece RCV’s and swapped to the 2 piece. When I had the 1 piece in, you could actually “feel” the drag on the motor when running down the freeway. I’m running a heavy Adams 1350 front driveshaft and it was enough drag on my anemic 3.6l motor that I could feel it struggle to accelerate/maintain highway speeds. I could also feel the driveshaft vibrating at highway speeds due to 6.5° of camber combining with the 3.5” lift. The shaft was balanced by Adams and the Jeep was never offroad, so I certainly didn’t knock off any balancing weights. After the shafts were swapped out to the 2 piece, the vibration was gone and it was very noticeable that the Jeep would accelerate easier to highway speeds. There’s quite a bit of rotating mass with the whole front driveline fully connected, especially with that heavy Adams shaft. Every little bit helps when we are asking these motors to push a heavy brick at 75mph.

 

[MarkY3130]

I went with the 2 piece RCV and it’s held up well. I live in Arvada so I’m likely wheeling similar trails. Install was pretty straight forward. If you do it, purchase the RCV tube seals as well

 

[rustyshakelford]

I’m 99.9% positive you’ll never break a two piece rcv where a one piece would’ve held up. I’m all about the two piece, you can get vibration with a one piece depending on the caster. Not worth the negatives for the small strength gain

Brett

 

[Xtremetj]

Thanks for the input guys. I think you’ve convinced me the 2 piece shaft is the way to go. At this point I think I’ll change my order in the morning. The Jeep drives so good right now the last thing I want to do is end up vibrations.

 

[LunchBoxFab]

I’m 99.9% positive you’ll never break a two piece rcv where a one piece would’ve held up. I’m all about the two piece, you can get vibration with a one piece depending on the caster. Not worth the negatives for the small strength gain

Brett

agreed

7500 miles on my two piece shafts and i'm glad i went that route. but as listed before, the only benefits are on road.

 

[Xtremetj]

Thank guys! I really appreciate it. I’m worse than my wife making up her mind about something for the house. I’m a wreck and don’t know what to do... lol

I’ve called more shops than you can imagine and every one of them says go 1 piece. They say that’s what they almost always do.

I’m trying to understand the drag mentioned above. Can it be any different than a TJ or JK? They didn’t have a FAD, it was a 1 piece shaft design. If you go aftermarket with an Ultimate Dana or Dynatrac axle they come with 1 piece and have eliminated the FAD.

What to do... what to do. I’m still 3 weeks out so the shop said think about it and let them know next week one way or the other to ensure they have to parts. Whichever I decide.

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