Upgrading axles

I'm looking into upgrading the jimny axles or even changing to axles with stronger internals without spending thousands, interested to see what anybody else has done on a reasonable budget or any suggestions from anybody who may know of good setups
Thanks in advanced

There's external trusses available from JimnyBits to brace the axle up a bit...

I've got Rob Storr's 26 spline thicker front shafts and huge CVs in the front of mine -





New 'v' Old



And the all important 26 splines 'v' 22...



And bigger CVs, hence the need for the little square spacer plates...

First.
There's no question the RS HD shafts and CVs are stronger than the standard Jimny ones and at a decent price.

But with that said. The number of splines says nothing about their strength. RS could easily have made them 22 splines with the same strength. I mean, how many of you have even broken a shaft at the diff end?

RCV Performance are in the process of making 22 splines HD shafts and CVs for the Jimny. And a direct fit without need for spacers and swapping for 26 splines side-gears in the front diff. They also come with a 5 year warranty up to 31" tyres. Exact price is not yet known, but expect around £600. I hope they'll show up with 2-3 weeks time

Both look good options il look into both, anybody out there know much about changing to different axles on a budget?

Pretty big job and axles worth putting in are not cheep. The sentence axle change and budget don't go together

MysticRich wrote: Along with dave I'm running the rob storr kit and have been for around a year with no issues on 32" tyres
I think I paid around £500 delivered and as dave has said everything is bigger and heavier duty but you carnt tell too well in the photos but can when you can actually compare them.
When I ordered my from rob storr they said they should be ok for up 35" tyres but I know at 32" even if the axles would take wheels that size a jimny wouldn't without removing nearly all the body.

+1
and i have sheared off my rear half shafts, spline ends, first the spline twists then break off. it properly don't help with 33" tyres and a rear locker

From what ive read, I think the cheapest and simplest upgrade would be sj axles with either 1in spacers or different offset wheels. Just grind off old leaf seats and weld on the jimny tabs. Cant remember if you need sj props tho. Been told by a few fellow sj and jim owners that their standard sj axles will happily run up too 35s too.

Don't believe everything you hear. SJ axles are about the same strength as Jimny. Perhaps slightly stronger CVs but nothing serious.

If you want 35" tyres on a Jimny, you need HD axle internals. Unless of course it's just for the looks.

Selling my axles if your interested. Want £1400 for both. ☺

I think there's a few advantages to Samurai axles.

You can get uprated internals for both axles a great deal easier and they are proven parts.

The front axle swivel seal is actually a seal and not an excuse for one!

Front wheel bearings don't require a press to change.

In fact if I could but a Sammy today with a carb that worked at all angles, proper inertia rear seat belts and a hard top with no rust, I would in a heart beat.

It would get lifted on Llama 4x4 Potty Lift Springs under the axle with a Rocklobster and the axles would be all singing and dancing with discs all round and an X Brake hand brake, super strong shafts and cv's.

Kirkynut

kirkynut wrote: I think there's a few advantages to Samurai axles.

You can get uprated internals for both axles a great deal easier and they are proven parts.

The front axle swivel seal is actually a seal and not an excuse for one!

Front wheel bearings don't require a press to change.

In fact if I could but a Sammy today with a carb that worked at all angles, proper inertia rear seat belts and a hard top with no rust, I would in a heart beat.

It would get lifted on Llama 4x4 Potty Lift Springs under the axle with a Rocklobster and the axles would be all singing and dancing with discs all round and an X Brake hand brake, super strong shafts and cv's.

Kirkynut

I did consider Samurai axles once, because as you say. Uprated internals are proven and cheaper than for the Jimny. But once you've gotten hands on a set of axles and cut and welded new brackets to fit the Jimny, and bought HD internals, the total cost is more than a set of RCV/ RS MFG HD shafts and CVs will be for the Jimny. And the RCV ones are a straight swap.

And why are the HD shafts and CVs for the Samurai easier to get than for the Jimny? You still need to import either from the US or from Italy.

As for the bearings. You do not need a press to change the bearings on a Jimny.

On top of it all, you need 5 cm wheel spacers for the Sammy axles as it's 5 cm's narrower than the Jimny axles.

TomDK wrote:

kirkynut wrote: I think there's a few advantages to Samurai axles.

You can get uprated internals for both axles a great deal easier and they are proven parts.

The front axle swivel seal is actually a seal and not an excuse for one!

Front wheel bearings don't require a press to change.

In fact if I could but a Sammy today with a carb that worked at all angles, proper inertia rear seat belts and a hard top with no rust, I would in a heart beat.

It would get lifted on Llama 4x4 Potty Lift Springs under the axle with a Rocklobster and the axles would be all singing and dancing with discs all round and an X Brake hand brake, super strong shafts and cv's.

Kirkynut

I did consider Samurai axles once, because as you say. Uprated internals are proven and cheaper than for the Jimny. But once you've gotten hands on a set of axles and cut and welded new brackets to fit the Jimny, and bought HD internals, the total cost is more than a set of RCV/ RS MFG HD shafts and CVs will be for the Jimny. And the RCV ones are a straight swap.

And why are the HD shafts and CVs for the Samurai easier to get than for the Jimny? You still need to import either from the US or from Italy.

As for the bearings. You do not need a press to change the bearings on a Jimny.

On top of it all, you need 5 cm wheel spacers for the Sammy axles as it's 5 cm's narrower than the Jimny axles.

So that's 25mm each side then Tom? No great issue. You can get wheels with a different offset of spacers or both.

Wheel bearings are easier to change even if you use your oven.

Sammy bits are cheaper as the manufacturers have probably made their R&D back after all these years so are not charging for it any more and the tooling has been about to manufacture them for much longer. New products need their tooling and R&D paying for if a profit is to be made on them.

The welding is an issue if you don't have someone you can trust to do a good safe job of attaching the brackets in the right place so they don't fall off and so they are equal with the right castor angles etc. I am lucky as I have a good friend who is a good fabricator.

To be honest though. I would not spend any more money on my Jimny other than maintenance as A) My interest has been waning for some time and My needs would be for a bigger vehicle if I were to spend money on an offroader / greenlaner now.

Kirkynut