Selec Trac CV upgrade?

[ShadowsPapa]

I'll try zombie revival of this thread to ask, has anyone on this forum actually swapped stock CV axles in on a U-joint rig?
Selec-Trac or CVs were never an option on my diesel, but I moved to a very snowy place this year that has a mosiac of cleared and uncleared roads and I probably shift in and out of 4wd 4 times every time I drive through the neighborhood and end up in a nasty crow-hop situation on wet pavement probably once per week. I'm so sick of crow hop now.

CV joints will help some on turns, but you still need to take it out of 4H on sticky pavement or you'll have other problems. The front axle joints are only to make the steering smoother. If you need to shift now, you'll need to shift with those as well or you'll have issues.
I can give a first-hand example -
I have a 2022 with the full-time option transfer case so I have the CV front axles.
But I use 4H - not full time - 4H part time, when plowing. When I get to the road were the county plow has already been, or where there's no snow on the road out front and need to turn where there's dry blacktop there's serious binding just because there's no slipping between the front and rear shafts. That's with CV joints.
CVs make the turns better, but if it's dry, she'll still bind up. That's just how part time mode is.

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[Sting-Gray Neutral Pres.]

Yep understood that it's not great on the transfer case unless something is slipping. Crow-hop on this is a different beast though, I can be turning sharp out of my snowy driveway (4wd required) onto my snowy street and still generate enough traction in snow on a front tire to get crow hop with the U-joints. At high steering angle a u-joint requires a lot of slip each 180 degrees of rotation.

 

[Sting-Gray Neutral Pres.]

So, as I head into my second winter living in a mountain town with abundant snowfall, facing the prospect of many daily transfer case shifts to avoid crow hop, I have to ask again if anyone has yet tried swapping in the stock CV joints for the stock U-joints?
My warranty is expired this time around so I'm even more motivated to improve drivability this year.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I haven’t spent much time looking at the prices for stock CVs because I’m not sure I can run them as the selec trac Jeeps don’t have a FAD set up.
I think the FAD requires a narrow section on the passenger side shaft, not sure there’s one on the CV version

Why would you think select trac versions don’t have a FAD? I have a 2021 rubicon with 4hi Auto and definitely have a FAD. I’ve also replaced my stock CV axles with RCVs. I didn’t break the Oem ones but wanted more strength for tough terrain. The RCV passenger setup is two piece just like the original. It uses the FAD just like the Oem axles did. As long as you protect the FAD with a better than Oem skid, they work great. These are not the FADs of old. They’ve come a long way. As far as the longevity question, I’ve had my RCVs for almost 40k miles with lots of heavy wheeling. No quality, wear, or noise problems whatsoever. I grease them during each tire rotation, but it’s incredibly easy. It takes 5 minutes per wheel.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So, as I head into my second winter living in a mountain town with abundant snowfall, facing the prospect of many daily transfer case shifts to avoid crow hop, I have to ask again if anyone has yet tried swapping in the stock CV joints for the stock U-joints?
My warranty is expired this time around so I'm even more motivated to improve drivability this year.

It can be done. Note that it won't help any on dry pavement as far as part time 4H goes because there's still binding between the front and rear driveshafts since they will turn at different speeds during turns and so on.
It's not a cure-all, but is a help on corners to prevent the front axle speed changes on turns.

 

[Sting-Gray Neutral Pres.]

It can be done.

Good to hear. Maybe I'll just order the stock CV axles and take the plunge on a swap. I usually try to not be the guinea pig but I haven't found any threads here or on JL forums of people doing this swap before.

 

[mx5red]

So can you get the full time 4wd with narrow axles? Or are they all upgraded to wide axles.
In other words will there be two versions of the CVs.
I couldn’t find the parts online, I’d be curious if you find some and find out if it’s a simple swap for the stock wide axle U joints.

 

[81Mojave]

I didn’t think the select track equipped vehicles would need a FAD system, honestly I’m disappointed as I was under the impression in 4WD auto it operated like an open center differential.
I have the same concerns on driving in winter weather.
I love my RCVs in my JKUR, I hear people and 4WD shops say they sling grease or some other issue. But I don’t have a themed build in low profile tires ect. personally I like the confidence that my huge joints aren’t going to explode when I have the wheel cut hard and step on the skinny pedal

 

[WILDHOBO]

I didn’t think the select track equipped vehicles would need a FAD system, honestly I’m disappointed as I was under the impression in 4WD auto it operated like an open center differential.
I have the same concerns on driving in winter weather.
I love my RCVs in my JKUR, I hear people and 4WD shops say they sling grease or some other issue. But I don’t have a themed build in low profile tires ect. personally I like the confidence that my huge joints aren’t going to explode when I have the wheel cut hard and step on the skinny pedal

4hi Auto works very well in these. Very well. I’ll never get another one without it. And I have RCVs with a functional FAD.

 

[cranbiz]

I have had RCV's in my JK now for close to 5 years. The boots are fine and grease them about every 5K miles. Not one issue with them. If someone is going thru boots, they are not installed right. They can be tricky to get on fully.

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