New Defender CV Shaft Failures
A few thoughts:
1) Failure during a perceived minor encounter does not translate to that being the primary cause for the failure. Unless you are the owner and know what the vehicle was subjected to prior to the failure you cannot point to the most recent encounter as the cause. Those vehicles might have been subjected to extreme abuse prior to the event.
2) The Defender has a more robust powertrain, chassis, shafts, control arms, etc than the Discovery 3. There is no scenario where a D3 is going to be more robust than a new Defender. Arguably, the significantly greater weight of the D3 puts more strain on its moving components.
3) How were these vehicles modified? Placing joints at extreme angles can cause premature wear in short order and damage. Especially if you cruise at highway speeds in a permanently elevated mode.
4) The new Defender was subjected to hundreds of thousands of test miles in incredibly abusive situations. We had teams tasked with trying to break the car and find failure points. I would put a new Defender up against any new SUV in the world for strength/durability in harsh situations. Part of the reason the fuel mileage isn't particularly great is the sheer rotating mass of the components on this vehicle.
5) I have't heard a word from any market about warranty claims on axles (which I assure you would have people in a frenzy looking for answers).
1) Failure during a perceived minor encounter does not translate to that being the primary cause for the failure. Unless you are the owner and know what the vehicle was subjected to prior to the failure you cannot point to the most recent encounter as the cause. Those vehicles might have been subjected to extreme abuse prior to the event.
2) The Defender has a more robust powertrain, chassis, shafts, control arms, etc than the Discovery 3. There is no scenario where a D3 is going to be more robust than a new Defender. Arguably, the significantly greater weight of the D3 puts more strain on its moving components.
3) How were these vehicles modified? Placing joints at extreme angles can cause premature wear in short order and damage. Especially if you cruise at highway speeds in a permanently elevated mode.
4) The new Defender was subjected to hundreds of thousands of test miles in incredibly abusive situations. We had teams tasked with trying to break the car and find failure points. I would put a new Defender up against any new SUV in the world for strength/durability in harsh situations. Part of the reason the fuel mileage isn't particularly great is the sheer rotating mass of the components on this vehicle.
5) I have't heard a word from any market about warranty claims on axles (which I assure you would have people in a frenzy looking for answers).
Before assembling the new wheels, I carried out the weighing.
OEM wheel 19" style 6010 with Good Year All Terrain 255/65 R19 tires weighs 32kg
Twin Monotube wheel Project 9"x20" with BFG All Terrain KO2 275/55 R20 tires weighs 45kg.
My car is travelling. I don't lift anymore. I want maximum durability.
I have bad experience with lifting in terms of durability and just Cv joints, cardanes, pivots, shoulders, silentblocks even if you use corrective parts to eliminate the increase in angles. This is my 30 experience of offroad and now overland riding.
Hi everyone. One of the cv casulties was mine. I am on 35s and subframe lifted. I am sure my tires played a role. However, i was hung up on my subframe and tried to give it more throttle for one last try .........needless to say, i should have just winched at that point. I believe it was driver error. As far as my buddy with the 110, he thought because he has 33 inch tires and no subframe lift he would be fine. Everone blamed my 35s.....I was not there , since i was off getting my rig fixed. However, i believe he was in a similar situation. Hung up underneath the vehicle and also heavily wheel chocked. He actually wanted to winch and the trail leader (spotter) told him to try one more time with more momentum.........and boom. Same inner right rear cv failure. So we learned a few things last weekend. I dont believe this issue will plague the new defender. I think we just need to be less aggressive than our old solid axle friends. Btw. Mine is d90 p300 coil sprung no locker. His is 110 p400 air and rear locker
Pro Wrench
Joined: Feb 2021
Posts: 1,338
Likes: 1,440
From: Atlanta, GA
TReK
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 2,086
Likes: 1,401
From: Hill Country, Tx
@ArmyRover - Who was the other Defender to have problems? I was there and watched Sarek loaded up onto a borrowed trailer to go to Austin. The only other "axle" issue I saw was a non-L663. He had problems last year and brought a spare! After a quick swap he was back in business. No need for names, but can you describe the other one? I'm curious as I missed that.
@The Insider - Next time you want to stress test a new Rover, send it to some Aggie Engineers or Rednecks in the USA. They know how to "stress" equipment. The legendary quote: "Hey boys, watch this!" frequently preceeds epic carnage.
@The Insider - Next time you want to stress test a new Rover, send it to some Aggie Engineers or Rednecks in the USA. They know how to "stress" equipment. The legendary quote: "Hey boys, watch this!" frequently preceeds epic carnage.
Last edited by GrouseK9; Apr 7, 2022 at 01:40 PM.
@ArmyRover - Who was the other Defender to have problems? I was there and watched Sarek loaded up onto a borrowed trailer to go to Austin. The only other "axle" issue I saw was a non-L663. He had problems last year and brought a spare! After a quick swap he was back in business. No need for names, but can you describe the other one? I'm curious as I missed that.
@The Insider - Next time you want to stress test a new Rover, send it to some Aggie Engineers or Rednecks in the USA. They know how to "stress" equipment. The legendary quote: "Hey boys, watch this!" frequently preceeds epic carnage.
@The Insider - Next time you want to stress test a new Rover, send it to some Aggie Engineers or Rednecks in the USA. They know how to "stress" equipment. The legendary quote: "Hey boys, watch this!" frequently preceeds epic carnage.
It was Sarek's friend from VA with a 110, I helped load his on to the Lucky8 trailer for a quick dash to get his squared away in dallas. I ran the owner down to the Barnwell office so he could get some paperwork sent off to secure the shaft to repair his truck. Sounds like we probably ran into each other at SCARR but didn't know it lol
TReK
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 2,086
Likes: 1,401
From: Hill Country, Tx
Whoa!! That sucks. He had a magnificent rig. Must have happened late Saturday. So sad for him. He was a nice guy and enjoyed meeting him at Old Camp. When I grow up, I want to have an epic build like he had! What a cosmic lack of kharma: both of the guys from RVA limped out of Barnwell!
They missed warning #1 about Texas: everything either bites, stabs, pokes, scratches, gouges or breaks your Rover in Texas....
They missed warning #1 about Texas: everything either bites, stabs, pokes, scratches, gouges or breaks your Rover in Texas....
