Revolution shafts won’t fit rubicon

Kevin Bright

Kevin Bright

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So I did an axle swap to 04 rubicon axles this weekend and when I went to put in the American made revolution shafts for the 03-06 rubicon. The rears went in without a hitch after I removed the old race but for some reason the caps on the u joints are hitting the bolts that connect the hub to the knuckle. Has this happened to anyone else or does anyone have a solution for this? @Chris did this happen to you ever when you got your set? I have them past the seal and they are seated all the way . Any advice would be appreciated before I contact revolution about the issue. I have attached some pictures

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I ran the RCV front axle shafts and the Revolution rears, so I can't comment on this. However, from what I've heard, this is related to what @Mr. Bills is referring to. Hopefully someone here who runs the front shafts will chime in. I know @Jerry Bransford runs them.
 
You got the shafts with the stronger/larger 1350 size u-joints, you just need to do a bit of grinding on the bolt heads to clear the larger u-joint. I'm not up on the particulars of clearancing the bolt head(s), you'll need to talk with RGA for the complete information.

Chris I don't run them, I run Superior Axle's Evolution shafts up front with 760 size CTM u-joints.
 
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Here is one of the posts I was thinking of:

I have the RGA front 4340 with the 1350 joints. The difference in the "meat" around the u-joint is huge. A bit of a tip from me is, get your shafts installed with the three 13mm bolts to torque spec. Then take a black marker and mark the side closest to the shaft because you'll have to grind it down a little. If you don't, the shaft will chew them up. They are pure all american beef axle shafts.
Click to expand...

https://bit.ly/2NjBJSw
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
You got the shafts with the stronger/larger 1350 size u-joints, you just need to do a bit of grinding on the bolt heads to clear the larger u-joint. I'm not up on the particulars of clearancing the bolt head(s), you'll need to talk with RGA for the complete information.

Chris I don't run them, I run Superior Axle's Evolution shafts up front with 760 size CTM u-joints.
Click to expand...

Jerry, those Superior shafts plug and play so to speak? No grinding or clearance issues?
 
Thanks for the response everybody!! I’ll check out the link and I’ll call RGA today to see what they say! I figured they were plug and play but I guess I didn’t do as much research as I thought
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Considering the significant extra strength the shafts and 1350 U-joints provide, I consider having to grind a little clearance on the side of a bolt head to be a non-event. :)
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X2. I wouldn’t hesitate to do any grinding at all. It’s easy with a power tool.
 
Looks the same as with RCV shafts, usually you have to take a little off the bolt and a little off the knuckles to clear the boot. No big deal and we'll worth the upgrade.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
Just got off work and took out one of the bolts and grounded her down added pictures and You can see how bad she was hitting when I was driving her between Bays. The only thing is I had to grind down all three bolts but I seem okay without grinding down the knuckles but time will tell. Thanks again all !

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@Jerry Bransford does this look normal? When my passenger front wheel spins sometimes the locker engages and the locker plate seems to be bouncing. This is with the plunger out since we though it was caused by the plunger being installed incorrectly
 

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My factory 04 rubicon is snaping after a current regear .. any advice
 

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The locker ring I’m assuming is engaging and it seems like it’s snaping for lack of a better word. The videos should show it if the videos work?
 
Pull the air hose off the locker and then get a short length. See if you can actuate the locker just by blowing into it. Just to make sure nothing is collapsed in the air path. Then try again with the hose still off. I've see the hose barb rust shut and then heat in the diff caused enough pressure increases to engage the locker.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
Drizit said:
I've see the hose barb rust shut and then heat in the diff caused enough pressure increases to engage the locker.
Click to expand...
Only greater air pressure inside the locker actuator's air bladder than is present outside the air bladder could possibly cause the locker to actuate. Higher air pressure inside the housing would be pushing on the exterior of the bladder so it could not possibly cause the bladder to engage the locker, especially since the housing is vented.

Kevin, I can't figure out what is going on in that video. Perhaps the locker actuator (which contains the air bladder inside it) was damaged when the sensor was incorrect wedged against it. I replaced mine after that happened during my regear for fear it had been damaged.
 
Kevin Bright said:
@Jerry Bransford how much is involved with attempting to replace the actuator ?
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It's not a trivial task, the locker needs to be removed and then the passenger-side carrier bearing needs to be removed which needs a special tool. Then the actuator can just be lifted off & replaced. The carrier bearing would then need to be pressed back into place.

I'm not guaranteeing the actuator is definitely bad but something is going on to make it move in/out as the carrier is rotated. My guess is it's bent/damaged but I just don't know for sure by just looking at photos/movies. The sensor is completely gone now?
 
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