high angle inner cv's

jf1sf5

jf1sf5

Forum Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
2,089
Location
Switzerland
Car Year
'97
Car Model
Forester
Transmission
Manual
Our OEM inner cv's accept an angle of 25° which is enough with a 2" lift but sometimes you might have an issue at full droop while turning the steering wheel at maximum angle.

I needed more angle on the front inner cv's since I installed the HotBits coilovers so I opted for the Heri's but after 2 years of use, not abuse, they are starting to have a lot of play.

I am now looking for new cv axles and found GKN makes aftermarket inner cv's with 31° angle and 50mm plunge (DO) but am waiting an answer if they have them for our Subarus. It would be great as only the inner cv's would have to be swapped.

https://www.gknservice.com/gb/passenger_cars/constant_velocity_joints.html
 
After a few mails...these inner cv's are no more in production :(
 
I haven't heard of any aftermarket axles that last. You've been lucky to get 2 years from your HERI, many people have gotten only a few 100kms from them! Good idea, horrible Chinese quality

I always recommend OEM axles & OEM boots. They seem to last the longest on lifted Subies
 
Finally, I found some compatible CV axles for the SF Forester !

Subaru has them ! The Subaru SVX 3.3 front axles are nearly plug and play, they are much larger, have a little less plunge (40mm vs 45mm) but I think it should be fine as I think they are ball type and not tripod type, and can take an angle of 30°. As the outer CV joint is larger too, the dust seal on the wheel hub has to be changed for a smaller one, or change the outer CV's with standard Subaru (Forester, Legacy, Impreza...)

I have one and need another one...calling all the wreckers of Switzerland !
 
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Have 2 SVX axles, will do the swap next week :)
 
Pulled the SVX front axles apart, they have the tripod design.

I wanted to keep the outer Forester cv joint and the shaft but the splines are different/not compatible so I'll keep the whole SVX axle.

Two options : change the wheel bearing seal for a bigger ID (+3mm) or call my friend that helped me for the 1,59:1 low range and take 3mm off of the SVX outer cv joint. I chose the 2nd solution so I can also fit the Heri's or the oem Forester axles.

When the SVX inner cv is at full extension, it can take an angle of 32° vs 26° for the Forester SF inner cv. I actually need 28° with the HotBits at full extension.

Just waiting for my friend to machine the outer cv's...
 
Machining done !

Will reassemble the axles and do the swap next week.
 
Did the swap today !

Everything went nice until I tried to rotate the wheels at full extension. Because the tripod is larger and the whole SVX axle is 1cm longer compressed than the SF axle it comes at full bump in the cv joint.

The solution should be to swap the SF "A" arms for SG's as they are 1 cm longer...will try to find those next week !
 
^ agreed. Did these work out for you?

I will be putting on SG axles on my SF soon..I believe they are about 5-6mm longer than SF axles, although they are still the tripod design inner.

The diff stubs in the trans will have to be removed for the SG male ends, but will work. plus I wont have to mess with the roll pin anymore!

I can't figure out weather I will need to throw on SG control arms too, or if I will be ok. I'm still on stock struts so I probably wont bottom out the inner CV at full compression.
 
I'm still waiting on the SG A-arms, should be here within a week or two but I'm pretty sure it will work !

You won't bottom out at full compression, but maybe at full droop, depending on the lift you have :cool:
 
Looking forward to seeing how the SG arms affect CV angles and if they help CV angles enough to make a difference.

I will be trying this myself hopefully this week.
 
Swap done !

SVX axles, SG A-arms and HotBits coilovers is a perfect combination :)
 
Fantastic! Have you tried it offroad as yet?
 
No, not yet !

Will go to a 4x4 expo in exactly 4 weeks but will maybe go up the mountains on small tracks before...
 
Back from the expo. Drove on some mountain tracks and then on the 4x4 terrain with big ruts and holes and everything held up with ease.

SVX axles conversion is approved !
 
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