300m u-joints

[curtis]

Anybody got any pro's or con's about Longfield, Yukon or Nitro Excalibar 300m u-joints?

[Ol Man]

I run CTM's in the CJ7. Jack is the best. I would buy his.

[Mitch]

Curtis,

The Nitro U-Joints are supposed to be really tough. That is the setup I was going to buy (4340 axle shafts and 300 M
u-joints) before finances forced me to get the superior axle set with Spicer u-joints. Highly recommended from a desert racer friend at a local shop.

Mitch

[mrblaine]

Curtis,

The Nitro U-Joints are supposed to be really tough. That is the setup I was going to buy (4340 axle shafts and 300 M
u-joints) before finances forced me to get the superior axle set with Spicer u-joints. Highly recommended from a desert racer friend at a local shop.

Mitch

Nitro is nothing more than a repackager. His joints are likely either from Bobby or Yukon.

[curtis]

So what is the differance between Yukon and CTM? To me they look about the same.

[Mitch]

Curtis,

Obviously I'm not Savvy! But coming from guys that actually use 300 M U-joints, they like them, and swear by them. Also a lifetime guarantee is a nice thing. CTM's are very pricey. Hope you find something that works for you. Wish I had the money.

Mitch

[snydercj7]

I have been thinking about putting in beefy u-joints. But seeing upgraded drive/ axle shafts being destroyed on the trail before a u-joint has me a little leary. Just a thought...

[bullysteve]

curtis ctm's all the way and rebuildable down to the zert fittings

[Double AA]

The CTM and Longfield 300M U joints are not made for street use. They have bushings, not roller bearings. If you you drive on the street and don't have locking hubs, don't use them.

I now have CTM's and have used Longfields in the past. Both are serviceable, rebuildable, high quality U joints.

[Mitch]

Andrew,

Great advice. Didn't know that about the street thing. And if something holds up to your horsepower and rig, I'm very impressed!

Mitch

[mrblaine]

They have bushings, not roller bearings.

That's a pretty common misconception. There are tons of high load applications that use bushings with no issues. Properly lubed, Jack's CTM's have no issues being run on the street.

One of the few places bushings don't do well is in driveshafts and for the same reason true CV's suffer. The SFPM is way too high and the lube suffers, breaks down and the joint dies.

[Jeeperator]

Who has the best bang for the buck? I have been reading a lot of threads on driveshaft breaking and it seem most but not all break @ the ujoint. Kinda funny considering a dana 30 has the same ujoints as a d44.

[Elusive]

I have a few observations on this subject.
1. Dana 30's made after 1994 (not all of them) have the same U-joint as a d-44
2. I have had CTM's in my for 7 years. 2 years ago I bought a rebuild kit for the bushings but when I took the joints apart there wasn't any noticeable wear. It's a total fallacy that you can't run them in rigs without locking hubs.
3. I actually broke a CTM. I called Jack, he told me to send him both of my old joints because they were the old design and he sent me 2 brand new joints that are stronger. Thats incredible customer service.
4. I run locking hubs, but they break nearly every trip and I carry drive flanges for quick swaps. The CTM's are stronger than the axle shafts (I had broken Warn, Nitro, Alloy USA, Yukon shafts before the CTM let loose). If you are running Tires smaller than 37's I wouldn't worry about the shafts or joints at all.

CTM is more $$, but customer service and warranty is worth a lot to me.

[Jeeperator]

Pretty much all the waranties are the same. I just picked up some new yukon super joints for less than $200 on the bay. They retail easily over $350. I read up on then and found out the trunions on the d30/44 are thicker than a spicer d60 joint not to mention they are chromoly.

[Double AA]

I went through a period where I was busting U-joints almost every time I went to JV. I had a D44 at that time and I was trying not to spend the money for 300M joints. I broke Spicer, Brute Force and Alloy joints. Because of the price difference I installed Longfield's. That was the end of my U-joint problem.

I now have CTM's in my Spidertrax front end and have abused them for about 6 months without a problem.

Before I bought the U-joints for my D44 I talked to both Bobby and Jack. And because I was asked by a friend with a daily driven Rubicon with 35's, I asked both of them about the suitability of their joints in his application.

Bobby said no aftermarket bushing U-joint should be used on a daily drive that saw many miles. He said you'd be greasing the U-joints on a weekly basis. Jack said it would probably be fine as long as the joints didn't run dry.

I've looked at both joints and would say they are very, very similar. The bushing design doesn't hold as much grease on the trunnion as the roller bearings can.

Does the bushing design hold enough? Maybe, Elusive has had good results. But one manufacturer definitely doesn't recommend it.

As far as who's 300m U-joint or support is better, I don't know I haven't been able to brake one.....yet.