Rcv IWE eliminator kit

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m3dragon

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Running 37's now and I get the IWE pop when I am under load in sand. Fustrating as hell.

I am in for a manual lock solution like my old Broncos. I had no issues getting out and locking the hubs.

The add strain of keeping parts spinning still does not sit well with me even though some of you have had 20K on them. Issue is not all of our setups are the same so could see issues sooner for those with bigger tires possibly.

Hanys hurry up on fix already.
 

Aussiesvt

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Running 37's now and I get the IWE pop when I am under load in sand. Fustrating as hell.

I am in for a manual lock solution like my old Broncos. I had no issues getting out and locking the hubs.

The add strain of keeping parts spinning still does not sit well with me even though some of you have had 20K on them. Issue is not all of our setups are the same so could see issues sooner for those with bigger tires possibly.

Hanys hurry up on fix already.

Manual locking hubs FTW
 

boarder1995

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Zombie Apocalypse...
Raptor guy: "Hey honey...look at that guy with manual hubs...He'll have to get out and lock'em and fend off zombies, while we blow past in our Raptor with IWE's when we hit the mud up ahead!"
Manual hub guy: "Look at that fancy raptor up ahead that switched on the fly when he hit the mud and now is spinning what sounds to be plastic gears in his front wheels. Cover me with your AK honey while I get out and lock the hubs, then I'll get us through with reliable manual metal locking hubs. I think I'll leave them locked from now on and just push the front diff - only impose a small amount of gear wear. Minor compared to being eaten!"
Ok, back to reality. Sorry.
 

m3dragon

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That is what a crow bar is fore. Also don't be a neanderthal and need 4x4 when the zombies are outside the truck. You have mass, run them over. Geesh...
 

jager000

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They are in

After going through multiple hubs and axles I am over the IWE setup. I broke my first axle and hub with bald ass stock tires in soft sand. Since then I am running 13.5" wide Cooper STTs and it has become a major issue when I am crawling in the soft stuff.

I put in the RCV IWE eliminator kit. Here are some impressions and issues. I wish that I would have taken pictures and made a tutorial, but I wasn't thinking about it at the time.

It is a bit of a bitch to install, and the kit comes with ZERO instructions. So not for beginners.

The stock gear that holds the hub in is about 1/2" wide. That means that there is about 1/4" on each side locking the hub in. No wonder it fails with big tires.

Do not try to remove the stock gear without removing the IWE.

Check your boots BEFORE you put it back together. Or you may end up doing it twice. (By the way the Ford Boots do NOT come with new bands. WTF?)

Once you put in the RCV eliminator do NOT tighten the IWE first. If the ring is not setting just right you will blow the IWE housing apart when you tighten everything up. They are surprisingly fragile.

Once I got everything together I took it for a drive. The steering is slightly heavier. Not so much that it is an issue, but it is noticeable.

The Gas milage sucks, but I don't think that it is any worse than it was before.

I went and buried her the sand, threw it in 4X4 and..... it didn't sound like someone was beating my front axle with a sledgehammer. So far so good. I'll post an update after I get some more off and on-road use in.

Here is a pic of the stock ring next to the RCV ring.
11487-image-12-10-15-10-55.jpeg
 
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whoisbigman

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please tell me more

The gauge is plumbed into the vacuum lines to the hubs. The hubs take 20 +/- mm/hg to release to 2WD. When you start the truck after sitting for a while... maybe couple of days, there may be no vacuum so I wait until the gauge reads vacuum before going on my way. If a vacuum line breaks, you will have no vacuum and hubs would be engaged and you might not know it. The worst case is when you have a leaking line and some vacuum, but not enough to disengage hubs completely. Gauge would then read 10 or 15 or whatever and you would know you have a problem before you have a problem. When all is good, gauge read 24 mm/hg vacuum.
 
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