Proud Rhino Lift Kit Causing Front Axels to Go Bad

[USA Carry]

I've had the Proud Rhino Lift Kit for my 2013 LR4 since around May 2020 with Lucky8 18" steel wheels and LT285/65R-18 KM3s. In June 2020, I had to replace both front axels, and the shop said the lift was causing too much tension on them. I didn't have a problem after replacing them until now. I just talked to my shop, and they said both from axels need to be replaced again due to the tension the lift kit is putting on them.

Is this a known issue possibly, or just something I am seeing? I'm thinking of just removing them and going back to stock height as I don't want to replace my axels every two years. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[Howski]

Tons of raised 3’s and 4’s and first I’ve heard of this issue. Is it the axles or hubs? Hubs are a semi regular service item due to the size of these trucks. You run a larger tire than most folks run so that’s certainly not helping any axle components

 

[USA Carry]

Shop just said the lift was causing too much tention on the axles. I can clarify with him in the morning. I was also thinking of just getting a smaller tire too if that might be what is causing the issue.

 

[USA Carry]

It’s also a shop that specializes in Land Rovers.

 

[M32H32IS]

CV axles are designed to operate at certain angles. Lifting an IFS/IRS vehicle can put the CV’s at too extreme of an angle, causing premature wear.

I don’t know the threshold for LR3/4 but you could be exceeding it.

 

[XJLI]

How many miles have you driven with the lift and both sets of axles? 5000? 50000? Thats a big difference. The lift is undoubtedly putting premature wear on the CVs, but how "premature" is it? Were the replacement set OEM?

 

[ITTOG]

This is a known issue/concern for ALL vehicles. Any time you lift them over 2", varies per vehicle but pretty close to that, it changes the geometry and adds stress. If you lift more than that you need to get new knuckles and other components to get the geometry back in spec.

 

[USA Carry]

How many miles have you driven with the lift and both sets of axles? 5000? 50000? Thats a big difference. The lift is undoubtedly putting premature wear on the CVs, but how "premature" is it? Were the replacement set OEM?

I've put about 21k miles on the lift and new axles. Not sure if the replacements were OEM or not.

 

[XJLI]

Reach out to Lucky8 and see if they've had any similar issues. Thats some pretty quick consumption.

 

[USA Carry]

Reach out to Lucky8 and see if they've had any similar issues. Thats some pretty quick consumption.

I emailed them this morning and am waiting to hear back. Thanks.

 

[gatorgrizz27]

I’m assuming you’re talking about the air strut spacer lift, and not lift rods. While this one does provide actual ”lift” one major benefit is allowing the vehicle to still roll in the event of an air strut failure, rather than having oversized tires jam up in the wheel well.

My point is with the GAP IID tool or similar you can keep the spacer lift in place, but lower the driving height of the vehicle back down to ~1” or so above factory height (hub center to wheel arch height), which doesn’t include what the tires add.

This should prevent additional CV wear, and you can simply use the off road height setting when you get to the dirt and need more clearance. You can program one in with the IID tool that will not limit you to the factory 35 mph speed limit without lowering.

 

[bri]

I emailed them this morning and am waiting to hear back. Thanks.

they will recommend their axles. known issue.

 

[USA Carry]

Thanks for the feedback. Never heard back from Licky8. Bringing it to the shop on Monday to take the lift out and go back to stock including the stock wheels and tires. I don’t want to be replacing the axels every two years.

 

[Howski]

You can just program some of the lift out with GAP tool to get your CV angles back in line. People run more modest EAS lifts and tires fine without having to go back to stock. Did you get an alignment after you put the lift rods on? If not that’s probably a contributing issue

 

[USA Carry]

Honestly, I've had a lot of issues with the truck since getting it, so I just feel like I want it back to stock for now.