Off on a well trodden tangent.......the only LSD we got here in Australia are 28 spline ('97+). Korea may be the best source for 26 spline LSD's if that's the way you want to go, but I still havent heard of how many CV/DOJ have actually been broken (given that I destroyed a diff, and haven't had any noises from my driveshafets...).

I think we need to make the differentiation between wearing out and breaking. On most vehicles DOJ's/CV's will last about 80-120 thousand miles (in FWD cars) but given the duty cycle and extra forces imparted by 4WD (wind-up) the wear rate would be somewhat accelerated. I know we don't have them in 4WD all the time but when we do they are definitly being used, especially if you have any sort of a lift/larger tyres. AFAIK Dave is the only one on this board that has actually destroyed a driveshaft (through not having the needle bearing that supports it in the hub), and his vehicle has been seriously wheeled for years.

Most damage to driveshasfts occurs when you get wheels airborne, allowing one wheel to stay stationary, and one to rotate at twice the speed it should and as a result the vehicle stops (ie., "crossed up"). The problem occurs when the airborn wheel hits the ground and you are decellerating the wheel speed through the diif and into the other wheel. The rotational energy that is transmittted through the driveshaft/diff is about 4 times (if my old physics lecturer was right, proportional to the velocity squared) what would normally be transmitted, if both wheels had remained on the ground or had been rotating at the same speed. When you lock the diff with power and forward progress maintained, the most you can go is from 0% to 100% of the available torque as ther is no capability of cross axle "energy storage" via spinning up the airborne wheel.

Yes! I would love to have the 5.38 R+Ps. Then I could finally have those 33"s I want... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Junk yards in the US way do not exist <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
The very few that are do not have sportages at all since I am looking for a year now, have left them my phone number and I occasionaly drive by to see.
There are Used parts shops that I can look and see but who can guarrantee their ACTUAL condition
But I can check for a few prices.

One thing. In greece there were both versions of sportage - up to 96 AND 96 onwards all with rear lsd

gary, you're right about the wheel speed issue and the fact that with both sides locked, one tire won't be spinning fast when it hits the ground and blow like mine did, but you still have to wonder about the amount of torque that CV will see when it is the one with traction while the other one is up in the air. you will have nearly 1/2 the vehicle weight on one tire, 50% of the total vehicle torque and horsepower and it's beig transmitted via 6 5/8" balls to a 1" thick piece of steel and all held together by a 3/16 thick cup (at the ball grooves). that torque is a lot to ask that steel to handle, even if it is only 50%. thing is, that 50% is very close to 100% in low range. that 100% is then multiplied by those of us that have torque converters and auto trannies to become nearly 200% or slightly more of the available total torque. i don't know, but i'd say from what i've seen, that the CV's, when brand new, will handle it for a while, but won't last long. one very difficult turn during a crawl with traction on one side and a wheel in the air will blow it. just my opinion, my 2 cents, but it would just suck to be locked and have to replace your short side CV every time you hit the difficult trails. one possitive note on this, however, toys run locked CV front ends, like the newer tacos and runners, and their front CV's are only very slightly larger and have the same diameter axleshafts as ours at their thinnest point. they do break, but not all that often.

Dave, you know that the gears I have are broken. Can you still make use of them for measurement?

i don't remember what i was supposed to be measuring from you, exactly, i will go back and re-read the thread a bit. i just figured we could go 'wheeling (as long as i get my gears in).

Hi Dave,

A visual comparison between the open front and the open rear to see if the rear is any stronger than the front. We need to see if dimension F is the same in both front and rear and we need dimension B for the front. Actual bolt circle would be needed for both front and rear. We know it is 150mm for the Mitsubishi but don't know for the Kia.

Dave, can't make it this weekend. My kids want to go trico-o-treating. I thought the got over that, but I guess they have not. I will keep in touch. Haven't wheeled since July when I scraped my rear fender, only trophy I got.

MAN!!!

Don't log on for over a week, and the whole board explodes in information.

Sorry, but haven't had time to measure my rear axle yet. I've been doing scheduled maintaince on my Sportage and getting things winterized for the coming winter. Just discovered while changing my spark plugs that my #4 cylinder head has oil in it. Looks like I'm scheduled for a new head gasket in the not to distant future.

I looked up in my service manual the axle diameters and saw that the rear is 33.0 mm and the front is 27.0 mm. Didn't see anything about spline count though.

Sucks to hear about the front diff not accepting the rear ring gear like our friend in Korea said it would. I'd like to see how he did his. I'm still wondering if my 98 uses the same front diff as the 97 and older Sportages.

My personal opinion on the LSD vs. ARB in the front is ARB ALL THE WAY BABIE. You guys don't understand. If we get ARB on the band wagon (Couldn't help it... Going to vote in the general election today!) for units being sold for both the front and rear of the Sportage, our chances of getting them to do something is far better. Quantity talks!

Just an FYI, the ARB acts as a LSD when turned off. When activated, it locks up. The nice thing is you get great traction when not engaged, and GREAT traction when engaged.

If Toyota's can handle it, so can my KIA.

Logansportage <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

the ARB is fully open when off, not an LSD. the only locker that has that feature so far is the Detroit Electrac.