That sounds reasonable generally except the problem here seems to be the shafts are a bit short.
Could the diff be raised by the amount the suspension has been lowered to keep the shafts straight?

I lean more towards suspension ride height and lower physical travel is the likely
Culprit. I'm not saying power isn't. But the lower you go the faster the axles seem to wear. I'll try and get some video this weekend of where mine is as I am near the lowest height on ksports. I am sure once we get enough fees back from users with a list of what they have done, driving style, and the event of breakage, as well as a vendor that sees the interest we an come up with a solution. Hell I know a local CNC shop that would love to start producing product for our platform if we get enough concrete info.

Yup, same exact place as mine.

Well I will REALLY raise my car next summer. -_-

So my FRS is stock with less than 2k miles. I've got some 225 BFG drag radials sitting around. I was hoping to get some quick base line 1/4 mile numbers. I've never raced a RWD car, so I was hoping to practice warming up the tires and launching as hard as possible. The car is going to squat. What are my chances of surviving one drag night? Ha.

Where is the best place to find replacement (spare) axles? Swapping axles at the track is easier than a tow truck.

I have yet to see an 86 with completely stock suspension breaking an axle on this forum, if you look every post in this thread has been from a lowered car. With the stickier tires you'll be adding stress, but not as much as different geometry and adding power.

Wrong. There are multiple stock setups with messed up axles.

Links?

Is this related to being able to rotate the driveshaft while in neutral about 20-30 degrees with the parking brake on? I also pushed the car with the E-Brake up and while in neutral and I can hear the clicking sound coming right from the left rear axle area.

Possibly.
Has anyone broken as passenger axle yet? I haven't heard of anyone damaging the left side.

Yeah, links on that would be great. If the stock axles break anyways, we can get a TSB on them. Maybe ones that will even handle lowering the car. If not, then just axles when you lower your car. Spendy, but that's why we do things right in the first place.

Car: FR-S '13
Miles: 36K (at time of axle break) 45K now.
Use: Daily Driver and AutoX
Lowered: Yes, about 2"
Power: STOCK (or close enough that it's "stock")
Forced Induction: No
Axle broke story: Tons and tons of hard autoX launches with wide sticky tires on grippy surfaces.

I'm I correct in assuming the problem with the axles is because of lowering the car and not adding sticky tires or about 100hp?

We don't know for sure yet. Pretty much everyone with broken axles was lowered and had different tires. I was on Nitto555 when i broke mine. I am "guessing" its due to height. But only time will tell!

Don't have a link because I don't care to make it a huge deal. I was stock suspension and mine had to be re torqued and lubed. It would have only been a matter of time for it to actually break for me.

My 86 is completely stock, however I have heard clicking from my axel since day one. I can hear this click even when shifting at 3.5K RPM.

Hence, the stock setup is still a culprit.

No, what you are dealing with is a separate problem, an improperly torqued axle nut. That won't break the axle, just make noise.

When you alter it from its original design by lowering it, putting added stress on the axles, adding power, etc.. Something's going to give..
All the ones with issues seems to be the ones that have lowered theirs. I don't see that as an OEM issue.. Except that the stock axles aren't designed for more than stock loads, apparently.

i'm up 115 whp over stock, and while i haven't broken an axle yet, once i've got the clutch in, axles are going to be my next big purchase. want to prevent anything going boom

Not to dredge up an old topic, but my drivers side axle just broke at the collar in the diff. Dealer has not explained fully but they are blaming it on my coilovers set at stock height.

The angle at which the axle should be at from horizontal should be near horizontal. Also, they measured the height change from the wheel hub to diff and it should be no more than 1-2" (25.4 mm to 50.8 mm). These two lines are from the dealer over the phone.

Gotto pay to play I guess. Diff risers and subframe risers along with new axles will just have to do for me.

I don't think anyone has broken a passenger side one yet either.

I've only seen the Driver's side break, unless in extreme use (e.g. drag racing with DR's, boost, etc)

@sierra In your opinion could this also cause issues on stock suspension at stock height over time that is just sped up by the additional stresses of lowering keeping the axles pulled to their limit? Or should stock have enough length to stay safe even over bumps/etc?

Totally stock setup? What were you doing when it broke?

Had Fortune Auto coilovers on at slightly higher than stock rear height levels. Camber was corrected to stock camber by PSM LCA's. Matched the bolt holes of the PSM LCA to the bolt holes of the stock LCA. Same length for no fuss install.

Essentially I took a very nice right hander off the freeway at about 40 mph, as soon as I straightened out and let off the throttle, I heard a snapping sound and immediately fast clunking noises. Pulled off the road, checked engine sound and it was fine. Shifted through all my gears fine. But when I tried to take off again, the clunking continued. Jacked my car up and found the drivers side axle at the diff was sagging and easily moveable. Knew it from there that my axle popped out and/or broke at the diff. Turns out it broke because I couldn't pop it back in. :barf:

Basically ordered a new axle and diff risers to help. Hopefully...

Ive broke my left and right ride axle. Check the first post...

Did you have wheel hop when you were launching?

Nop... Ive dropped the clutch too hard at 4500 rpm with glue on the track. Ive feel the high grip feeling and right after the axle was gone.

So has anybody found a solution for this? I'm looking at getting some BC Racing coils and slamming the whip soon. TIA.

Powered by Max differ and subframe risers. Welding requires.

Dammit. I wish I didn't have to weld anything. Too bad there are no solid metal inserts for the mounts parallel to the driveshaft that pops into the rear subframe. Could I use a subframe bracing bar in conjunction to the risers?

here is a question for those who supports the lowering is the cause for this CV breaking problem.

if lowering the car is the cause, why is it that only the driver side rear CV broke and not the right?

also, what are the relative timeline of each members car mfg year? mine was initial delivery on may 21 2012. so im guessing its the very first / second batch.

Not sure if this is an answer at all, but I know the left side is quite a bit heavier than the right when cross weighting, then add the weight of the driver on the same side too. Be interesting to see if they have the same issue on the same side for RHD models.

so it has all broken just on the driver side and not the passenger side?

I'm interested in the Diff brace, will this be better than getting the DSS +600hp rear axles, not just considering cost?

Most was the driver side, I've broke the passenger side too (Only one?) (Not F/I :I )

Is this happening even when people have aftermarket rear control arms?

So I fixed my axle yesterday. Kept my ride height and found no more mechanical ticking noises from the drivers side rear axle. Hit bumps, potholes, and even a large lump of rock on the road and not a peep from the axle. Maybe I had a defective axle, considering the fact that most other lowered fr-s on the island have been running way lower than I was and from the beginning of their ownership (I lowered my car at 15,xxx miles)?


Basically when removing, I decided to rip open the CV boot.
http://i.imgur.com/pVdU0uZ.jpg

Image 2 is a closeup of the EDJ cage that broke into 4 pieces.
http://i.imgur.com/0gtybug.jpg

Its hard to see in image 3, but basically there are gouges where the ball bearings slipped out of the cage.
http://i.imgur.com/lXpB62I.jpg

Image 4 highlights a tri-opening fracture.
http://i.imgur.com/LonzRxJ.jpg

I have PSM LCA's and my drivers side axle broke at the cv boot.