Desplined axle caps review
I just installed my desplined caps yesterday but was tired from working at my friends shop so I didn't drive it until today. I could tell a difference right away. The modification has some fairly obvious advantages for highway use. The first thing I noticed is how smooth the steering was, not that it was horrible before but it was noticeable. The truck feels like it rolls quite a bit easier, especially in 5th gear. I know that could be a subject of debate but my proof is in throttle amount per ground speed attained. Before this mod, I would have to hold the throttle to the floor to maintain road speed on the flats and I would lose a few mph on modest to minor hills. Today I was able to relax back off of the throttle once up to speed, even had to watch my speed for once on flats as the truck will run down to 60 mph indicated which is closer to 65 mph since I never corrected the speedo when I put the 14's on. I've gps'd it and noted it's about 5 off at road speed. With my newly gained throttle, I'm able to maintain speed on the local hills even in a fairly strong headwind. I drove about 50 miles today at road speed and the hubs were still cool. I didn't expect to go quite so far but the truck was such a pleasure to drive, I decided to take it to the Pilot truck stop to get fuel vice going into a cramped fuel station parking lot like I usually do. I did drive on a road with a 45 mph speed limit and barely gave any throttle at all to hold that speed. One final advantage I noted was loss of the 40 mph hop. I would always blame it on the truck sitting and slightly flatspotting the tires while doing so. I believe that actually was not the case after today's trip. It was likely the drivetrain fighting itself and the harmonics would "lash out" at that speed. If anybody is on the fence as to whether this modification is worth it, I absolutely think so. I do have a set of splined caps to play in the mud with if need be. For the most part, mine is a road truck. One thing my friend who modified these caps mentioned was that I need to engage my front axle to splash some oil around occasionally in the front differential. Of course you have to ensure you are completely stopped before engaging or your transfer case will not be happy.