MIP CVD's

CVD stands for "Constant Velocity Drive". It is a lightweight and more efficient alternative to the stock plastic, sliding driveshafts that Traxxas uses on their trucks. MIP's version of a CVD is one of the more widely used replacement axles, although there are others out there. How well does MIP's solution work??? Read on to find out.

Installation

MIP CVD's come in several different versions. I have based my review off of their shiny CVD's which look good, and according to MIP, are slightly stronger than their plain black counterpart. The first thing that you will notice upon opening the package, is that you need to assemble the axle assemblies. MIP provides an instruction sheet that offers an exploded diagram of how to do this. You can also find a section entitled CVD's in each vehicles section, in the Pit Lane area of this site which covers installation and other issues.

Assembly isn't difficult, although the supplied hex drivers are very cheap. Before I finished with the installation, I had already stripped one of them. Supplying inexpensive tools is one thing, but MIP takes that to a whole new level. So do yourself a favor if you make this purchase and have a couple of good hex drivers on hand for the installation.

Problems

The CVD's themselves work well, and are very strong from my experience in having used them. However there are a few flaws in their design that should be addressed, and that's what I feel like causes most people their problems. The pin that holds the axle and the dogbone itself can come loose over time, which I cured with heat shrink tubing. If left unchecked this could result in premature failure of the CVD dogbone.

There is also a clearance issue, in certain suspension configurations. This can result in the dogbone striking the output yoke and possibly becoming bent. I really feel as if these are problems that MIP could have addressed much better. While the can be solved by some simple modifications, the customer shouldn't have to address problems such as these on something they just purchased. For more information regarding these issues and how to correct them see the article referenced earlier in this article.

Performance and Operation

Once those issues were out of the way the MIP CVD's have performed well in my experience. Not only have they strengthened the drivetrain considerably, but if the need arises to open up the transmission it makes it so much easier than when the stock u-joints were installed. MIP claims that the CVD's will increase acceleration, but I simply cannot see much of a difference. Therefore I can't really agree with that claim. However their primary purpose is strength, and once the initial issues are addressed, MIP's upgrade does that well.

Conclusion

I have mixed feelings about this upgrade. On one hand I really like these CVD's. However, I also feel that MIP dropped the ball on a few problems that would have been easily fixed on their end. My scoring below takes this into account, as the low scores have to do with the problems with their product instead of the actual materials used. If those problems had been addressed by MIP, the score would have been much higher.

Hopefully MIP will address the problems with their product in the future, until then you may want to give serious consideration to other CVD offerings by other manufacturers. If you purchase MIP CVD's the articles referenced here will prevent the problems I've discovered, even though fixing them is a step you shouldn't have had to take in the first place.

Durability 6 Instructions 6 Looks 9 Quality 5 Value 6

Overall Score 6.4

Rants	Raves

Potential Pin Slipping Problem Should Be Addressed By MIP Possible Loss Of Shock Travel No Rubber Boot Over CVD Joint

Strong Replacement Upgrade When Shortcomings Addressed Looks Good Makes It Easier To Access Transmission Internals

Reviewed 08.29.2003