Cheap Simple Fix for Ailing CV joints

[Ilexoak]

Finally got around to putting new boots on my CV joints. Decided to try something a little different.

Took off both sides at the same time. Removed the outers and cleaned them up and stuffed the new grease in them. Then returned them to the opposite half shafts. The left one went to the right side and vice versa.

My thinking is that the races wear only on the torque side. So if you place the torque on the coasting side of the race where the race is pristine, it should be like having brand new CV's.

Just took it out for a spin up 81 a bit and back... No CV noise so far.

[Sorrow Six Star]

hmm

recycling at it's finest!
I like it!

[xoomer]

But couldn't you just flip the race on the axle?

[Ilexoak]

But couldn't you just flip the race on the axle?

The race on the outers is machined from the axle shaft itself. The only way to change the direction of torque is to move it to the other side

[subbie]

thats gud idea

[grossgary]

so yours were making noise and now they are not?
excellent!

i'm wondering if this is the answer to all the after market riddles. after market axles suck really bad. what if they do something similar and it works %70 of the time...or something like that. they probably get much worse axle cores to deal with too, wayne probably took care of his in a timely fashion.

[Ilexoak]

so yours were making noise and now they are not?
excellent!

i'm wondering if this is the answer to all the after market riddles. after market axles suck really bad. what if they do something similar and it works %70 of the time...or something like that. they probably get much worse axle cores to deal with too, wayne probably took care of his in a timely fashion.

Last i heard they are "regrinding" them. That is they take 5-10 thousandths off of the races to eliminate the pits caused by the ball moving back and forth. As you know, "case hardening" only treats the steel down to about .0015. Then they use ball bearings that are oversized to maintain tolerances.

The problem is that there is very little treated metal left after the grinding and that probably isn't all that hard. So, these "regrinds" seem to have a high failure rate.

This little trick gives you virtually all the original .0015 layer of high carbon steel instead of only .0010 of weaker steel or less. What gets me is why don't they retreat the parts after they grind the races. Then you should get the same life as the original part?

[Ilexoak]

so yours were making noise and now they are not?
excellent!

Yeah, both boots failed in the past year and the clicking was getting pretty loud making turns. Also i was getting some nasty rumbling in the suspension on any bump in the road just like my XT6.

That's all gone and of course the new boots help quiet things to some degree. Not very much though on my 6 before i thought to make a swap.

But, yes the difference is very nice indeed!

[Ilexoak]

They're as quiet as churchmice. Better than i expected

[Myxalplyx]

This is one for an FAQ. Especially if no clicking noise is heard for a month or two.

[grossgary]

good point kev - update us come summer time wayne! if they're quiet now though i suspect they'll be good for awhile. from looking at the parts wayne do you expect any signs of clicking in the future?

[grossgary]

okay i added it to our technical compilation thread - good call kevin. good job wayne, i just linked it to this thread. they'd surely take a write up at USMB on this as well.

wayne - you didn't take any pictures did you?

[Ilexoak]

good point kev - update us come summer time wayne! if they're quiet now though i suspect they'll be good for awhile. from looking at the parts wayne do you expect any signs of clicking in the future?

Gary,

That's a tough question. I'm hoping i'll be good for at least 50k if not better seeing the car has 151k now. i'll certainly give a heads up if any issues arise.

On mine the coasting side looked just polished. Could not feel any wear with my finger unlike the torque side i could feel the depressions in the race.

[Ilexoak]

okay i added it to our technical compilation thread - good call kevin. good job wayne, i just linked it to this thread. they'd surely take a write up at USMB on this as well.

wayne - you didn't take any pictures did you?

Sorry, no. Pretty small spaces to really photo the wear points and such. I'll try to draw some illustrations though. Can't draw

Will try to write a full SOP on it that should cover all EA82's anyway.

[Ilexoak]

Here's how you do it:

http://www.scifaith.com/clickers/