TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed Apr 09, 2025 12:45 am

It has been awhile since I packed my CV joints, and they are out right now so maybe I'll clean them, repack them, and replace the 15 year old boots. They look good but some have small cracks starting. They are the better Lobro ones. I was thinking about how much fun it is to pack them, and I realized that I could just put them on dry, put in a couple bolts loosely, with the new boot slid back, fill it from the pouches or whatever, pull the couple bolts and slide the boot down then bolt it up. It sound simpler than packing them and putting them on packed but they have a tendency to want to come apart if one is not careful, and the boot and a wire tie, or bolt and nut thru the boot help hold them together until assembling them. How is everyone else doing the repack? My 1971 had about 750,000 - 900,000 miles on it so I've done it plenty of times so I know how, just sort of wondering if all my life I have been doing it the hard way by packing it on the bench and getting that grease all over my hands.

Wed Apr 09, 2025 6:03 am

Although it’s a dirty job, made better by gloves, doing it on the work bench seems better then doing it on your back under the bus.

Use the Tiguan boots.

Wed Apr 09, 2025 6:40 am

wear several pairs of gloves when you start into the mess part,I scoop out the majority of the grease then peel the gloves off to contain the grease,then you're set to go with the next glove layer,
when you install the cv use 2 dowels to slide the cv onto the flange,use a rag with cleaner on it to clean the mating surfaces before bringing the parts together,
if you wear 2 pair of gloves when working,they don,t seem to rip as easily.

Wed Apr 09, 2025 10:09 am

Anyone who might do bicycle repairs might recognize, this is a rig I use to hold bikes when working on them and it's fantastic for rebuilding CV axles.

Wed Apr 09, 2025 10:41 am

Having the bolts in and wired is brilliant. It’s obvious when seen, but I never thought of it. I’ll definitely do it like that next time.

Wed Apr 09, 2025 11:24 am

I will have to dig around and find my tool.

Its about a 12" long piece of steel brake pipe that has a few bends on it.

I do something similar as Scott from German supply but no so slick!

I install the boots on both joints with the bolts through and oriented. I have always used a rubber band around them but I like the wire. I typically start on the outer end of the shaft. I have a olastic bag over the inner end when I start.

I use just a smear of grease on the parts of the CV to keep it flexible. The brake line tool is alread fished through the small end of the rubber boot. No clamp yet. It pushes into a gap in the cage. Its pretty much pumping THROUGH the joint.

I bolt of the joint tight on the outer wheel. I have a small greasegun with 40z tubes I reuse. I fill them with either CV joint grease in the bags or more often if I can get it I use Sta-Lube/CRC Moly-graph and can buy it in 4oz tubes. Its a very good CV grease.

Zip tie the brake line tool to the shaft. Pump in a cartridge. Turn the wheel around about 1/3, pump in some more. Usually about 2.5 4oz cartridges. It pretty much fills up the void in the CV flange and pushed back up trhough the CV joint cage and starts filling the boot.

Pull the tool and fish it through the inner joint till you can see it poking the cage. Install joint same way and pump grease in.

Its a little finicky and fiddly but pretty clean. Far beats packing the joints by hand and trying to keep things clean.

I inherited the tool from my dad. I keep saying I am going to rebuild that tool with a thinner piece of something flexible like nylon so I can actually fish it through the cage in the joint without worry of jamming it up.

Or.....I may just make a plastic or metal packing plate that fits on the end of the CV...with an o-ring seal....say held on by 2-3 of the CV bolts. Pack from the inside until you feel it filling the boot. Pull the plate off and push the joint into place.

Ray

Wed Apr 09, 2025 11:43 am

raygreenwood wrote:

I will have to dig around and find my tool.

Ray

I think this one should be added to the quotes thread!

Wed Apr 09, 2025 1:07 pm

I always do these on the workbench, gloved, trashcan just off my right elbow.
And I snip the pouch open so I can squeeze the grease right into the gaps in the CV & cage
, with the boot pulled down/low. Then I squeeze the excess in the void in the boot & pull it up the axle shaft & bring it all back to the bus.....
I guess I use the boot as a funnel of sorts injecting grease from the top then from the side into the boot??

Wed Apr 09, 2025 1:15 pm

germansupplyscott wrote: Anyone who might do bicycle repairs might recognize, this is a rig I use to hold bikes when working on them and it's fantastic for rebuilding CV axles.

I have a Park bicycle work stand. Thank you for the suggestion. What a simple clean solution. I also like your wire solution. It holds all the bolts and there are no nuts to unscrew or wire ties to cut. Everything is ready to go. Are you spraying the drive shafts with a titanium paint or is that a powder coat?

Wed Apr 09, 2025 2:30 pm

The shaft is painted with Eastwood Detail Grey in an aerosol. I think they make an aerosol 2-pack of that also. Having the stand is super helper. and I think it makes the job cleaner since you don't have to handle the thing nearly as much.

Wed Apr 09, 2025 3:10 pm

Shonandb wrote: raygreenwood wrote:

I will have to dig around and find my tool.

Ray

I think this one should be added to the quotes thread!

:D :lol:

Ray

Wed May 21, 2025 7:40 am

richparker wrote: Although it’s a dirty job, made better by gloves, doing it on the work bench seems better then doing it on your back under the bus.

Use the Tiguan boots.

Do you have the part number? I'm looking and can't find the thread where I discussed putting one Tiguan boot and 3 readily available Bus boots on my '73 back in early 2020. (Think that is when I did it.)

The Tiguan boot looks great, the other three are all bad. So I need to order 3 more Tiguan boots.

Wed May 21, 2025 7:46 am

Ha, found your other post:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9762788#9762788

Sun May 25, 2025 12:25 pm

[quote="Shonandb"] raygreenwood wrote:

I will have to dig around and find my tool.

Ray

I think this one should be added to the quotes thread![/quote
I have to do that every time I pee.

Sun May 25, 2025 1:28 pm

[quote="TomWesty"] Shonandb wrote: raygreenwood wrote:

I will have to dig around and find my tool.

Ray

I think this one should be added to the quotes thread![/quote
I have to do that every time I pee.

Its all in the pants man...gotta wear loose pants.... :lol:

Ray

Tue May 27, 2025 8:36 am

richparker wrote: Although it’s a dirty job, made better by gloves, doing it on the work bench seems better then doing it on your back under the bus.

Use the Tiguan boots.

I like the idea of using a current VW product -- seems that it ought to last.
I can see the partial part number in Rich Parker's photo: "2Q0 498". Based on that, I found this: 2Q0 498 202. Here it is as #2 in the diagram on this VW parts page:
https://parts.vw.com/p/Volkswagen__/Inner-boot/90356147/2Q0498202.html

timvw7476 wrote: I always do these on the workbench, gloved, trashcan just off my right elbow.
And I snip the pouch open so I can squeeze the grease right into the gaps in the CV & cage
, with the boot pulled down/low. Then I squeeze the excess in the void in the boot & pull it up the axle shaft & bring it all back to the bus.....
I guess I use the boot as a funnel of sorts injecting grease from the top then from the side into the boot??

This is how I do it, too, with the axle held vertically in my wood workbench vise. I like to inject the grease from the pouch into the CV joint, and work it up and down to make sure that the grease really gets in everywhere. I use the full pouch on each joint, then use two zip ties to hold the assembly together until I am under the bus. After greasing and securing, I cover the whole mess with a plastic grocery bag to keep it clean (and everything else, too) until I am ready to install each joint.

Tue May 27, 2025 11:03 am

I just repacked my CV joints this past weekend. I guess that since I grew up working on Porsches and Audis, I had my fair share of doing CV joints. For me, it's, pull the axle, pop back the boots, remove the circlip and beat off the CV joint. After that, take it apart, clean, reassemble, regrease and reverse what i did before.

I did it because one day backing up, I heard it clicking and knew what it was. Thus since the transmission and axles are out of a 79 bus, I pretty much figured they had the original grease and everything. Guess what, I was right. The CV joints are stamped with a date of 9/78.

I'm one of those guys that can't use gloves either (too old school). Even my wife laughed at me because when we first met, I was hot and heavy into the IMSA Firehawk Series and we ran three 944S2's. Those things needed lots of axle maintenance. Literally a rebuild after every race. On the other hand, there were some tricks to making them last. One was the vent for the boot (they got super hot and needed a vent) that was literally the stainless syringe part from a Cajun Injector (which was sold at Wal Mart like crazy at the time).

Tue May 27, 2025 12:23 pm

jjvincent wrote: I just repacked my CV joints this past weekend. I guess that since I grew up working on Porsches and Audis, I had my fair share of doing CV joints. For me, it's, pull the axle, pop back the boots, remove the circlip and beat off the CV joint. After that, take it apart, clean, reassemble, regrease and reverse what i did before.

I did it because one day backing up, I heard it clicking and knew what it was. Thus since the transmission and axles are out of a 79 bus, I pretty much figured they had the original grease and everything. Guess what, I was right. The CV joints are stamped with a date of 9/78.

I'm one of those guys that can't use gloves either (too old school). Even my wife laughed at me because when we first met, I was hot and heavy into the IMSA Firehawk Series and we ran three 944S2's. Those things needed lots of axle maintenance. Literally a rebuild after every race. On the other hand, there were some tricks to making them last. One was the vent for the boot (they got super hot and needed a vent) that was literally the stainless syringe part from a Cajun Injector (which was sold at Wal Mart like crazy at the time).

If you were going to use gloves on anything...the CV joints would be that one thing.

Depending on the year of manufacture, most of the CV joint grease in those funky triangular shaped bad/tubes has a very large amount of lead in it as an extreme pressure lubricant additive. About 40% lead by volume back in the 70's and into the 80's.

Ray

Wed May 28, 2025 8:21 am

They don't use lead any more. So, it would have been a problem when I was growing up but for today, not the case. Where I do use gloves, it's for doing the tripod CV joints for racing where for a while it was Krytox. Trust me, using that stuff will make you break out in hives. I guess some people don't but most I know of, do (including me).

At this point, with the Lead and Asbestos I had to deal with when it came to cars, today it's a bit better. The Germans for a while went nuts on asbestos gaskets that had graphite sprayed on both sides. Then friction material was pretty much all asbestos. Then gasoline and if there's one thing that has been a blessing, elimination of lead out of that stuff.

I found that NAPA pretty much has the best price on CV joint grease. Seems most places treat it like a rare item unless you buy a boot or joint.

Wed May 28, 2025 9:42 am

jjvincent wrote: Then gasoline and if there's one thing that has been a blessing, elimination of lead out of that stuff.

I found that NAPA pretty much has the best price on CV joint grease. Seems most places treat it like a rare item unless you buy a boot or joint.

Getting the lead out of gas was one of the main things that made engines last longer. Back in the sixties and early '70s I saw engines that were literally filled to the top with lead sludge to the point one wonders how they could run at all, and as recently as 2000 I tore into a 1963 vintage industrial engine to see why there was so little oil in the crankcase when I drained the oil and found the oil pan full of lead sludge excepting a funnel shaped hole above the oil pickup. An oil pan that was supposed to hold 8 gallons of oil was holding only about two. The pan full of sludge must have weighted several hundred pounds.