Is this CV pitting beyond regreasing? Hub orientation?

[damagd]

2.1 Automatic. Took my rear passenger CV half axle off because I have been having an intermittent thumping/scraping noise that sounds rotational. It would come and go for the past couple of years and every time I took the wheel off to inspect, seeing nothing amiss, it would go away immediately upon reassembly of the wheel. But now it is starting to vibrate under load to coincide with the noise so I went to work. Grease was def all dried up. Is this worth putting 20$ worth of grease into all 4 CV's or should I just buy some new ones? Also, before researching or inspecting, thinking they were symmetrical, I took both CV's off the axle without noting their orientation. Not sure which way the center hub goes. It has a bunch of grooves on one side and has a sharp edge. Other side is smooth with a tapered edge. The part that the inner hub slides into has one edge that is slightly thinner than the other. Would it be possible to switch the CV's around, while keeping the axles in the same place to create a brand new wear point? I thought I saw something about this earlier, but I can't find the thread.

[dobryan]

That CV owes you nothing. It has lived a long life and is ready to be put out to pasture. If it were my bus I’d replace all 4 with lobros and call it a day.
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[Sodo]

You could turn those the other way, but you've already disassembled them and there's no way to put them back together exactly the way they were. The wear is too uneven to do so.

And I'd say the wear is too significant.
Those are about the deepest ball-tracks I've ever seen.
Probably should have turned them around a long time ago.

Those look like Lobros.
Also I notice the decel side is un-touched.
Manual transaxle CVs will show a little wear on the decel side.

As Dave said, prob shoud get new Lobros, but I will add, you should reverse the direction sooner. And since you know how to service them, maybe clean the break-in grease out and replace with fresh grease at the first 10,000 miles.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Steve M.]

Nice paperweight.
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[Jeffrey Lee]

Agreed, new joints are in order. I suggest Lobros with Rockford boots.

Save 1 or 2 of your least-bad old joints, clean them and pack them away onboard with a circlip, boot, bolts, grease, and tool, as an emergency spare.

Or, if you're NOT a cheap b*stard like me, just buy 5 new ones and chuck all the old stuff ...
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[damagd]

[Sodo]

They won't say it but I will give you 50% chance of exceeding 25,000 miles, depending on what ball goes in what pit, how you drive, your engine size, the terrain, your luck, and how bad you wanna keep milking it after it grumbles.
If it clicks, pops, snaps, it's gonna bust the cage and you're done.
If you can successfully get all new drive tracks (opposite drive direction) it runs quiet, and you keep it greasey, I'll nod towards 50k.

We are acknowledging this is all for sport, right?

The problems people have most with CVs is boots, grease and tightening the triple-square bolts (33-36 ft-bs!).

I'll say that if you are truly a cheap b**tard invest $20 on some clean oil for your transmission while it's still quiet. Fook up your bearings and R&P due to inattention and there's no flipping them over for another 50k.
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[bobbyblack]

[quote="damagd"]

[Merian]

ok, a re-pack would get you another 50k


mm, not miles
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....

[4Gears4Tires]

[bluebus86]

Inner races look very bad. are they still usable? Yes! will they be highly reliable long term? No.

If driven locally, go for it, a short distance tow however may cost more than new CVs.

A long distance tow will be more expensive, a ruined road trip, delay in getting the parts and such might be an issue

so it is a gamble, the loss could be large if you need a long tow, or are stuck for days far from home,and have to pay for labour. however they may wear slow enough that you can schedule to replace then at an economical time and place.

The risk goes up for a higher cost repair the further from home you drive

If your broke, reinstall them, but start saving for replacements, and keep the driving very local in the mean time.

What you are asking is kind of like asking if your lottery ticket is a winner or not before purchase

To quote Harry Callahan.

" Do you feel lucky, well do you?"

Bug On, In a Van!
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[damagd]

Ok, thank you for your honest answers. However, my time is more valuable than the money I need to spend on new CV's, so I will be making the 1 hr drive to Bus Depot in the am to pick a couple up. I took the driver side half axle off as well to inspect even though it was not making any noise. The grease was not nearly as dried up on either one of those. I took them apart and cleaned them and there is not much wear on either one, so I see no need to replace. I will however switch those over to the other side and install the new ones on the driver side. One weird thing though......The driver side CV that attaches to the wheel did not move in and out well like the others did. It was very tight. Also, it had the cage backwards from what I understand, i.e. the thinner edge was facing out. I cleaned it and flipped it around correctly, however it still does not slide in and out smoothly like the others do. Even flipped it back the way it was and it still doesn't. As for all the balls, yeah, I do not know their original location.

[Wildthings]

New CV can be very tight, which is at least part of the reason some people feel their wear surfaces need to be polished before installing them. Thus it sounds to me like you may have a new CV on the driver's side.

[damagd]

Installed the new CV's on the driver's side and switched the driver's side over to the passenger side. Driven 200+ miles so far and all is good. Thanks for all your help! ONE TIP THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT I FOUND IN ANOTHER THREAD........ When installing the outer CV onto the vehicle, I cut the head off of one of the old bolts, dremeled a flat blade screwdriver slot into it and screwed it into one of the holes a little bit so that I could hang the CV on it and install the rest of the bolts. Worked like a charm and I really struggled trying to attach it before I used this method.

[IdahoDoug]

Ironically, if you took the driver's side shaft intact, and swung it 180 over to the passenger side, attaching the former inner CV to the inner CV, you did nothing. The worn CVs would then be still torqued in the same direction.

Doug
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[Wildthings]

[damagd]

My understanding for correct re-orientation to reverse wear was this:
Looking from the rear
OLD
A - 1 - B - DIFFERENTIAL - C - 2 - D
NEW
D - 1 - C - DIFFERENTIAL - B - 2 - A

[Wildthings]

[Abscate]

The beauty of CVs is you can ignore all the advice, replace them , install them. And listen for the next 5000-?? Miles and know if they are running ok.

Unless you are completely situationally Unaware CVs give you loads of warning.
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.ssS!

[IdahoDoug]

Wups - yes correct, meant to NOT say swap 180, but simply move it across. I had to think this out and write a bullet point list for swapping CVs on the Syncro, and had to do it again for swapping them on the Wolfsburg. Later learned Van Cafe has an excellent diagram on their site.

So, there is a right and wrong way to swap CVs to start wearing the other surfaces out. Glad people are awake!!
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader