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crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 9923
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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 Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 5:30 pm Post subject: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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Pulled tranny for some clutch work on my 2wd 87 Westy.
CV boots showing some cracks at the tranny ends, good time to remove axles and check out the CV joints before installing new boots.
Driven coast to coast USA a couple times, 4 summers criss-crossing Europe.
From Denmark to Portugal, Poland to Croatia, and many countries in between.
Alps, alps, alps and more alps.
No known problems with the axles, just a few cracks that look like they could open any time.
Disassembled the inner joint on each axle to have a close look.
Balls still tight in the cages, no pits in the grooves.
Minor wear, looks like many years of life left.
Might only change the 2 cracking inner boots, the outer boots look perfect.
Joints are EMPI VW-202 which is their basic VW van joint.
Mark |
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MarkWard
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Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 17124
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 5:43 pm Post subject: Re: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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Nice to see some joints hold up. Thanks for sharing.
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revolution337
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Joined: May 23, 2009
Posts: 372
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 5:49 pm Post subject: Re: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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| Do you have any info on which specific axles those are, and where you purchased them? I see the joints are stamped EMPI. Might be good info for others who are looking for a cheaper alternative to buying burlier axles/joints. Thanks. |
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Wildthings
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Joined: March 13, 2005
Posts: 50338
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 6:28 pm Post subject: Re: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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The problem with cheap parts is their quality often varies a lot from one batch to the next.
Glad these have worked well for you. |
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Sodo
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Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 9606
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 7:48 pm Post subject: Re: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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II see there are Zip-ties around the axle.
So you removed the Steel clamps.
Did you service them in that 50,000 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 |
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Vanagon Nut
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Joined: February 08, 2008
Posts: 10371
Location: Sunshine Coast B.C.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 9:55 pm Post subject: Re: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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Multi cultural CV's. 
Good to see what looks like normal wear.
Is there any benefit to double checking orientation of hub to cage on new aftermarket CV/axles? Or is that a moot issue, especially on new parts?
Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA
1988 West DIY 50º ABA
VE7TBN |
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crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 9923
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:30 am Post subject: Re: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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IIRC the new axles were installed in late 2014 and haven't been touched since March of 2015 when the tranny was last out. Most of the driving has been since then. No clamps were removed.
| Sodo wrote: |
II see there are Zip-ties around the axle.
So you removed the Steel clamps.
Did you service them in that 50,000 miles? |
I checked the assembly details of all 4 CVs before taking apart the axles. All three joint pieces have 2 sides that are different. All 4 joints were assembled and installed with all parts in the same orientation.
| Vanagon Nut wrote: |
.......
Is there any benefit to double checking orientation of hub to cage on new aftermarket CV/axles? Or is that a moot issue, especially on new parts?
Neil. |
I don't know for sure where to buy these exact complete axles anymore, if you even can. I have used many of them but none purchased recently. The individual joints are marked EMPI VW-202 and those you can buy various places, bare joints and joint kits with boot/grease etc. The EMPI number for just the joints is 87-9917.
Mark |
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ALIKA T3
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Joined: July 30, 2009
Posts: 6351
Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
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Location: Brookeville, MD
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crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 9923
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 5:49 am Post subject: Re: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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We have these EMPI VW-202 joints in many of my family's Vanagons.
Some for over 10 years, others only a few years.
Some installed as single joints when needed, most as complete axles.
Still running 20+ of these joints as of right now. No failures yet that I know of.
In all cases these are with stock power level engines.
There are poor CVs and axles out there for sure. I've seen and rejected some that were machined roughly and looked almost hand done. In my experience the EMPI VW-202 joints are machined as well and maybe better than so called oem replacement joints which I have also installed plenty of. I'm suspicious of declining quality in most auto parts these days, regardless of brand. In this case I shared some positive results with a specific model of CV joint and don't endorse the overall brand and their other products. With higher performance applications I would buy the strongest joints you can find and stick with oem axle shafts.
Mark |
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Vanagon Nut
Samba Member
Joined: February 08, 2008
Posts: 10371
Location: Sunshine Coast B.C.
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| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:00 am Post subject: Re: Aftermarket complete CV axles, 5 year 50,000 mile checkup |
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| crazyvwvanman wrote: |
I checked the assembly details of all 4 CVs before taking apart the axles. All three joint pieces have 2 sides that are different. All 4 joints were assembled and installed with all parts in the same orientation.
| Vanagon Nut wrote: |
.......
Is there any benefit to double checking orientation of hub to cage on new aftermarket CV/axles? Or is that a moot issue, especially on new parts?
Neil. |
I don't know for sure where to buy these exact complete axles anymore, if you even can. I have used many of them but none purchased recently. The individual joints are marked EMPI VW-202 and those you can buy various places, bare joints and joint kits with boot/grease etc. The EMPI number for just the joints is 87-9917.
Mark |
Thanks for that information Mark. Yes, was curious about assembly QC. https://www.cip1.ca shows Lobro CV's but their "good" quality CV (unknown brand) is ~ 1/2 the price. I don't see complete axles. I'm thankful I kept the (OE I think) axles off a parts van as spares.
Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA
1988 West DIY 50º ABA
VE7TBN |
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