CV Joint Replacement Tutorial

[Livens]

I replaced one of my CV joints today, and I took pictures along the way. Figured I might has well write up a little how-to while I'm at it.

This was done on a 1972 Super Beetle

First I made sure I had everything I needed before I started taking things off of my bug. John Muir's book helps and also http://www.vw-resource.com/cv_joints.html#procedure is very helpfull. I recommend reading both before starting.

So get your tools, supplies and parts ready to go.

[edited]

Here are the 6 12 point bolts that hold the CV joints on:

Mine were really cruded up

I started with the one on the drum side. Just start breaking them free one at a time and pulling them out. Leave the last one in so the axle wont fall off, then it'll be hanging there making a mess while you remove the other side. Each bolt has a little lock washer so be carefull not to loose them. Also there are 3 backing plates, 2 bolts go into each plate. Just pull them off after the bolts come out.

The ones in the back are a little harder to get too.

But if you have a long extension, or several short ones its easy:

Once you have the other side romoved, take the last bolt out of the drum side CV joint. The axle will just fall off at this point so be carefull. Lay the axle aside and examine the attachment points. You need to cleam all this old grease out too.

Transmission side. Make sure the rubber seal in intact.

Drum side

Here is my axle removed

Looking at the joint I can see why it wore out. The grease is really dry and there isn't much there.

You need to get the boot flanges off of the joint. I used a flathead screwdriver and a hammer to catch the lip and beat it off. Just work your way around it and it will pop off.

As soon as you touch the joints you get greasy. I used vinyl gloves for the dirty parts.

Once you have the boot flang off let it fall down. Now we need to get the outer race off. To do this you have to get the balls out of the bearing. Just tilt the bearing to one side and push the cage to the other

Pop them out with a screwdriver if needed. Some of mine just fell out. An important note here is to do one at a time. Appearently mixing up the balls from different joints is bad. Once the balls are free the outer race will just pull off from the top.

Now you have a decision to make. I knew which of my joints were bad so I was definatly going to remove that one. But if the bearing is OK you dont really need to remove the inner race and cage. You can just clean the old grease out with it still on the axle.

But if you are removing here is how.

There is a circlip that holds the inner race onto the axle. I bent mine all up getting it off, but my new bearing came with a new one so I didn't care. I was more carefull with the other side.

Now you have to get the inner race off. If you have a puller for this great, use it. But if not you can use a vise and a hammer.

Open the vise so that the axle slide through, but the race sits on the sides

Then just start whacking the axle and drive it thru. Once flush you will need something that fits onto the hole to continue pounding the axle. I found that my 1/2" to 3/4"" converter worked great.

Just keep pounding

Towards the end I would hold onto the axle while you hit it so it wont fall.

Here is the end of the axle:

Clean it up real good.

Under the inner race is a cupped washer, dont loose it!

Here is my new bearing. I took it apart and cleaned all the crap the factories put on them off.

I cleaned up the old bearing to see the damage. You can see shiney places in all the races. Shiney is normal, but these are deep grooves. the balls get caught in the grooves and "pop" out, hence the knocking noises.

Close up of the inner race and cage damage.

Got some new boots too. These are German made, $6 per. The taiwan ones were $5, get the German.

Now, lube your axle with some cv joint grease. This will make sliding the new boot on 10 times easier. Also get some grease in the ridges. I used the back of a carpenters pencil to push the new boot down from the inside. Its really hard so take your time and dont rip a hole in it.

Remember that washer? Here it is. It goes with cup side up.

The new inner race. This is the bottom with the little ridges. This side goes on first. All bearing brands may not have this, the original didn't. Just pay attention before you take it apart too see which way everything goes.

Put the cage on before you start hammering the inner race on. It wont go an after the race is on!

Now get a peice of wood or something and start hammering. Try to keep it straight.

Once flush you need something to go over the axle that you can keep hitting. I used a 1 + 1/16" spark plug socket.

Keep going untill the circlip groove is sticking up:

Now put the circlip back on.

And now the fun begins! Putting the bearing back together can be frustrating if you don't know what you are doing. And I certainly dont. I got so frustrated I forgot to take pictures of the process.

But basically it seems you have to put the balls in one at a time. It also helps to have everything covered in gease, including yourself. I held the outer race over the inner race and the cage. Then tilt the cage up and shove a ball in the opening in the cage. The openings have 2 entrances, so use the one that gets the ball closest to the race grooves. Just keep going around the bearing untill they are all in.

Then grease the crap out of it. Shove some grease down into the boot too. Then I wrapped mine is plastic bags once finished to keep it from making an even bigger mess.

Again there are no pictures of the geasing process. Moly grease and digital cameras dont go well together.

repeat for the other joint.

Now you can put them back on.

Putting them on it actually very easy. But before you do be sure to clean the connection points out really good and pack some grease in there too.

I started with the tranny side putting one bolt at the top to start with. Dont forget the backing plates and lock washers. Snug up all the bolts then start torqing them to 25ft.lbs.

Do the same for the drum side.

I then wiped all the grease off of everything. It was everywhere and still is. Hard to get it all back off.

Here is the finished axle

If I had the time I would have stripped what was left of the old paint off of the axles and repainted. Maybe next time.

Thats it, you're done!

Thanks for everyone that helped me diagnose and fix this problem
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1972 Super Beetle

[oc63rag]

That's awesome. Thanks for posting this. The pics make it much easier to see exactly what's going on.

[Glenn]

Now why did you remove the axle nut?

I've removed my axles and CVs many times and never had to remove the nut.

The only time I ever remove the nut is to remove the drum and change the brakes.

BTW.. nice pictures.

Is there a reason you didn't put clamps on the axle end of the boots? Clamps will prevent grease from escaping and dirt from getting in.

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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

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[philman]

Super job with the pics! Just one question-- why did you see the need to take off the axle nut? I have changed a fair amount of CV's and never removed the axle nut unless I was also going to change the wheel bearings.
I have found that leaving the tire on helps as well. What I have done is jack up the car so the tire on the side I am doing is just slightly off the ground. Arm your self with a piece of wood that will stop the tire from turning. While lying under the car getting the bolts out, you can use the wood to stop the tire from turning; move the tire so you can have access to the next bolt and stick the wood back in. It works the opposite way as well when you have to tork the bolts back in.
In any case, it is always a nice greasy job!

[Livens]

I got the idea of removing the axle nut from an artile I read about CV joint replacement. I thought that it had to come off or at least be loosened. But after doing it I can see it makes no sence to even touch it.

I'll take that part out as not to confuse people.

Thanks.
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1972 Super Beetle

[Glenn]

I also reassemble and grease the joint before I install it.

I also agree that the German boots are the ones to get. I've seen cheap boots crack and split way too soon after being replaced.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

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[Livens]

[Glenn]

If they fit really tight, they shouldn't leak.

Also the factory didn't use "hose" clamps. They used steel bands that were crimped with a special tool. These only compressed a set amount.
_________________
Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

[Randy in Maine]

Nice description of the job. Not really difficult, but greasy none the less. It takes me most of a day to do all 4.

I am like Glenn, I like to assemble the joint before I install it on the shaft. But what ver works for you is OK by me.

I would suggest re-torquing the triple square bolts after about 100 miles. I usually check them when I am under there doing something, just because it is a PITA to fix them on the side of the road.

[72SuperBug]

Bartnik's website states: you may notice that your old CV joints had a concave washer installed beneath the joint. This washer is not to be used when you reinstall the CV joints, so says Bentley. New boot kits come with this washer, but do not use it. If you do use it, good luck getting the circlip on!

In your example, you used the new concave washer. If it is no longer recommended by Bentley then why are they still being used and made? I want to install mine (on 72 SuperBeetle) correctly, please help! Thanks

[John M.]

I put the cupped washer on mine and I had no problems getting the circlip back on....

[Livens]

[72SuperBug]

[John M.]

Bartnik was also not working with Type 1 CV Joints. The other VW's use varying hardware/spacers.

[GeorgeL]

[AJ Quick]

Thanks for the great tutorial.

I also decided to go ahead and paint the axles, and outer race.

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[JSMskater]

resurrecting an old thread in the hopes of getting suggestions.

i always, ALWAYS strip the f*cking cv bolts. iv changed my cv joints on several different VW's, and EVERYTIME i have the 12 point cv bolts, they get stripped the first time i try to un bolt them. i have the special 12 point tool, i know its the right size (6mm) and i bought it from a VW shop. i always switch to the hex style bolts once i go to replace the joint, as i havnt had one of those strip on me yet.

anyways, moving beyond my rant of shitty cv bolt design, i had a question

im working on my ghia ATM, and it looks like its the first time the motor, cv joints, or anything else for that matter has been removed. the cv bolts are the 12 point style, and they sure as hell dont want to come off. iv tried heating them, iv tried liquid wrench, iv used the special tool on a small breaker bar (which promptly stripped the f*cking splines in the bolt) iv used a 6mm hex allen key, ive tried grinding a flat edge and using vice grips, i have seriously done everything i can think of to get these little mothers off. they are on the drum side. i dont care about unbolting them from the tranny cause its getting replaced. anybody know of anyway of getting them off?
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[AJ Quick]

Go buy a bunch of cheap hex drivers, and weld them in.. its what I did before I got the 12 point tool.. which worked everytime.

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[72SuperBug]

Sounds like you had a similar experience as I did when trying to remove my cv joints. I read somewhere that if you heat the bolt with a candle that it might loosen them. I tried it and it worked on a couple but not all of them. Worth a try. Better than having to drill the bolts out.

What finally worked for me however was using a small vice grip that I clamped onto the heads of the stripped bolts and then pounded on the vice grip with a hammer. It worked on every problem bolt I had since! Watch the knuckles though, without gloves you may loose some skin. Hang in there, you can do it!

[JSMskater]

ive heated it with a propane/acetalyne torch-bupkiss. i have used the vice grip method in the past but these bolts seem to resist...
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71 Squareback-FI -- 73 Bay (subaru powered)
TOOB Member #3
I make D-jet FI connectors