EMPI Complete Axle Assembly teardown

[airschooled]

Last week I saw a splatter of CV joint grease near my starter, and a slight rumbling on left turns also told me it was time to dig in…

81,223 miles on these, according to my log book, and the boots are just starting to give up:

I never removed these axles from the car. I never cleaned and repacked them, and I never swapped them side to side. I did add a little grease one time to each joint when I had them partially disconnected for wheel bearing packing and transmission removal on separate occasions.

The balls looked brand new except for one which had a haze to the finish.

The ONLY visible damage was extremely localized; the rest of the joint had so little wear, so I'm a little disappointed that I won't be re-using the joints.

I don't know what causes that kind of acute pitting, but I'm guessing it was a metallurgical or casting flaw. Either way, I can safely say that these complete axle kits are a bargain at around $100 a pop, even if for how long the boots last compared to the horror stories of other brands.

Robbie
_________________
Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[sodbuster]

CV joints are not cast. They are forged. I'll venture that they are also heat treated and surface hardend as part of the heat treating process. Different heat treating processes yeald different results. Hardening or softening depending on the process and need. That pitting is a result of the ball wearing through the surface hardness and getting into softer material underneith. At least that is the way I have always understood it.

[sodbuster]

I am also suprised that the EMPI boots lasted so long. The last set of those axles I installed the boots lasted less than six months and less than 3000 miles. I had held my old axles and repacked them with new boots and put the EMPI axles on deck for repair.

[Wildthings]

If those were Lobros, I would just swap them to the other side of the rig and run with them likely getting another 100K or more out of them. With EMPI's I would just replace them.

You might trying buying replacements with Autozone, Oreillys, or some other outfit that will give you a lifetime guarantee if you don't want to pay the price for Lobros.

[airschooled]

Thanks for the info, sodbuster!

[aeromech]

I'm actually hearing good things about Empi boots. I do remember Larry in OB saying his Autozone replacement axle CV's failed fairly quickly but maybe they weren't Empi?
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[timvw7476]

Question for asiab3:
Are those EMPI boots on your latest axles?
80k+ till failure is muy bueno.

[airschooled]

[OB Bus]

[aeromech]

[SGKent]

[richparker]

[wcfvw69]

My 69 bug I've owned for 20 years. It has the original VW CV joint boots on them. They are still perfect almost 50 years later.

For full transparency, the bug has probably 150k total miles on it with only 8k in the last 20.

Sad that we can buy that quality of boot 50 years later...
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[Wildthings]

EMPI boots went unavailable a while back, maybe 6-8 years ago. I think the quality dropped badly for a while once they became available again. I think the boots on my 83 1/2 Vanagon are EMPIs, they are maybe 12-14 years old and failing badly at this point. Maybe 100K miles on them.

[airschooled]

[sodbuster]

[69BahamaYellow]

Back in 2012 or 2013, I went through multiple sets of complete axle assemblies from Advanced Auto that would only last maybe 3-6 months, before they started knocking in turns. They came with lifetime warranties, and were around $100 for a complete axle, so I figured it was a safe bet. Man was I wrong. No warranty is worth the trouble of replacing those things once or twice a year, so I finally gave up and returned them for a full refund and just applied that toward some quality lobro joints. Those have never given me a bit of trouble, but I was not so lucky with boots. I think they're starting to get better with the neoprene ones, but still nothing close to OEM service life....

[Wildthings]