Changing CV joints (front right and left axle assemblies)

[mcaramb]

Awesome that I don't have to completely take apart the wheel... will look at it today.

Would you recommend changing the cups?

What's the best way to test if they are hosed?

The boots were sealed and were in perfect condition, no grit in the grease, there was a little play in them, but real little, and it might have just been total slack down the drive train to the diff.

Would it be worth the effort of dropping the diff?

I got my axle assemblies from O'Reilly (includes the cup). While playing around with it, it surprised the hell outta me that I was able to pull the inner CV right out of the cup by hand (boot still attached). I immediately pushed it back in and felt around for missing balls and didn't find any, so it looks like it went back together ok, but I don't know why they didn't put a retaining ring in their cup to stop that from happenning.

Anyone have any experience with the O'Reilly assembly?

UPDATE - I pulled the boot off the O'Reilly assemby to see if the shaft geometry matched my old inner CV (intending to keep the old bearings since I'm no longer changing the cup), and discovered why it slid out on me earlier. It's not an Rzeppa joint at all, it's a Tripod joint, thus completely a different architecture. The cup is a bit larger than the stock cup, so that should have given me a clue. I put it back together neatly and returned them to O'Reilly. I've ordered the assemblies from Autozone instead (without the cup). I'll let you know how well it matches up to the original stock inner CV geometry when they come in.

-Mike

[tom4bren]

BTW, here are some instructions for the clip ring you'll need to pull for the outer shaft removal:

http://www.4x4wire.com/isuzu/tech/manualhubs/

You can run your finger along the grooves on the inside of the green cup. Rough with divets & grooves = worn; smooth = good.

If the only play was associated with the outer CVs, then yes, you can probably re-use the inner CV components.

[mcaramb]

OMG that was easy.

No need to drop the differential, I'm not going to replace the inner splines.

7 allen bolts and one lock ring later, I'm holding an axle in my hands Now that I've figured it all out, I literally had the other one off in under an hour (including jack up, and tire removal time)

I felt inside the cups as you suggested and they are perfectly smooth as were the ballbearings, chase and pivot bearing parts. Break cleaner is your friend. The grease just melts off.

I'm still waiting for the autozone parts to come in (sometime today they swear), but should have it all back together in a few hours if things match up. Will let everyone know.

I may take pics and put together a complete CV axle replacement guide so folks don't have to piecemeal the instructions from one place or the other like I did. Will post soon.

-Mike

[mcaramb]

Just curious, in a pinch, could I drive it like this with no axles attached?

Or, does there have to be some steel inside the core of the wheel bearings? Without the spline there, it seems like those bearings would be pretty structurally weak.

-Mike

[tom4bren]

Sorry, I can't answer that one for you. I had disassembled outers to run in mine while the CVs were being re-built.

[mcaramb]

UPDATE: The AUTOZONE replacement CV axles (WITHOUT the CUP) are indeed much smaller than the original stock. According to my caliper, the complete INNER BEARING assembly is more than 1/8" smaller in diameter from outer edge of one bearing to the outer edge of the bearing 180 degrees across from it. That's after compressing the both assemblys in the comparison inward as much as possible so slack wouldn't skew the result.

That's pretty significant. I don't think I want to put that in the stock cup. My guess is that it would eat itself within a year. If anyone has experience using smaller aftermarket bearings in the cup, I'd like to know how long it's lasted you.

Now, to my idea of simply replacing the bearing on the end of the shaft. Well, that's out. The rebuilt Autozone shaft has a 25 (approx) tooth spline on the inner bearing end. The stock shaft has a 33 (approx) tooth spline. So you can't interchange them. Why they are different, considering these are rebuilds is beyond me. My best guess is that they are rebuilds from a Trooper or something.

So... does anyone besides Autozone sell just the CV Axle without the cup? ie: with a Rzepper joint, not a Tripod?

thanks
Mike

[tom4bren]

& yous guys wanted to know why in the ^%$# I rebuilt OEM shafts instead of buying aftermarket ...

BWAAHAAHAA!!!!


Mike, sorry you're going through this frustration. All those aftermarket options looked so promising to me when I was going through it too. Is there a shop in your area that can re-build your OEMs?

BTW, sorry I missed your call the other day. Cell battery was dead that day and just got around to listening to voicemails last night.