Ok, started hearing clunking on the driverside rear...figured its gotta be CV's (one of the few things I havn't touched yet on this car). I have a parts car that has sat for 15+ years, so I figure I will pull those axles "rebuild" them and throw them in my car (boots look new).

Spent last night doing the dirty deed , and all went as well as can be expected, except for one joint. 3 of the joints look like they are orig, no markings except for a small vw stamp on them. One of them was marked as a LOBRO (good german OEM right?) and tree things were different about this one. Frist the cage had a slightly different shape for the openings (almost perfectly oval, while the other three pinched in in the middle of the opening), second, I had to drive the CV off the axle (vise, BFH, and a big drift) while the other three came off with just a little tap, and third, when all cleaned up and dry the lobro cv is much "looser" than the other three, I can manipulate the cage in and out, and take it apart very easily while the other three barely move now that they are together with no lube.

So, question, is this a "bad" cv? No cracks, looks like normal wear otherwise...I still have the axles on the car to pull, so I can probably find another good one, just wondering if I need to bother?

Thanks,

Tony

sorry, can't help 'ya, but this question is worth a

Any radial play in the joint? Galling or pits in the race? If not, then it is probably fine - pack and enjoy.

The wear on the joint looks similar to the other three, smallish groves where the ball bearings made contact with the other parts, no cracks, and no radial play that I could detect. I will be sure to check closer tonight before I repack, was a little loopy after all the brake cleaner last night (need to buy that parts washer). Since this is a replacement joint, its also probably the newest of the four...I can't really see it being bad, but thought I would post my findings here first.

Other than the obvious crack, what else signifies a bad cv joint?

Thanks again...

Tony

Run your finger in the land where the ball travels....it should be smooth and the same. If it's beat it will have a big dip worn into it. You will only notice this on the outer part.
Also look at the balls, if they're blue that means a lot of heat, another sign of wear.

I bet that oddball CV is from a bug that someone made fit

no blue balls here

A few of them are a slight golden color, but most were nice and silver. I will check the outer lands tonight, I didn't really look at them too close...I know on the inner lands there were small groves where the balls made contact, probably 1-2mm wide by 3-4 long.

Do the bug axles have the same spline count as the 914 ones? The CV mates up properly to the splines, just a fraction tighter than the others.

Thanks again,

Tony

Here are a couple pics of the lobro cv...

and the inside lands...almost all of the cv's had this type of wear, is this acceptable?

I wondered who would make a blue balls crack!

They're not too bad, you should get another 20K out of them.

Make sure you use only CV grease on them, you can get it at your FLAP's. Often you can get only a grease gun tube at the FLAP's, but it will do two full sets (8) of CV's.

Yep, couldn't resist the blue balls comment

at the rate I drive this car another 20k will be about 5 years...so that works for me...

Thanks again,

Tony

Here's a sloppy one for you.

So if it's sloppy, what can be done? I'm going to be tearing mine apart next week, and I'm pretty sure there will be some slop? If the cages are all good, I assume the ball bearings can be replaced. What about bad cages? I have a lot of rotational twist in my CVs. What would likely be the cause of that?

Thanks,

That s not that sloppy...I've seen them falling right apart!

I've heard of them being rebuilt, I think they regrind them and put in bigger balls.

I know "who's got big balls, they have big balls, but we have the biggest balls of them all..."

New CV's or good used.

Another Good thread!
Ok so speaking of Blue balls ...how about black balls
I was reading a Motorcycle mag the other day (Big suprise huh!) and there was this artical about the replacement of ball & cage bearings with Ceramic balls which are supposed to be indestructable and a hell of alot more slippery?
If CVs are NLA perhaps it makes sense to upgrade the remainig so prolong thier life?

Mmmmmm, ceramics. Sweet, but $.

QUOTE

Ok so speaking of Blue balls ...how about black balls

You better be sure, I hear that when you go black you don't go back

I just had to make that crack