Two questions;

1. which side should the "ridged" side of the ball cage face when installed? towards the axle or away? I think it is away from the axle but I didn't take a good enough 'before' picture to tell (oops).

2. One of the used joints I bought in Ventura is different than the others. It has larger balls and a lot more axial travel than the rest. It shows some wear but not extreme spalling like on the ones I am replacing. Is this a rebuilt joint? Is more axial play normal in rebuilt joints?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I believe they go away from the axle. I too have found a couple CV's with different cage and ball sizes, my guess they are rebuilt units - and yes lots of play.

The joint is still fairly "tight", nowhere as loose as the ones I am replacing. I think I'll put it on and see what happens.

These were better than the ones I replaced, but still not that great, so far so good!

QUOTE (Travis Neff @ Sep 23 2005, 12:13 AM)

I believe they go away from the axle.

i dis-agree ...

the "ridge" side of the inner race is what slides on the axle shaft, the flat side faces towards the outside where the clip goes ...
Andy

Andy are you talking about the inner race or the cage that retains the balls?

I am referring to the cage - the thing that goes in between the two races.

Wish I had taken a pic last night. Will take one tonight.

When working on multiples of things, never have all of them apart at once.

This is especially important when working on drum brakes, something we fortunately don't have to worry about on the 914.

small balls may indicate a VW CV joint. What size balls do you have??? HA HA HA. Small balls in the correct CV should be no problem, although the load rating might be less. I had a mix of small balled and large balled CV's on one 914, niether one gave any problems driving a stockish 1.7 car.


good luck

Jeff,
My engine & tranny are out if you want me to take some pictures of my CV's.

Just let me know.

QUOTE (jkeyzer @ Sep 23 2005, 10:03 AM)

I am referring to the cage - the thing that goes in between the two races.

uhm, my cage dosn't have ridges. it's symmetrical ...

Andy

Here are the ridges. The other side is smooth.

Ignore the fact that the center race is installed upside down.

QUOTE (jkeyzer @ Sep 23 2005, 06:55 PM)

Here are the ridges. The other side is smooth. Ignore the fact that the center race is installed upside down.

ok, i'm looking at my 944 CVs as we speak and the cage has no ridges on either side. perfectly smooth ...

Andy

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Sep 23 2005, 08:12 PM)

QUOTE (jkeyzer @ Sep 23 2005, 06:55 PM) Here are the ridges.  The other side is smooth. Ignore the fact that the center race is installed upside down. ok, i'm looking at my 944 CVs as we speak and the cage has no ridges on either side. perfectly smooth ... Andy

i think jeffs are 914/4

I just chked my /4 CV/s that I had dissasembled and shor' nuf, I see what jeff is describing but danm if I can see what differance it would make?

These are 914-4. I think the inner race only fits into the cage from the ridged side, because the opening is a little larger. So there is a difference...

QUOTE (jkeyzer @ Sep 22 2005, 10:38 PM)

Two questions; 1. which side should the "ridged" side of the ball cage face when installed? towards the axle or away? I think it is away from the axle but I didn't take a good enough 'before' picture to tell (oops). 2. One of the used joints I bought in Ventura is different than the others. It has larger balls and a lot more axial travel than the rest. It shows some wear but not extreme spalling like on the ones I am replacing. Is this a rebuilt joint? Is more axial play normal in rebuilt joints? Thanks in advance for any help.

In the remaining pile of CVs here at the shop, there's a mix of large and small sizes. As I recall, the new ones I sold last spring were the same way. Could be from different production runs. Porsche calls Lobro and asks for thickness, spline count, and OD. As long as the degree of angular movement is sufficient, the actual design doesn't really matter. The Cap'n