CV Axle replacement

[PPinzino]

I have decided to order new shafts for my VX I purchased last week, the TOD system seems to function just fine but if I put it in 4LO they both will clack pretty loud...

[tom4bren]

Mark,

Those 'wear' spots don't look that bad to me. I think I'd just take the risk of putting the new components into the old green cup ... but that's just me.

Now this is from the dregs of my memory so ...

You only need to break your ball joints free if you're pulling the axles out of the diff housing. Also, you may not need to break them all free. There's a coupling that bolts to the frame with 4 bolts that are much easier to remove & will allow enough movement of the center link to allow for the axle housing to be dropped.

In order to remove the axles from the diff housing, you need to unbolt the differential brackets from the frame, then unbolt the brackets from the axle housing. That allows you to remove a clip ring that retains a bearing. Once that is removed, you can slide the axle out.

I also ran into a snag that when I dropped the axle housing, one of the green cups wouldn't clear the Lower Control arm. I ended up just grinding a little off of the LCA to allow clearance.

These 3 files are kinda the gospel for CV's & stuff.

[MSHardeman]

Tom, thanks for the info. I ended up talking to Jon (VXorado) yesterday on the phone and he said pretty much the same thing that you did. The wear marks don't look drastic enough to bother replacing the green cup, which means that I don't need to drop my front axle. I did look up the axle removal on my shop CD, and even though it doesn't look hard to do, it does get to be pretty involved. I thought that I would be able to unbolt the axle mounting brackets and wiggle things around enough to get the axle out (and then back in). Jon let me know that there really isn't enough room to do that and that you have to split the axle on the car (removing the passenger side axle) in order to get it out and that the process must be reversed to get the axle housing back in.

I was starting to get worried that the more I took out, the more chances I would have to mess the seals up. Since I don't have a leak at the axle seal right now, I sure didn't want to create one. I think I'm going to follow both or your advice and break the new SurTrack axles down and just install the half shafts in my existing green cups. If the clacking continues then I know what I need to do.

I do have one split boot on my passenger side lower ball joint so I'll replace that too, but now the job shouldn't take too long to get everything back together.

Thanks all for the information, suggestions and hand holding.

[nfpgasmask]

That's good if you can avoid dropping the axle. It is a pain in my book.

Bart

[MSHardeman]

OK, so I decided to leave the axle housing where it is and just replace the half shafts. Sorry to those who were looking for a complete front axle removal how/to, but the Workshop manual has a pretty good write up on it.

I have broken the SurTrack axles down now and separated the half shaft from the axle. My question now is; is it OK to mix grease? The inner CV joint has grease in it already, but I want to pack my existing green cup with grease to make up for the bit that was lost to the new green cup. Is it OK to just add the synthetic bearing grease that I have to the grease that is already there, or should I clean the new joint out completely and re-pack with one type of grease?

Thanks to all for the help so far. This should be done in the next day, or so, and you won't have to read about it any more.

[JAMAS]

This should be done in the next day, or so, and you won't have to read about it any more.

Its going to help someone else eventually. Keep on talking about it.

[nfpgasmask]

MIxing grease...hmmm. I can't really see a reason why it should matter, but the IsuzuGeek in me would ask the same question.

Bart

[Cobrajet]

My question now is; is it OK to mix grease? The inner CV joint has grease in it already, but I want to pack my existing green cup with grease to make up for the bit that was lost to the new green cup. Is it OK to just add the synthetic bearing grease that I have to the grease that is already there, or should I clean the new joint out completely and re-pack with one type of grease?

Ask anyone who sells grease (like Mobil1) and the answer will ALWAYS be "NO!!". Of course, they want to sell you new grease. Will it work? Probably. Will it hurt anything? Maybe...maybe not. I'm just guessing it depends on what the two greases are. Are they the same weight? Type (Dino vs. Synthetic) Color? (Some people don't like their food to touch, so maybe they don't like their grease to touch either.) I guess you'll have to make up your own mind.

[MSHardeman]

Don't know what grease came in the SurTrack axles, but it's black whereas the grease I bought is red and I can't find anywhere on the tube where it says if it's dino or synthetic.

Hmmm, what to do?

[nfpgasmask]

You could:

1) disassemble the balls and cage
2) remove the boot
3) thoroughly wipe out the boot and then wash with mild hand soap and let dry
4) thoroughly clean the balls and cage, rinse with brake parts cleaner and let dry
5) reassemble and regrease everything with the same lube

Bart