CV Joint Disassembly Procedure?

[jefo]

Hey guys,

I am planning on picking up some good cv axles at the junkyard. I want to clean, re-grease with synthetic grease, and reboot.
What is the procedure for taking apart both the inner and outer cv joints?

Thanks.

[pauly_no_van]

The Haynes manual I have is pretty descriptive.
However, if the boot is not ripped I would apply the 'ain't broke don't fix it' logic..
There frequently are cars with near new joints at the yard where one was replaced then the engine blew a HG or the trans failed or something and PO decided to junk it because nobody would pay what they wanted for it.
/.02

[Vigo]

I agree with if it aint broke dont fix it, and i dont take apart CV axles on purpose.. but that's not to say i havent seen the insides for various reasons... haha.

Generally speaking the outer CV joint is held in by a spring circlip on the main shaft that pops into a groove when they are pushed together. To separate that you just hammer the outer cage off the shaft while holding it as straight as possible.

The inner CV on these things is usually just held together by the boot. It doesnt have room to come apart when it's installed so it doesn't have any mechanical limiter thing. I think i have seen on some inner CVs, a snapring that pops into the inside of the inner cage and keeps it from popping apart, but i dont think our axles have that.

[RoadWarrior222]

The Haynes manual I have is pretty descriptive.

+1 That section in the Haynes (for all bodies, pick up the first one you see cheap if you only want it for that) is a relic of when they actually told you how to DO stuff, instead of having "refer to dealer service department" every couple of paragraphs like they do now (And since every other, other one is a safety warning they're barely better than a servicing guide any more)

[turismolover22]

Yes, i will agree that leaving it be if it doesnt feel or sound "bad" when you compress it or try to rotate the outers against the center axle.My older haynes manuals all have big sections on identifying and servicing all different axle types. Seems after 94-95 they went to hell.