How to install new CV Axles
- Thread starter settytb
- Start date
Brutalguyracing
New member
You can use cv boot clamps from auto parts stores
West marine might have some thin ss hose clamps
Or in a pinch i used some harbor freight clamps that were thin
But a member gave me some mascaster carr ss hose clamps
West marine might have some thin ss hose clamps
Or in a pinch i used some harbor freight clamps that were thin
But a member gave me some mascaster carr ss hose clamps
montijo505
Senior Member
I ordered the McMaster stainless smooth clamps, should be here by Friday, or so they said when I called. Can I do the mod with the axles in place or will I have to pull them out to do it?
Brutalguyracing
New member
You do it right in place
Just the 2 outer ones
Remove old clamp
Slide boot back bot to far just so the fins don't rub at normal ride height
Then make sure the shaft is dry and clean
Some people use a dab of gasket sealant - i do not
And tighten new clamp and done
Dont over tighten the clamp
You should be good to go
Every now and then check them to see if they slipped back at al
Just the 2 outer ones
Remove old clamp
Slide boot back bot to far just so the fins don't rub at normal ride height
Then make sure the shaft is dry and clean
Some people use a dab of gasket sealant - i do not
And tighten new clamp and done
Dont over tighten the clamp
You should be good to go
Every now and then check them to see if they slipped back at al
montijo505
Senior Member
Will do, thanks man always appreciate your input!
Nyc-Runner
New member
Any body have any experience with the CV Axles from Napa with the Heavy duty Neoprene boots? I'm going to pick up a extra CV Axle from them as a spare to keep with me while wheeling. The guy at Napa mentioned the heavy duty one, only problem is they don't keep them in stock so they have to be ordered. My Passenger side inner boot is weeping a little bit so i think i'm going to cut the band and re clamp it for now but it's not that bad so hopefully it won't be a problem.
wkeryder4
New member
Okay, so I went to change my oil today and was greeted with this sight.
The driver side is torn completely around the clamp and the passenger side is torn about 180 degrees around in the same spot. Although I've done all the work to my truck so far I have absolutely no experience with axles. It also doesn't help that I'm about to head home for Thanksgiving and that is about a 500 mile round trip. What's my options? I've called the dealership to get a quote. My biggest issue is this is my only vehicle so I can't really afford to let it sit without axles for a week. Any suggestions, words of encouragement?
Edit: Sorry about the huge pic.
The driver side is torn completely around the clamp and the passenger side is torn about 180 degrees around in the same spot. Although I've done all the work to my truck so far I have absolutely no experience with axles. It also doesn't help that I'm about to head home for Thanksgiving and that is about a 500 mile round trip. What's my options? I've called the dealership to get a quote. My biggest issue is this is my only vehicle so I can't really afford to let it sit without axles for a week. Any suggestions, words of encouragement?
Edit: Sorry about the huge pic.
Brutalguyracing
New member
Okay, so I went to change my oil today and was greeted with this sight.
The driver side is torn completely around the clamp and the passenger side is torn about 180 degrees around in the same spot. Although I've done all the work to my truck so far I have absolutely no experience with axles. It also doesn't help that I'm about to head home for Thanksgiving and that is about a 500 mile round trip. What's my options? I've called the dealership to get a quote. My biggest issue is this is my only vehicle so I can't really afford to let it sit without axles for a week. Any suggestions, words of encouragement?
Edit: Sorry about the huge pic.
If you do not plan on using these axles again then drive them
They will last 30k without grease give or take so dont sweat it
Brutalguyracing
New member
I am not a fan of anything but factory axles or rebuilt factory axles like cvj
But i am outback allot
So i want a sure thing
Yes the lifetime warranty is ok
But who wants to change them frequently
Not i
Been using cvj for a few years now used to wheel the piss out of them and zero issues
G/l
And dont worry about the trip if you cant get them fixed
Hell even eric the car guy says not to worry
When they start to click and clack under normal driving conditions is when you must start to think about fixing
On the flip side if you want to reuse your axles you have now
Then pulling them and rebooting them as soon as possible is highly recommend
But i am outback allot
So i want a sure thing
Yes the lifetime warranty is ok
But who wants to change them frequently
Not i
Been using cvj for a few years now used to wheel the piss out of them and zero issues
G/l
And dont worry about the trip if you cant get them fixed
Hell even eric the car guy says not to worry
When they start to click and clack under normal driving conditions is when you must start to think about fixing
On the flip side if you want to reuse your axles you have now
Then pulling them and rebooting them as soon as possible is highly recommend
Nyc-Runner
New member
Fixed my leaking cv boot to by clipping the old band off and adding a new hose clamp did the trick. Going to do the driver side tomorrow to avoid further issues in the future. It was very easy to do just be careful not to damage the boot when clipping off the old band. Also I had trouble finding skinny enough hose clamps, the only place I found them was at Home Depot and what was after going to lowes hardware and multiple auto stores.
ARunner
New member
You should be fine driving home and back without doing the repair. I drove mine for a year. As long as you aren't fording water and haven't lost a ton of grease, you should be alright. If they're not making noise, you're still in good shape. I agree that fixing yours would be the more reliable bet long term, but understand the need to replace faster. You'll save at least a couple hours and untold cursing and paper towels if you just buy remanufactired units.
wkeryder4
New member
So I've seen that people are using quite a few different types of axles and was wondering if anyone had feed back on the quality of theirs. I'm currently looking at the A1 Cardone Axles with the HD Thermoplastic outboard boots. Although it looks like once you've done one swap it can be performed rather quickly I would like to replace them and not need to worry about them again. Has anyone had any problems with the remanned or NAPA versions or the standard neoprene boots tearing again after replacing?
I just took my 2004 in for its 60k mile service (the previous owners barely drive the car), and the dealer told me my driver's side CV boot was completely missing.
They quoted me $860 + tax to do the work, which seems insane. Any idea why the OEM CV axle (part number 43430-60061) is $350-$450 (depending on where you look)?
When I looked on RockAuto, the part that came up was in the $50-100 range. The part number was slightly different: 43430-60060.
Any idea if that matters?
They quoted me $860 + tax to do the work, which seems insane. Any idea why the OEM CV axle (part number 43430-60061) is $350-$450 (depending on where you look)?
When I looked on RockAuto, the part that came up was in the $50-100 range. The part number was slightly different: 43430-60060.
Any idea if that matters?
gshadow325
New member
OEM lasts 175k on my 03 v8. Replaced them with two OEM axles and expect the same out of those two. Cheaper inferior parts come from China. I suggest rebooting your OEM axles.
I'm hoping that you guys can help me here. When I pulled my CV axle, there was a seal on the wheel side (farthest away from the differential. I bought a rebuilt Cardone shaft that didn't come with that same seal. In the past, with my Tacoma, I just tapped the old seal off and put it on the new shaft. In this case it's too torn up to reuse and I can't find the part number to save my life.
On this truck, there is a seal on the inboard side of the wheel hub that protects the bearing from dust. That stayed in place. It's still in the hub. The seal that I'm talking about appears to be referred to as a knuckle hub in earlier posts in this thread. It rides on the outboard side of the CV shaft and meshes with the wheel dust seal. Basically it looks like the one seal on the axle mates with one seal in the wheel hub.
In the video posted a few posts back I can clearly see the same seal on the shaft the guy removes and there appears to be one on the axle that he puts back in.
I'll post pictures below. Am I right that there is a seal that mounts on the wheel-side of the axle that mates with the seal on the inside of the wheel hub? I have a Timken 710573 seal that is mentioned a few posts back. It looks like it would mount cleanly into the wheel hub and once you crank down on the axle nut it would seat on the axle as well thus replacing two seals with one. Am I wrong there?
Attached are pictures of the seal that I took off of the old shaft and can't find a replacement for to put on the new shaft. The last picture is showing where the seal was on the old axle and how it was oriented.
On this truck, there is a seal on the inboard side of the wheel hub that protects the bearing from dust. That stayed in place. It's still in the hub. The seal that I'm talking about appears to be referred to as a knuckle hub in earlier posts in this thread. It rides on the outboard side of the CV shaft and meshes with the wheel dust seal. Basically it looks like the one seal on the axle mates with one seal in the wheel hub.
In the video posted a few posts back I can clearly see the same seal on the shaft the guy removes and there appears to be one on the axle that he puts back in.
I'll post pictures below. Am I right that there is a seal that mounts on the wheel-side of the axle that mates with the seal on the inside of the wheel hub? I have a Timken 710573 seal that is mentioned a few posts back. It looks like it would mount cleanly into the wheel hub and once you crank down on the axle nut it would seat on the axle as well thus replacing two seals with one. Am I wrong there?
Attached are pictures of the seal that I took off of the old shaft and can't find a replacement for to put on the new shaft. The last picture is showing where the seal was on the old axle and how it was oriented.
Attachments
fishtizzy
New member
There is a lip on the cv axle end that fits nicely into the hub inner seal on the knuckle as you described. My re-maned axles already had them on so I didn't need to swap them over or replace. However, Cranking down on the axle nut it will NOT seat the NEW Timken inner seal on the backside of the hub if you replace it - I tried that this weekend. You have to somehow "press" or use even-force to get that seal to seat in the back of the hub/knuckle. We fab'd up a make shift piece of wood that fit inside the seal, hit in the middle with a hammer and the seal went in FLUSH with the backside of the hub. I read some people use a 2" pvc pipe and have seen some fab up a piece of metal to hit with a hammer to seat that seal - it has to be somewhat even pressure. Here is our make shift tool created @ about 2am:
Make sure you thoroughly clean any crud/rust/debris from any of the surfaces you are putting the new inner seal on. I used a scotch-brite to clean the backside of the knuckle and marine grease to help the install the new inner seal. Only time will tell if that seal was seated correctly though - fingers crossed. One piece to call out - make sure you re install the dust shield BEFORE putting the new hub and bearing in place. We got all the way through on one side, only to see the dust shield sitting under the car, staring at us like idiots. Silly mistake but an easy one if you're working late and getting tired. I hope this helps.
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wkeryder4
New member
I just wrapped up installing the new CVJ axles and I wanted to update this thread with something interesting I found during the install. I didn't have a jig to set the new knuckle seals but while I was looking for something to use I noticed the grease cap that covers the axle nut is actually a PERFECT fit for the knuckle seals. It worked perfect for seating the new seals.
That certainly looks like the right one. Thanks.
In the end I had to buy a new CV shaft anyway because the remanufactured one that I got is apparently defective or out of spec. The new shaft came with that seal.
I've gone through 2 shaft seals so far. They keep leaking from around the axle, not from around the seal. The shaft is either too narrow or has some surface defect that is chewing up the seal.
The new shaft and new seals (3 of them just in case) came yesterday and will go on this weekend.
In the end I had to buy a new CV shaft anyway because the remanufactured one that I got is apparently defective or out of spec. The new shaft came with that seal.
I've gone through 2 shaft seals so far. They keep leaking from around the axle, not from around the seal. The shaft is either too narrow or has some surface defect that is chewing up the seal.
The new shaft and new seals (3 of them just in case) came yesterday and will go on this weekend.
