CVJ CV Axle Question (PICTURES INSIDE)

[L.C.]

*I believe this is the correct forum, although it may be better off in general discussion since I am not actually swapping axles yet.*

CVJ Axles standard off the shelf rebuilt axles...
Has anybody used them? Opinions?

I found these guys searching for reman. options on the forum since I have one torn drivers side inboard boot and a passenger side inboard that is starting to seep grease from the clamp.

Having done a little more research they sound like they make a legit product, especially amongst the Benz guys... However, I just received my axles from them today and I'm a little disappointed at what I pulled out of the box...

The other thing that's got me a bit concerned is they coated all of the mating surfaces including the splines that go inside the differential. Seals need a good, clean, polished surface to seal against to be leak free and I definitely don't want to be pulling these again a few weeks from now because of a leaky seal.

So again, has anybody had any experience with these; good or bad thoughts? I have yet to call Sean/Shawn back at CVJ who I spoke with at length before ordering. But I plan to call as soon as this is posted.

Thanks in advance.

 

[CrimsonCountry]

Let me begin by saying I have no expertise/experience in this area other than what i've researched and can't answer your question . However, I would be very interested in the answer, as well as your future install, as I have 4.5" lift and may be doing mine eventually myself. Like yourself, my inboard passenger boot will not quit leaking after reclamping and am interested in a better designed boot for lifts.

Regarding CVJ, what a coincidence...I just talked Sean today during my lunch break. Like you, I heard good things about them through the forums and the 4th gen high-performance cv axle market seems to have dried up with the economy. Also, heard they do good work for some offroad shops like Slee Offroad.

The funny thing is I was asking him if he had many 4th gen customers and he mentioned he had just sold a cv axle to a guy in SC (im assuming that would be you. ha). He said the guy had a 4" lift as well. If that is you, whats your setup?

Regarding your post, I have yet to do this install myself, but I wouldn't be comfortable with that. I can also understand your concern regarding the seal and finish as most cvs ive seen aren't like that. I would def give them a call and see what they could do for you. It looks like it may have been damaged during shipping and i'm sure they would be happy to replace it if needed (hopefully anyway).

Are those the OE style boots or their more expensive, silicone boots? They look like the OE based on what Sean told me today on the phone. I believe he said the higher performance boots have less fins/bellows and allow more articulation without rubbing. These sounds very appealing given my current boot situation. Keep us updated.

 

[L.C.]

Let me begin by saying I have no expertise/experience in this area other than what i've researched and can't answer your question . However, I would be very interested in the answer, as well as your future install, as I have 4.5" lift and may be doing mine eventually myself. Like yourself, my inboard passenger boot will not quit leaking after reclamping and am interested in a better designed boot for lifts.

Regarding CVJ, what a coincidence...I just talked Sean today during my lunch break. Like you, I heard good things about them through the forums and the 4th gen high-performance cv axle market seems to have dried up with the economy. Also, heard they do good work for some offroad shops like Slee Offroad.

The funny thing is I was asking him if he had many 4th gen customers and he mentioned he had just sold a cv axle to a guy in SC (im assuming that would be you. ha). He said the guy had a 4" lift as well. If that is you, whats your setup?

Regarding your post, I have yet to do this install myself, but I wouldn't be comfortable with that. I can also understand your concern regarding the seal and finish as most cvs ive seen aren't like that. I would def give them a call and see what they could do for you. It looks like it may have been damaged during shipping and i'm sure they would be happy to replace it if needed (hopefully anyway).

Are those the OE style boots or their more expensive, silicone boots? They look like the OE based on what Sean told me today on the phone. I believe he said the higher performance boots have less fins/bellows and allow more articulation without rubbing. These sounds very appealing given my current boot situation. Keep us updated.

Sounds like you pretty much went through all the same questions, etc. that I did with Sean also. I don't however have a lift of any sort, I have a daystar leveling kit but have yet to install it so maybe there's yet another SC purchaser besides me? I was going to do the CVs and spacers at the same time since I'd be down there but looks like the project is on hold until I get this sorted. I really didn't want to drive much with the inboard boot torn because I would like to re-boot the factory shafts and keep them as spares. But the more I drive the more potential there is for grime to get in there and chew the rollers up. Which is the thing I'm most unhappy about.

These are their off the shelf rebuilds, nothing special, OEM style boots, although they do use a different style clamp that I've never seen before. I spoke with him about their aftermarket axles but Sean said that they are a bit more expensive and for what I'm doing with my truck the extra coin wasn't worth it.

The silicon boots sound like a great solution for lifted rigs with more articulation though, silicon is a great alternative to the neoprene boots that come on OEM style stuff.

The big reason I went with CVJ is because after talking with Sean he assured me that they only used American sourced steel, not pot-metal from overseas for the guts, and on our 4Runner CVs in particular (because the stock stuff is so good) they reuse the center shaft and both inner and outer shafts (unless the cores are completely trashed). All they do is put new rollers, etc. in the housings. Which was a big plus for me. Plus CVJ does all of their work in house in CO, which was another reason I wanted to buy from them, even though they were a few bucks more than some others.

The more I look at the CVs now though the less I am impressed. I have yet to speak with Sean since receiving them today though, my plan was to call him after posting the thread but I got busy with work and didn't catch them before closing time.

I'll definitely keep you guys posted.

 

[L.C.]

Ok, so I spoke with Sean today and he sincerely apologized about the dust shields being bent. He said the shields are removable but to try and bend them back first, but if they break just tap off my originals and use them on the new axles...

As far as the coating goes, he says they do that with all their axles, they coat the outers and paint the center shaft to prevent surface rust/corrosion from forming while sitting on the shelf. He said the black coating should not interfere with sealing but if I wanted it is easily removed with acetone, paint thinner, emery cloth, or even a wire brush.

I'll take another look at the axles when I get back and decide what I want to do.

I'm also sending photos of the boxes and axles to Sean for them to take a look at so they can try to do more to protect the shields during shipment. I really appreciate the concern they showed when the issue was mentioned though, and CVJ has been outstanding in customer service so far.

 

[t4r4life]

i reused my dust shield, but make sure you use a dead blow not a regular hammer

 

[L.C.]

i reused my dust shield, but make sure you use a dead blow not a regular hammer

Thanks for the heads up.

I'm definitely going to keep the CVJs. I think I'll be able to use the dust shields that came with them too which is a relief. I ended up bending them back to a reasonable shape this afternoon, definitely not perfect, but it'll work. They're a lot thicker gauge metal than I initially thought, and are actually pretty stiff to get back into shape. Another good thing is the actual rubber inner dust shield is still in good shape and is actually the section that I would assume does the real weatherproofing, metal part is just for big stuff I guess; rocks, etc...

To follow up on how I decided to keep the CVJs, my original decision was to go with Cardone remans after research and watching this video on how their axles are 'different': CARDONE Select CV Axles - Quality that beats the competition, every time! - YouTube

Well upon finding CVJ I obviously ordered them instead, but again, when I received them my first thought was, "should have just gotten the Cardones." Luckily for me I have a buddy that works at O'Reilly's and he ordered a set of Cardone remans for me to take a look at before I made up my mind.

*As a side note: Cardone remans are also supposed to reuse the factory center shaft, and factory hub/diff shaft sections. Again, just replacing the guts. Their 'Cardone Select' axles however are brand new castings of everything, which I did not want.*

So, the Cardone axles came in today and I stopped by to take a look... The Cardone axles were missing the dust shields completely, and, aside from using factory style clamps, nothing really caught my eye as being a quality reman. The axles were a bit beat up looking, and overall just didn't look like as much care was taken in remanufacturing. -Please take this with a grain of salt though because obviously you cannot tell the robustness of a part, especially a CV axle, by simply looking at it... It could look like crap and perform flawlessly.

That being said I decided it would be more hassle to pack the CVJs up and ship them back then I wanted to deal with, plus after seeing the Cardone's I don't mind putting a little faith in CVJ.

So, I got some acetone this afternoon and sat down to remove the coating of the inboard side and fix the bent dust shields. Tomorrow morning is install time!

Although it won't be me doing it, I'm going to drop it off at the dealership since I already planned on doing a few things to the evo this weekend and the last thing I want to do after working on one car for however many hours is move straight to another one. Putting it off until next weekend isn't really an option either because I don't want to ride around with this busted boot any longer so I can hopefully salvage the OEs and rebuild them to keep as spares.

Pics below of the de-coated splines, my horrible metalworking, and a few other details...

Clamps used:

After acetone:

Before (really bent):

After (kind bent):

 

[fourwd1]

They look craptacular!
Painting the splines and mating surfaces is just lazyiness.
If they really wanted to protect them a little coat of light grease would be appropriate.
And the damage, while it may be minor, it shows just how much care they put into their work.

just my .02

 

[CrimsonCountry]

Time to bring this one back to life. Any updates on these? One of mine just went out and i'm looking at CVJ again.

 

[dmalis12]

Time to bring this one back to life. Any updates on these? One of mine just went out and i'm looking at CVJ again.

Just did mine from CVJ and they worked out perfect. They shipped with a section of PVC pipe around the end so the covers cant get bent in shipping. The extended travel boot upgrade is well worth it.

 

[CrimsonCountry]

Just did mine from CVJ and they worked out perfect. They shipped with a section of PVC pipe around the end so the covers cant get bent in shipping. The extended travel boot upgrade is well worth it.

I'm torn b/w going with that upgrade too. Since its relatively expensive, extra $39 per side, I'm not 100% sold on it yet. From what they told me on the phone, it is much longer and leaves very little shaft exposed. I was also told that it has 3-4 times more bellows than the OEM boot...4 vs 8-12. Can you confirm this? Also, any pictures?

 

[dmalis12]

I'm torn b/w going with that upgrade too. Since its relatively expensive, extra $39 per side, I'm not 100% sold on it yet. From what they told me on the phone, it is much longer and leaves very little shaft exposed. I was also told that it has 3-4 times more bellows than the OEM boot...4 vs 8-12. Can you confirm this? Also, any pictures?

That is correct: Pic below shows the more like 3-4 more bellows but it's very worth the 40/side. That way any lift you have or may want to in the future it can accommodate. they just seemed more durable to me and I don't want to replace again. Hope it helps. Let me know what you decide. sorry for the crap pic. The red boot looks cool too.

 

[L.C.]

Hey Dustin,
I got logged out right before I replied to your PM so I think I may have sent reply to you twice. My bad.

Just as an update for the thread as well I'm happy to report that despite the initial uneasiness, the CVJs and they're doing great.

Peaked under the truck again yesterday after seeing the PM about them and gave them a good thorough look. Boots are looking great, clamps are in place and tight, no leaks, and the factory coating on the shaft and ends has held up surprisingly well too... Only a few spots that show any slight surface corrosion despite being through a few flooded roads and brackish water.

I'm glad to hear they used a piece of PVC to keep them in place during transit, I hope they do that with all of the axles now instead of using styrofoam. Doesn't make sense with a part that heavy.

Looking back and knowing what I know now, I'd order from them again.

Hope that helps.
-Lawrence

 

[oblivionis]

How difficult is the replacement of a CV axle? The inner boot on the right side fell apart so I need to take care of this. Are there any special tools required.

In order one from CVJ Axles does one have to call them?

 

[CrimsonCountry]

That is correct: Pic below shows the more like 3-4 more bellows but it's very worth the 40/side. That way any lift you have or may want to in the future it can accommodate. they just seemed more durable to me and I don't want to replace again. Hope it helps. Let me know what you decide. sorry for the crap pic. The red boot looks cool too.

Nice, thanks for the pictures. Those look pretty good. I'll definately be going with those boots whenever I order mine. Do you have any pictures of them on your truck? I'm just curious to see what they actually look like on a lifted truck in the neutral position.

How difficult is the replacement of a CV axle? The inner boot on the right side fell apart so I need to take care of this. Are there any special tools required.

In order one from CVJ Axles does one have to call them?

I would consider it a fairly easy job. At least it was on my friends FJ (same suspension). The hardest part was getting the axles themselves to pop out of the diff. Once the new ones were installed, it was just a matter of bolting everything back into place.

 

[dmalis12]

How difficult is the replacement of a CV axle? The inner boot on the right side fell apart so I need to take care of this. Are there any special tools required.

In order one from CVJ Axles does one have to call them?

I rented/borrowed a slide hammer from autozone. Check this video.

1. Pull the axle right out of the inner boot.
2. Take inner boot off and clean up a bit.
3. There is an adapter with the slide hammer set that attaches to a pair of locking vise grips (classic style) that comes with the set. The guy in the video made his own adapter
4. Lock vice grips on to inner and give it a few whacks and pops right out.

 

[oblivionis]

I rented/borrowed a slide hammer from autozone. Check this video.

1. Pull the axle right out of the inner boot.
2. Take inner boot off and clean up a bit.
3. There is an adapter with the slide hammer set that attaches to a pair of locking vise grips (classic style) that comes with the set. The guy in the video made his own adapter
4. Lock vice grips on to inner and give it a few whacks and pops right out.

Thank you but I gave up and took it to a mechanic. It cost me about $370.