CV-joints - Help!
01-19-2004, 08:49 PM
#16
Race Director
To remove the bolts cleanly, scrape away all dirt and grease from inside the bolt-head with a small flathead screwdriver first. Since the tip of the tool has a little bit of a taper, I'd grind off about 1mm from the end. This will give you a sharp edge on the tool to really bite into the bolt and it'll also be larger in diameter to fit tighter. Then hammer the tool into the bolt-head to make sure it's fully seated all the way down to the bottom of the hole. Then put a 13mm deep socket at the end of a 6" extension over it to loosen. The extension is so that you can hold it with your other hand to keep the tool centered over the bolt-head.
"Another tip for guys planning on doing this is to run a cotton swab through the CV bolt holes to clean out excess grease before tightening the bolts."
I agree with Luis, attention to detail when re-assembing can save a LOT of headaches. Contrary to what a lot of people think, it's not the bolts on the half-shaft ends that transmits the power, it's the friction. The bolts are only there to generate clamping tension to produce the friction. So you want to make sure both mating surfaces are perfectly clean of all oil & grease. Would even be a good idea to use some acetone to remove all trace amounts. Then clean out the bolt-holes. Also use some blue Locktite on the threads and a lockwasher as well. I would even recommend safety-wiring all the bolts together as a final step.
When tightening down the bolts, do it in a criss-cross pattern in several passes. At the final pass, use a torque-wrench and go all the way to the recommended torque of 33-lb•ft. It will definitely FEEL like you're gonna strip or break something, but that's the way it's supposed to feel. The bolt has to stretch in order to generate tension to clamp the two surfaces together.
"Another tip for guys planning on doing this is to run a cotton swab through the CV bolt holes to clean out excess grease before tightening the bolts."
I agree with Luis, attention to detail when re-assembing can save a LOT of headaches. Contrary to what a lot of people think, it's not the bolts on the half-shaft ends that transmits the power, it's the friction. The bolts are only there to generate clamping tension to produce the friction. So you want to make sure both mating surfaces are perfectly clean of all oil & grease. Would even be a good idea to use some acetone to remove all trace amounts. Then clean out the bolt-holes. Also use some blue Locktite on the threads and a lockwasher as well. I would even recommend safety-wiring all the bolts together as a final step.
When tightening down the bolts, do it in a criss-cross pattern in several passes. At the final pass, use a torque-wrench and go all the way to the recommended torque of 33-lb•ft. It will definitely FEEL like you're gonna strip or break something, but that's the way it's supposed to feel. The bolt has to stretch in order to generate tension to clamp the two surfaces together.
