Fluidplay

What's the most economical way to replace or rebuild the CV's. I have a fairly pronounced clunk when I start off in first gear. It's not really noticable when I shift through 2nd & 3rd, though there's quite a bit of play in them. I can move the shafts out toward the wheel and feel it bang into CV boot. Is this normal...?can it be repaired by re-packing...? or, should I replace? Thanks for your help.

Scootin159

Motion in the left-right direction of the axle shaft is very normal - brand new there will be, and needs to be, a few inches of travel this way. However, movement in the axial direction (i.e. the way the wheel spins) is NOT normal, and is a sign of one or two bad CV's. Right now I have one 'good' (i.e. freshly rebuilt) half shaft, and one 'bad' (i.e. it's singing it's swan song) half shaft. The good one has lots of left-right play, but cannot be twisted at all. The bad one, however, can be twisted 1-2 degrees, and makes a very pronounced 'click' when doing so.

That said, removing, cleaning, repacking & reinstalling in the opposite direction will often double the life of a half-shaft. Once they 'go' though, often the cheepest solution is to go to some place like autozone (?) which has a lifetime warranty replacement. They're lower quality, but if you just replace them every few years (for free + your labor), you'll be fine.

Fluidplay

Really... Autozone? Who is the manufacture of these CV's? Is there a way to cross reference the part #'s. Thanks for the tip!!

Jeff N.

If it's just one joint, just put a new one on. I purchased GKN (GNK?) replacements for about $80 per.

The swap is easy.
- pull the halfshaft
- cut the boot off
- pull the circlip on the end of the bad joint
- remove the joint
- slide on new boot
- pack new joint, slide one, put on the clip
- install the banding

Simple.

Scootin159

I forget what chain store it is, you can probably search and find it, but I know at least one carries them. You may need to lie and say it's a VW bus or something, but they're the same parts.

KuHL 951

Kragen out here carries the CV/axle assemblies and they are made by Cardone. Kragen is called something else back east and partsamerica.com for the best pricing. If you buy them online they are cheaper or any store will match the web price. There are cheaper sources but the Lifetime warranty is too good to pass up. They've held up well on my old 83 for 944 Spec racing and on my turbo so far.

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=945&PTSet=A

Fluidplay

Good to know Steve...thanks!

KuHL 951

You can either type in an NA version of your model year or part #607077. For some reason the direct page with the CV does not link correctly.

ron.eddy

O'Reilly also sells them for $69.99 per axle. They have a "Limited Lifetime Warranty" so I am guessing they only count faults in "materials or workmanship". I bought a pair for my 951, even though they were shown as "For non-turbo models" and measured them with a micrometer and they are exactly the same dimensions as the originals.