GKN CV Joint Orientation?

[Bill Jennings]

Hi All,

Just in the middle of installing new rear wheel bearings and all new cv’s when I was told the bearing race is tapered and that the housing which is marked on the outside with a groove must both be fitted together to the correct orientation.

My race is flat on one side and has a distinctive ring shape on the other.

Please look at the photos and let me know if the housing groove should be outboard ie nearest the wheel and gearboxes or fitted facing inward and which side of the race faces the groove on the housing.

Cheers
Bill
PS
Anyone worried about taking on the rear wheel bearings this is much easier to do than I thought from what I had read and really is straight forward to anyone that can do basic servicing.

I made the hardware parts tool shown in here in Pelican (Reconstructing Constant Velocity (CV)Joints), (used all steel parts for the tool) to pull the bearings with a fair bit of heat to get them moving and the bearings dropped right back in after being in the freezer for a couple of months and after heating up the the hub again. The bearings just pushed in by hand.
The hardest part for me was getting the inner race off of the outer wheel hub.
I used a small chisel with heat again to move the race enough to get the jaws of my two arm puller in behind , then I just pulled it off.

[eastbay]

someone posted this awhile back.....

[eastbay]

[Bill Jennings]

Thanks Eastbay,

That’s exactly what I was looking for.

Apologies if this was posted prior.

Bill

[Bill Jennings]

Hi eastbay,

Just had another look at my cv’s fresh out of the box and if you look at my pic above you will see that when looking at the raised inner race side my cage is showing the thicker edge. This is the opposite of your description and photo and all four of my cv’s are as I described.

Could GKN have put them together incorrectly? WT.......

I’m looking for that prior post you mentioned.

Cheers
Bill

[eastbay]

Your in the box assembly is the way I have always found them and re assembled them. Cage bevel to the outside. Inner race flat side to the outside for the snap ring.

Anyone can feel free to correct me.

[DRACO A5OG]

+1, Just recently replaced torn boot and repacked.

Remember to re-torque after couple hundred miles or if you hear cv noise. My D-side needed a re-torque.

[winders]

Okay:

The outer race has a groove around the outside. That goes away from the center of the axle.

The star (inner race) has a shoulder which usually has a recess for the splines to help with installation of the axle. That goes toward the center of the axle.

The cage has an edge that is thicker on one side than it is on the other. The thicker edge goes to the away from the center of the axle.

[Walt Fricke]

And if you mess all this up, I don't think you will discern a difference.

I've flipped inner vs outer races, sometimes on purpose to get the wear line somewhere else, sometimes by accident or just not having a system (the wording under that picture will guide me next time I disassemble one, just because it can't hurt). I've swapped parts when a part was too worn/pitted for reuse. The cages lately seem not to allow the balls to snap into the cage (the mating surfaces with the balls used to be concave, I think), but that doesn't seem to lead to premature failure, at least in the relatively short run.

I don't believe the channel races are anything but flush with an imaginary cylinder, though - not slanted up or down relative to the two ends of the two race parts. As best I can measure (might be best with an instrument with a rounded anvil or nib?)on an outer sitting on my desk, no side to side depth difference.

[Kraftwerk]

Just to clarify (Correct me if I am wrong)



Top picture : faces outside


Lower picture : faces inside

[winders]

Looks like the cage needs to be flipped.

[winders]

By the way, the reason you want the thinner edge (wider) side of the cage pointing toward the center of the axle is thinner edge allows the axle to articulate just a bit more more before hitting the cage. This is not a big deal on street cars or even race cars but I am a purist when it comes to CV joint assembly.

[Bill Jennings]

Ive decided to go with as GKN supplied them ie flat inner race and beveled cage facing out.

I did find that prior post, as well as looked at the pictures in our host’s ad for this part and they show two pictures that contradict each other so it may be as Walt said ie it doesn’t matter. The one commonality is all seem to agree that the outer groove is “out”.

I’ll report back once these are installed.

[Kraftwerk]

It's possible the manufacturer gets it wrong from time to time. Seems damn subtle either way.
Now on to the c.v. bolt discussion!

[Driven97]

Timely as I have mine sitting in front of me, I think I have these labeled correctly (Winders way):

Outer groove side out
Star side with the circlip witness mark out
Cage bevel out

With "out" meaning away from axle shaft. Correct?



EDIT: with just a touch of light grease in the races this is the most mesmerizing desktop toy I've ever had. I'm amazed this was figured out before computers.

[winders]

That cage looks wrong to me. The larger opening should be on the "in" side not the "out" side.

[Driven97]

Ugh ok I'll flip the cage

[Bill Jennings]

Quick update I installed the cv’s as per out of the box ie flat inner race, tapered cage and outer groove facing out. Install was straightforward and was anal about grease contamination on threads or cv faces. I masked up the faces whilst packing in the grease.

Not driven the car yet as I am still wrestling try8ng getting the brake discs back on over new parking brake pads and the cable adjuster on one side is so rusty I may have to replace the cable. My new pads are slightly longer than the old ones so I have ground them down a bit but still not going on right.