Should new CV's be stiff?
 

I fear I may have done something incredibly dumb. I am replacing my CV joints. So I pulled the old CV's off the axle and put the new ones on. But before doing so, I disassembled the new CV's so as to fully lube them and make sure there was CV grease in every nook and cranny. But when I tried to put the CV's back together all greased up, they didn't want to fit together easily. I figured it was just because of all of the grease so I squeezed them together and put them on the axle anyway. And when I got them on the axle shaft, they don't move. They are rigid. The old CV's were flexible and would rotate a bit. But these new ones with all their grease are feeling pretty solid. And that seems to defeat the whole purpose of a CV joint. So is this normal for a new CV that has been thoroughly packed with grease or have I somehow done something utterly wrong?

The joints are in backwards. It is very easy to do. Pull apart and flip around the outer ring, making sure to relube. I did the same thing on one side. If you use rubber gloves and a grease gun it's not too bad.

John

Ahhhhh...thanks. Glad I asked before bolting them into the car !!

Okay, I got them off the drive shaft and removed the bearing assembly from the outer ring. But now I can't get the bearing assembly back into the ring. I tried flipping it every which way I could and still no go. Is there a trick to this that I don't know? The old ones (which I used for practice) pop in and out no problem. But my new ones are stubburn as heck. I tried tapping lightly with a hammer and they eventually snapped in. But then again they won't move, So I am baffled.

You need to have the outer ring at almost 90 degrees from the shaft. Then carefully pop it over. I'm going from memory, but I did mine a little while ago. Try the 90D and rotating them and wiggling them and all of a sudden they'll fall into place.

John

try this link with pix....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62514&highlight=cv+disa ssembly


--Ian

Whoa, I searched the archives but how did I miss that one? Wow, THANKS !! Those pictures are worth...well..you know. :D

Don't forget to retorque 'em after a few miles. They come off if you don't! (ask me how I know!) I actually painted each bolt head with wifey's nail polish (don't tell her) at 12 o'clock so I could monitor if they were backing out. Haven't so far - and they look all purdy too! ;)



--Ian

New CVs also have much tighter tolerances - they are going to be noticeably tighter than the old ones...

-Wayne

Been there, done that. But I bolted them up and drove.

SUCCESS !! I used the pictures in that link (how did I miss that thread when I searched? I must have had a senior moment). And everything fit together perfectly. I definitely had them both in backwards because they would not move even a tiny bit. But once I followed the directions in the pictures, they were tight but definitely moved when pushed. So I bolted them up and went for a nice, QUIET drive with no clunking and no major catastrophes. Woo Hoo !! Thanks again. You guys have saved my butt more times than I can count !! :D:D:D