CV Joint diagnostic help, please.
 

First, I'll start off to note that I've done some research here - but have not found quite the info that I'm looking for. If there are threads that contain this, please shoot me a bookmark or thread title.

My car is an "early" 85 and has the 100mm diameter CV joints.

Milage is around 110,000.

Car sat for about 5 years prior to my acquiring (which was 2009).

I drive it as I'm able, but havent put more than a couple thousand miles on - in between adressing the other issues that it had when I picked it up.

So -
A couple of weeks ago, I pulled out of our driveway on the way to work. Something felt wrong. The further I went (low speed, and only a couple of city blocks), the worse it got. At one point, it felt like a horribly flat tire. Low frequency vibration. I turned around and pulled back into the garage. As soon as I put my foot into the clutch, it stopped rolling.

Tonight was the first chance I had to dig into it. Put the back end on jack stands and crawled under. No bolts (at least on inboard) appear to be loose. Boots are all intact. No grease leaking out, and the boots look to be in good condition. Put the car in neutral and removed parking brake. Both wheels turn as they should, and the rotation is smooth and with no clunking sound. Wheel bearings feel o.k., and there is no play in the rear wheels that would be associated with the bearings. Car has factory LSD (evidenced by number stamped on housing and the fact that turning one wheel causes the other to turn the same direction).
Only indication that I can sense is that there seems to be a fair amount of "slop" or backlash between the wheels. Rotate one and there is a rotational looseness (maybe 5 degrees or so). Seems worse on the left wheel than the right.
Also, when I took wife and little kids in the car a few weeks back, it seemed like there was a little more noise from the back (outside - not back seat) than usual. Figured I'd be looking at something like this at that point.

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Is there something else I need to check?

I did not have time today to get the front end of the car up in the air to look for something dumb - like a front wheel bearing or brake rotor problem, but there was no shimmy or otherwise related feel to this. Seemed like drive shaft related problem from the feel/sound of it.

I'm attempting to keep my shoestring toy budget afloat - and not jump into replacement of the axles if not warranted. Also - I see that our host has zero stock of these parts. Any info there? Is this just temporary? Else, I'll need to finda another source. I may be putting the cart in front of the horse, but I'd bet not.

Also-
Wheel bearings feel good to me, but should I replace those while I'm "in there"? Don't really relish the job, but would really hate to pull all that stuff apart again soon.

Thanks for any feedback.

Anybody?

Any oil in the trans? Any brake calipers frozen?

You said that when you depressed the clutch the car stopped rolling. That means that there must be some pretty strong resistance at one of the wheels. Which wheel is hard to turn? Jack up each wheel in turn and try to turn it by hand. Something is stuck somewhere. Is the E-brake stuck?

How old are your brake lines? Collapsing brake lines (internal) will maintain pressure in the caliper and cause a slow release of the brakes. Get all four wheels off the ground,apply and release the brakes and quickly check for brake drag.

Thanks for some good feedback here.
Additional info-
I did check for smoothness of rotation in the back end last night. Good there (I was surprised).
Havent picked up the front yet. Have not had the time.

I did go through all brakes last winter. New pads all around. Calipers rebuilt all around. New STST lines at each wheel. Good (true, full thickness, smooth) rotors all around. Inspected, cleaned, repacked & adjusted front wheel bearings. New wear sensors all around. No pulling or shimmy, etc... New shocks x4, ball joints, er bushings on the front.

Maybe it was just a figment of my imagination - but I'd hate to find that again at hwy speeds.

I will update as I learn more on my end. Additional suggestions are welcome.


Thanks

Sunday update.
Went back out & poked around a little more.
Looked closely at all bolts, both sides. No issues there.
Checked to see if a wheel weight was gone. No problem.
Turned the axle a number of times. No big issues there.
Only thing that seemed at all strange was one place where a boot appeared "pushed in". Wonder if it got caught in the CV bearings somehow, but that seems awfully unlikely. Massaged it around to get the involutes, convolutes or whatever the heck they are looking as they should again. (No rips, tears, or other issues with boots).

Set it back down on the ground and drove it around the neighborhood. Didnt have much time - hence, I didnt go far.

Since we've got a full week of 60's to 70's weather (temps, not decades) - I figure I'll drive it to work a few times.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks.

had anyone been intot he CV joints before this happened?

I'm guessing not.
This whole car is pretty much virgin from what I can tell. Not a lot of wrenching of any kind - enthusiast or elsewise.

I did drive it today, and all seems o.k.

Related question -
Should I be pulling these apart and regreasing them over the winter? Aside from pitting, is there anything I should be looking for as an indicator of a problem?

If I do this - can I unbolt from hub without pulling the hub out?


Thanks.

pull apart; inspect carefully for wear, pitting or hot spots, regrease; inspect boots -- post good macro photos if not familiar with how to inspect

or just replace the entire thing

they need maintenance about every 50k miles anyway

search for threads on entire procedure

Thanks.

Need to pull hub at same time? My question centers around access to capscrew heads (looks like I can), but do I need to access the "wheel side" for bolts? Or, bite the bullet and pull the 300lb-ft hub nut?