CV Joint/Axle Reversal on Reinstall?

[Smoove1010]

I'm flushing out my CV joints and rebooting - my '87 axles are the type where the outboard CV is sealed on one end and can't be separated from the axle, the inboard side can be disassembled.
I've read differing opinions on whether it's good practice to reverse these assemblies on reinstall after a cleaning and re-greasing. It makes perfect sense to me to swap sides so that, under acceleration, the bearing surfaces that are the least worn will be under load while the sides that were under load during acceleration before the service will only be under load when engine-braking - sort of like rotating tires to even out the wear. Is there a down-side to this? Mine is a Sunday-driver, no racing or autocross. Opinions on this? Thanks in advance...

GK

[Trackrash]

Reversing was the standard procedure on the older cars. I still have the original CVs on my 71. On the lighter lower horse power cars CV wear is not much of an issue.

On the other hand most people will just replace the axles on the newer cars. They don't tend to last as long and the whole axle assembly is not that expensive when compared to the labor involved with cleaning and re greasing.

What condition were your CVs in? Any pitting where the balls ride?

[Smoove1010]

Thanks for the input. Of the 48 bearing surfaces, there was one bearing surface with slight pitting, otherwise, just shiny spots, though a thorough inspection of the bearings on the outboard side was impossible to achieve since that joint is "captive" in it's housing. The lubricant all around had some separation, i.e., some of it was very liquid while some was still very thick. It appears the right side axle and joints were replaced by a PO since they were stamped with the Lobro brand while the driver's side was not. Neither of the axles had any detectable play when grasping either end and twisiting. The car has 99K on it, I'll probably spring for new axles when the inevitable drop and top-end re-do, clutch job, etc., takes place. I'm putting a lot of bucks now into safety items and things that are broken and worn out, so if flipping the axles will get me a few more miles, that sure would be helpful. I'm going to go ahead and give it a try. THX GK