Repacking CV Joints

Icey1174 · 05-27-2007, 08:34 PM

I am repacking my CV Joints tomorrow. This is the first time that I have ever done this job. After reading Clark's Garage and Haynes I feel very comfortable with doing this job.

Do you pack the boot with grease too? Haynes has a picture of a guy packing the boot but says to put some grease in the boot. Clark's doesn't talk about grease in the boot.

So do I pack the boot, put some grease in the boot, or no grease in the boot?

I have also read some posts on here that talk about swapping the sides when you put the CV Joints back in and that it adds some life to them because they are spinning in the opposite direction. Any input about that? Clark's and Haynes says nothing about swapping sides.

I haven't had to do any work on the back end of the car yet. Where's the best place for jack stands for the rear end?

Any other maintenance I should look at doing in the rear end while I'm back there?

EMBPilot · EMBPilot's Garage

cant get the CV joint off the Axle!!

this was one of my first projects on the car, put CV grease into the boot but don't overload it.

blown 944 · 05-28-2007, 12:03 AM

John

I would put some extra grease in the boot as well and switch sides I did that on my 86 with no ill effects.

944cabby · 05-28-2007, 02:41 AM

Used molybdenum grease in mine, putting plenty in the boot.Never had any problems.

Dave L · 05-28-2007, 05:51 AM

I used rebuilt CV's when I did mine. Each CV came with a little pack of CV grease. I packed the acutal CV with as much grease as I could then smeared the rest in the boot.

Icey1174 · 05-28-2007, 06:16 AM

Thanks for the info guys. Clark's says to plan a day to do this, so that's what I will be doing. I read the FAQ section linked from Clark's last night after this posting. They advise smearing grease inside the boot, not really packing it so much, but more so just getting a decent coat on the inside of the boot.

Kevin, I hope to God I don't have the problems you had! I am thinking that it should go well. SO far everything else on this car has been pretty easy to get apart and back together again.

Dave L · 05-28-2007, 09:37 AM

the most important step is to clean out the bolts as much as possible to ensure the triplesquare doesn't strip out any bolts. When dropping the CV's I found it was helpful to have an extra jackstand to place under the CV you just disconected

Icey1174 · 05-28-2007, 09:46 AM

I just got from under the car. I have opted to wash and wax her for the holiday. The boots on the driver side are showing there age and are strting to dry out. I am thinking the heat from the exhaust right there isn't helping them much either. I will order 4 new boots then progress with the project.

Thanks for the input about the screws. They are filthy. I am not sure what the PO did to this car but the engine and everything underneath is caked in old oil, grease, and dirt. I now have the front end cleaned.

Time to start on the back end. I'll clean up all the screws real well before I take them off. I don't even think you could get the tool in there right now if you wanted to.

Dave L · 05-28-2007, 12:59 PM

yup the exhaust cooks the grease. Take a look at Cardone CV's then the cost of the new boots.

Icey1174 · 05-28-2007, 01:10 PM

Went to their site... registered... they have part numbers, pics, descriptions, but I cannot find a price anywhere! I don't need new ones yet. I was just going to repack them. And I didn't want to wast my time repacking bad boots or run the possibility of damaging an already dried out and tired boot. If the cost of 4 boots isn't that far off of a whole new axle then maybe I will wait till there is a problem and replace them.