So apart from the movement of the inner CV joint the car now makes a creaking sound when going backwards slowly sometimes. is that something usual for a worn out cv joint?
also if the inner cv joint is shot doesn't that mean I should be getting some vibration at highway speeds?
I would start suspecting the bearings. Remove the axle nut, jack the car up, take the brake disc off, remove the three bolts holding the ball joint on the bottom suspension arm, and pull the driveshaft out of the wheel bearing. Now that it's free, listen CAREFULLY when you turn the hub. There should be no sound (Or very little), turn freely and smoothly, and it should not sound like it's full of sand.
Yes, if the driveshaft is worn, you will get vibration. I know from personal expirience you will lose a lot of vibration after replacing one.
The other question I should ask is what part moved for you to conclude the joint was worn out? On my '95, both axle nuts were loose, and the RH driveshaft could be wiggled. after replacing it, the RH shaft still wiggled, but the whole joint moved as a unit (Meaning it was wiggling inside the differential splines (D.Bearings are probably sick)). After tightening both axlenuts, that joint did not wiggle anymore.
Get a (Big) tourqe wrench with a 30mm socket, and ensure that sucker is at the factory spec of 200 ft/lbs before jumping to conclusions
When you talk about play in the inner CV joint, are you talking about play where the end goes into the differential (that would be abnormal) or are you talking about the fact that the inner CV flexes at the joint inside the boot (that would be normal)?
As you describe manipulating the wheel, I interpret this to mean that you can make a motion as if to pull the wheel off the end of the axle and its does have some play. This is not normal. As others mentioned, a very broken CV joint or loose axle nut would allow such play. A strut mount with the center broken or a very loose nut on the mount might also allow it. You can detect this while you have the car jacked up, if you take the rubber cover off the mount (which is in the engine compartment) and bounce the wheel up and down. The nut on the end of the strut shaft, which is in the center of the mount, should not have any up and down play. Additional causes could be a loose tie rod or very bad ball joint.
The typical bad ball joint (which is the joint at the bottom of the wheel assembly) goes bad by freezing in place. It will make a noise when it pops loose. But the average bad ball joint doesn't allow any extra play. A good ball joint does not turn easily, so when you are inspecting it, what you want is a joint that is stiff but not frozen.
so I really got into the car today. started to pull off the wheel to check the strust mount idea, the axle idea and the worn bearings idea.
This was really scary what I found!
firstly the wheel nuts were really tough to get off and covered in metal shavings. one wheel stud broken entirely. the rotor was rocking around and easily rocked on both a horizontal axis and a verticle one. at this point I took off the rotor and started in on the axle nut. once I took the nut off which was alittle over hand tight, the end of the axel came off in my hand!
So the axel was totally broken! which leads me to believe the car could have easily lost its tire anytime, right? shitty accident, eh.
Questions:
back to mechanics...
1. the rotor was scratched down on one side so I got it machined.
- should I definitely replace the pads?
2. how do you remove the Axle? I am told this pulls out of the tranny without detaching, do I have to loosen/remove any suspension parts in order to get the axle in and out? this is the drivers side of the car and an automatic tranny.
3. Is the bearing definitely shot? I will clean it and re grease but how can I tell if the bearing or the wheel mount is shot. (the wheel mount being the piece that the tire studs are attached to and is the outer part of the wheel bearing).
any recommended cleaners? diesel fuel good with a good clean shirt that doesn't have any lint.
If you guys know of a thread that explains replacing axles that would be great, search functions never seem to work out too well in my favor.
check out your tie rod ends, wheel bearings, sway bar bushings.
check tie rod end - both hands on tire, one at 9 and 3'clock. move wheel side to side, if theres movement, poss inner or outer tie rod, maybe both
check wheel bearing - both hands on tire, one at 12 and 6'clock, move wheel up and down, if movement, more than likely wheel bearing
sway bar bushings are a little harder, if theres spacing between the bushing and the frame even when the bushing hold-down is tight, could make a noise or if the bushings are dry and spacing between the sway bar and the bushing, could make a noise as well
check this after replacing the axle, to replace, remove the bolts that hook the spindle to the lower control arm, jack up car high, using long pry bar, unhook the lower ball joint from spindle, from there, remove axle nut, using a shorter pry bar, pry between axle inner and transmission to pop it out, remove axle from spindle and then tranny. installation is same way, top up transmission fluid if needed
check this after replacing the axle, to replace, remove the bolts that hook the spindle to the lower control arm, jack up car high, using long pry bar, unhook the lower ball joint from spindle, from there, remove axle nut, using a shorter pry bar, pry between axle inner and transmission to pop it out, remove axle from spindle and then tranny. installation is same way, top up transmission fluid if needed
What is the spindle? is that the part that is attached to the bottom of your strut and has the bearing in it? wouldn't you need an alignment after this? is there a way of doing this without having to have an alignment?
just take the wheel hub to a auto parts store/machine shop, and have them press out the old, and the new in.... it's cheap... put the new axle in, also get a new axle flange seal (seal removal tools can be gotten as loaners)... for the tranny axle hole.... put new tranny oil in,,, and you will be all set... oh yeah, and a new roter would have been the same price as cutting the old one,, put new ceramic OEM brake pads in.
Last edited by retiredat44; 11-14-2007 at 06:02 PM.
Sounds like the same problem I had. The hub (With the lug studs) is supposed to be a "Press fit" in those bearings. In other words, it should not have fallen out if it was in good shape.
First off: no, your tire would not have fallen off, at least not yet. As long as that axle nut stayed on, you would not have had a problem with that. The thing you would have noticed, however, would be the car would wander all over the road at highway speeds
Take the whole steering knuckle off and check around. I was able to get a entire steering knuckle off a junkyard (Close to brand new to boot!) for under $100.
If the brake pads are still in good shape, I do not see why they cannot be reused.
The drive shaft is held in with a spring clip. to pull it out, just take a prybar and pry it out. It would be wise to drain the transmission first before you remove the shaft.
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