Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 14:14:27 -0700
Reply-To: jbrush@AROS.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Anonymous Digest <jbrush@AROS.NET>
Subject: 81 Air Cooled,CV axle replacement, conversation
Hi Folks,
I have a bad CV joint on my 81 Air Cooled, and am just wandering around
the garage trying to get psyched to go ahead and do the job :-)
I have read most/all of the posts in the archives, and have checked out
Ben's commentary on Volkscafe. It is not a mechanically daunting task to
me, just cold, dirty, and I really haven't any cash to invest right now,
so its just a thought game at the moment. Its frustrating how when you
have a job, you have money and no time, but when you are out of work, its
just the opposite.....
The bad joint is the inner one on the driver's side. I can grab the axle
and move it up and down a bit to create a wonderful metallic, clunking
sound, so there is no question about which is making the noise and needs
my help. The joints certainly have gone way too long without repacking
<head held down low> even tho the boots are just fine, so I am sure grease
is lacking through all of them. I am guilty of neglect in that respect.
For fun, and just for that, would those who have been 'intimate' with CV
repair and cleaning, be interested in speculating on whether a joint that
moves up and down a bit and clunks like that is beyond help, or is it
screaming for cleaning and repacking? Just wondering if that symptom
means it is absolutely going to have to be replaced, or are the odds good
that some TLC would get me by for a while. I don't put many miles on it
any more because of finances and job circumstances. If I could squeeze 4
or 5 thousand miles out some repacking, I would be ecstatic, but I also
realize there are no guarantees, and it might not be worth the risk....
Just kind of going through it all in my mind right now, and curious. The
wise man inside me says to just replace it and get it over with, but that
part of me is not paying attention to my wallet and circumstances at the
moment.
I don't want to waste space and time here just rambling, but I am just
trying to think it all through and decide what to do, and when. If the
odds are that the joint would just want to be cleaned and packed, I would
go ahead and do that. If such free motion and metalic clunking when
pulling on the axle probably means its a goner, then I will likely put the
van on the side of the garage for a while, and park my car back in the
garage for now. Its winter here in Northern Utah, and even this warm spell
we are enjoying won't last forever so I don't want to pull the CV axle,
and not be able to replace it, and lose my garage space for several
months.
What would be ideal would be to be able to just clean and repack that CV
and have it be useful a bit longer so that I could at least continue to
just take it out and drive it around once or maybe twice a month as I have
been doing all year, to keep it all happy, and get it to inspection in
Feb. Then be able to replace parts when the cash is available. (just
rambling here, sorry)
I guess the obvious answer is to wait unless I have the money in case I
need to, but since there is no one in my household or neighorhood to
converse with about this, I hope its okay to bring it up here, and ramble
on, among those who might be more familiar with my angst :-) Hope no one
minds.
As an aside, for those who have taken the shafts off, how much fun is it
to get the outer joint end off? It looks really tight, deep, and quite
dark :-) inside that housing for the wheel and shock mount, and lacking a
hole in the bottom of that 'box,' it appears it will be a challenge to
recover a bolt that falls down inside it. Just wondering if it is as much
fun to take off as it appears to be <g>
Thanks for the space and bandwidth to bring it up. Mostly just talking out
loud as I try to bring myself to go ahead and do it. I am able to
procrastinate as it is not my daily driver, and I seldom take it out in
the winter anyway, but for nice warm days like today, so its not a
pressure situation at all. I just don't like having a vehicle around that
is totally unusable. Might be better if it was my only ride, then I would
be more decisive......
Much obliged to hear from those who have gotten down there and done this
job.
Thanks,
John
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