As Richard mentioned, carrying a spare half-axle is a good idea... btw any other spare parts in your van is a good idea too. It's not fun or easy to repair on the side of the road and under bad weather... for me the idea of carrying spare is you have it when you get (or towed) to the shop so they can put it on and you don't have to wait in a motel for shipping/part availability and the such... I carry a lot of spare parts... some I can replace some I don't.

On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 9:57 AM Jim. Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:

> I've thought about carrying one of my rebuilt OEM axles with me, but so far > have opted for the (hopefully) marginally more practical injector needle > that snaps on the end of a grease gun. The theory is that anywhere I would > travel I am bound to find someone with a grease gun to get me by, but not > have a way to inject or repack the joint. Hence the needle, which > penetrates the boot and lubes the joint. I have replaced CV hardware on the > road and got lucky the time I had to do it. I would hate to try it in most > locations I have been. I used to carry a packed OEM joint and boot but > after having to change out the bolts in a grassy ditch in someone's front > yard while my friend fought off a menacing german shepherd and hold a > flashlight for me, I want something quick and easy. > > Jim > > On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 11:43 AM Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net> > wrote: > > > I went to the trouble of constructing a plywood box, mounted on > underside > > of Vanagon, with brand new ready-to-go half-axle inside; top quality, > Lobro > > CV joints. I do some long roadtrips. Just for peace of mind. Cross > > country, most folks don't even know what a Vanagon is. Even mechanics. > So > > having the part ready is cheap insurance. For me. > > > > On Monday, October 18, 2021, 09:18:48 AM PDT, Dan N < > dn92610@gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > > I had my mechanic replace the boots and repack the grease last month at > > 222K miles. Before that it was in 2015 at 199K miles, tintop Syncro. So > 23K > > miles in 6 years. > > > > On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 6:49 AM Jim. Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > > > I was going through some shelves in my garage this morning and came > > across > > > a container of the CV lube that Chris sells/sold at T3techniques. It's > > > called CV-2, a stinky muddy-looking heavy grease. It got me wondering > > when > > > was the last time I packed my axle joints because I used this stuff. I > > > looked it up in my log, the date was 2013, almost 60,000 miles ago. > > > > > > This seems like a long time compared to what I had previously been used > > to. > > > Thoughts and experiences? > > > > > > Now that I have stated this publicly, I realize that the CV joints are > > not > > > long for this world. But I had to ask. > > > > > > Jim > > > > > > > >