Date:         Fri, 26 Aug 94 08:48:18 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: vanagon rear wheel brg. ????

On Fri, 26 Aug 94 05:06:09 CDT Frank Condelli said:
>There is no adjustment on these bearings, right ??  AND, where does one
>get a wrench big enough and bodys strong enough to take off that 45mm
>axel nut ??? UG!!  Anyway, after changing the c-v joints I don't hear any

that nut is a 1-13/16ths socket. available at Fine Hardware Stores everywhere.
or Sears. :) or even your local FLAPS.

>more wierd noises.  Should I be concerned with the hub bearings???  Or just
>keep on driving until ??  My bus has 139517 km on the clock and sifting
>back through the paperwork I got with it I found that this is the 3rd time
>the c-v joints are being changed.  Once at 65,000 km under warrenty and then
>once again at 84,384 km by a Kingston, Ont. VW dealer for the PO.  Is it
>normal for these Vanagons to eat up c-v joints at this rate or what ???

me personally, i think it's the fact that vw never put enough grease into the
things. other folks have mentioned that their mechanics tell them cv-joints
should be cleaned and greased every 30,000 miles. when i got my 88 new bus,
i pulled the joints and put 1/2 tube of Valvoline Moly EP wheel bearing grease
(comes in a paper tube, for those grease guns) into each joint. that was
74,000 miles ago and not a peep out of them ... yet. but i'm getting paranoid
and planning on doing it again at 75,000 (like, next month).

my brother, the ex-mechanic, claims that wheel bearings don't wear out. hmph.
excuse me if i choose to worry. :) but he claims that it's not like the
old days when you had to pull them off and repack them. i can't see how it
could hurt to take care of them in the old way, though.

>Sure is expensive driving, no ??  I got my joints out of RMR in Montreal
>for $95.00 Canadian delivered to my door.  Better that the $600-$700 that
>VW charged to PO.  Oh well now I have new ones.  So life begins again.

wow. that's cheap. boots included?  my dealer wants $120 US each (w/boots).
they just keep on going up. :(
joel