Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (April 1995)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Thu, 20 Apr 1995 18:58:47 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@townshend.Corp.Megatest.COM (William Abbott)
Subject:      Grease Needles for CVs, Rabbit Joke /f

Friends, A needle fitting for your grease gun is a standard tool-store item. Before you go out and punch holes in your CV boots, however, stop and ask yourself, if the old grease is missing, where did it go? If the old grease isn't missing, what good will shooting more into the boot to? I've done a complete CV replacement and its a mess- took Ian and I 8 hours start to finish to do both axles on my Rabbit one Saturday. But IMHO, repacking means disassemble, clean and re-grease. Anything else and you're just fooling around.

I happily paid about $100 labor for someone else to clean, inspect and replace all four CVs for my '70 single cab. I was feeling rich and I saved a day on the project. Four new joints, installed on my axles, cost $53x.00 including labor and tax, so having it done only changed the price about 20%.

If you're bound and determined to do the needle thing, try this: Loosen the clamp that seals the small end of the CV boot around your axle. Now plug the needle fitting into your grease gun, then carefully slide the needle inbetween the boot and the axle shaft. Remember that there's a ridge in the axle shaft just inside the boot, which you'll have to get the needle *over*

Got the needle in all the way? Pump grease to your heart's contentment. Uses a 5mm or 1/4" wide nylon tie-wrap to reclamp the boot. And don't expect your CV to last very long.

If you do the right thing and disassemble and clean and repack, you'll want to change the boots. Wrap some duct tape over the splines on the axle shaft when you put on the new boot- that way the sharp edges of the splines won't cut the boot. __ |==================== ##| | | | Grease Needle Boot =====| | | v =====// : This is the CV, | \ \ | =====// : where you hope | \ \ v ===========// : the grease winds | \/=====:=============<@@@@@@@@@ : up... | -----------------:------/\-------------------- : || -------------------- : || ==================== : || -------------------- : ||Ridge on axle -------------------- : || ==================== : || -------------------- -----------------:------\/-------------------- | ===========\\ : | =====\\ : | =====\\ : | =====| | | | ##| | |==================== --

John Hopp- In saying someone should give you a Rabbit, I was making what I hoped would be a well recieved and obvious reference to your last name. Wolfsport up in Marin County used be called Recyled Rabbit and I believe had a tee shirt with the moto: "Non-Stop Hop".

I guess I'd pick "That _Rabbit is a really fine car" of the four sample sentences you offered. My ol' Flopsy was still running strong at 209,000 miles, with the original bottom end of the engine and over 120,000 miles on the rebuilt head.


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.