Date:         Sat, 4 Jan 1997 10:26:41 +0000
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         vwbus@netbiz.net
Subject:      Re: CV joint lifespan?


> 1. How long would you expect a CV joint (inner) to last?
> 2. Should the PO have replaced both sides together?
> 

In my experience this can be really varied depending on when the 
joint was manufactured.  I've seen '76 joints pristine with 110k 
never repacked and '78 or '85 joints worn terribly in the 85k range.  
Certainly a ripped boot will cause near immediate destruction but 
otherwise really seems to rely on the luck of the draw as to what the 
batch got hardened to.  Most I see have the inner races softer than 
the outers and worn more with the cages severely loose on the balls, 
but I've never seen a broken cage on a street bus.  You should IMHO 
repack at least every 50k with new boots if your old ones show 
deteriation and at that time switch sides to increase life by wearing 
them on the opposite thrust surface.  When repacking some of the old 
timers round the list say $3 a tub moly EP is fine, I usually use 
honest VW stuff at $11 the tube on a van I care about, one of the new 
moly based synthetics that carries the same rating as the VW for 
about $5 the tube if I don't.

Just my thoughts, 60k and they could be going but unlikely unless 
boot damaged.  As a rule I'm running some extensively worn ones 
reveresed with over 100k and get no clicking though they could fail 
at any time I imagine.

John
vwbus@netbiz.net