Date:         Sat, 15 Feb 1997 21:37:52 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         natasha!mholser@Adobe.COM
Subject:      Re: If you've replaced your CV joints--please read

> Dealer said my main problem was that I used hose clamps to attach the boot
> to  the shaft.  He seemed to think that the weight of the clamp puts an
> imbalance on the shaft increasing wear at high rpm's.    He suggested using
> those lockstraps in the future.  BTW, the hose clamps were provided by
> Transform when I bought the joints.  
> 
> Any comments on this?  Who's right, the dealer or the CV joint company?  

I have heard this line, too, but it sounds a bit screwy to me.  These things
don't spin all that fast, and they don't have much of a diameter.  However:
all of the Lobro joints I have installed have come with the whole kit including
their crimp/clamp straps.  Honda uses a different, but reasonably balanced
clamp design.  I doubt that this was the whole trouble.  But Transform should
have sold you the Lobro kit, including the snap rings, boots, joint, grease,
washers AND CLAMP straps.

Did you disassemble the joint when you installed it?  I always do to get the
grease well into the joint, but you need to be careful in re-assembly.  If
you do it backwards they'll disintigrate.

My all have more than 100k miles on each, and I have three Vanagons, one
a Syncro -- 24 CV's on personal cars.  I seem to replace these on other folks
cars more than mine, but all four of the joints on my Honda were needed at 
about 140k.  The only Lobro complete failure I've seen was the cage cracking.

malcolm