C-Clip popped off of driver side CV axle. Need advice before buying new C-clip. (2 Viewers)

[xplore]

It's definitely not seated all the way in the groove. You shouldn't see all of those little dark hollowed-out spots below the snap ring. That space needs to be displaced by the ring itself.

If you can't pull the axel any further out, those new rings in different sizes will do the trick.

 

[Chibu]

You shouldn't see all of those little dark hollowed-out spots below the snap ring. That space needs to be displaced by the ring itself.

Why did I not think of that sooner?

 

[medtro]

When I did this job, my snap ring settled down to about flush with the narrow end of the chamfer on the hub flange. I think it's a little bit difficult to tell from the perspective of their photo, but if you look at the sides rather than top of the snap ring, it appears to be flush with the wider portion of the chamfer. Just my observations.

This is an issue with most of the phone cameras today. What you see is not what you get. My picture appears that way too and I have 0.1mm gap between the snap ring and the flange.

 

[medtro]

It's definitely not seated all the way in the groove. You shouldn't see all of those little dark hollowed-out spots below the snap ring. That space needs to be displaced by the ring itself.

If you can't pull the axel any further out, those new rings in different sizes will do the trick.

Looking at axle pictures from another thread. I don't see how the snap ring can fill up the little dark spots.

 

[Chibu]

Looking at axle pictures from another thread. I don't see how the snap ring can fill up the little dark spots.

Hmmm, it might not fill up the dark spots completely but it certainly should fill it more than what it looks like from my pictures.

 

[ramangain]

Take a pic of your snap ring and post it @medtro

I can't be bothered

 

[xplore]

Looking at axle pictures from another thread. I don't see how the snap ring can fill up the little dark spots.

Perhaps you are right, but I don't think that gap should be as big as it is. Plus, in his picture you can see the ring riding just barely on the lip of the groove... Especially when you look at the ring as it wraps around the left side of the axle.

 

[Chibu]

This is by far the most constructive, civilized, and informative back-and-forth between two people that I've witnessed in a loooong time.

 

[ramangain]

We're almost all adults in these parts. We just don't act like it ALL of the time; our humanity on full display!

 

[abuck99]

If you can't pull the axle stub all the way out, check to see if there's too much grease on the back side by the spindle bearings.

Or the adjusting nuts/wheel bearings are loose not allowing the axle pull out all the way- this wears the groove in end of the axle stub allowing the snap ring to fall off. In the picture you can see the edges of the snap ring at the stub mushrooming slightly (11 o'clock in the picture)- this indicates some back & forth play possible loose bearing preload.

 

[ramangain]

If you can't pull the axle stub all the way out, check to see if there's too much grease on the back side by the spindle bearings.

Or the adjusting nuts/wheel bearings are loose not allowing the axle pull out all the way- this wears the groove in end of the axle stub allowing the snap ring to fall off. In the picture you can see the edges of the snap ring at the stub mushrooming slightly (11 o'clock in the picture)- this indicates some back & forth play possible loose bearing preload.

Actually, you can properly set pre-load on both spindle nuts and install the spider retaining washer correctly and STILL have a loose wheel bearing. This is what caused my infamous failure while towing in November.

This is why I recommend tightening the 1st spindle nut as much as possible without power or air tools, then back it off and follow the FSM. Squeeze all that crap together TIGHT to settle everything in the proper place first.

 

[medtro]

Take a pic of your snap ring and post it @medtro

I can't be bothered

 

[Chibu]

Perhaps you are right, but I don't think that gap should be as big as it is. Plus, in his picture you can see the ring riding just barely on the lip of the groove... Especially when you look at the ring as it wraps around the left side of the axle.

In regards to this, I checked the snap ring again this morning. I used a screwdriver to try pushing the snap ring around the groove it sits in and it moved freely. I don't know if that's a bad thing or not but I think that if the ring was barely in the groove and riding on the splines, it would be hard to move the ring and I would see (or at least feel) it riding on the splines as I moved it. There was grease all over the ring and it's groove but nothing I couldn't feel friction through.

If you can't pull the axle stub all the way out, check to see if there's too much grease on the back side by the spindle bearings.

Or the adjusting nuts/wheel bearings are loose not allowing the axle pull out all the way- this wears the groove in end of the axle stub allowing the snap ring to fall off. In the picture you can see the edges of the snap ring at the stub mushrooming slightly (11 o'clock in the picture)- this indicates some back & forth play possible loose bearing preload.

I was very careful not to put too much grease on the back of the spindle bearings when installing the CV axle. Also I have noticed the CV axle is not the original axle for the car. The original axle has a completely different spindle to axle mating surface than the used axle on the car right now, hence the difficulty when trying to pull that stub out of the flange. I did bearings when putting this axle on and although I did not have a pre-load gauge, I tightening the 1st spindle nut as much as humanly possible without automated tools and without breaking anything, then I gave the hub a few good spins, then I loosened the 1st nut and installed (the claw washer first) both spindle nuts (plus spider washer) to FSM torque spec and the hub and bearings felt pretty solid (but still free enough to actually turn) to me.

This is why I recommend tightening the 1st spindle nut as much as possible without power or air tools, then back it off and follow the FSM. Squeeze all that crap together TIGHT to settle everything in the proper place first.

Yep, I was going to skip out of this, but then I was like "why skip it, and get stuck on the side of the road, when I can just suffer for two more hours, and not have to do it again for another 180,000 kilometers?"

 

[ramangain]

Yep, I was going to skip out of this, but then I was like "why skip it, and get stuck on the side of the road, when I can just suffer for two more hours, and not have to do it again for another 180,000 kilometers?"

Your logic is sound. Live long and prosper

 

[mike harris]

I had this fault on my Landcruiser, the near side front wheel bearing wasn’t adjusted properly, so the inner needle bearing wore out as the joint was working through an angle and not straight !

then the clip wore away as the shaft was forcing it so hard against the drive flange ! Shaft shot inward and lost drive !