CV Axle question, CV Axle has excess play

[TheOtherGuy]

Hello everyone.

Recently I did a CV axle job on my 2006 GX 470 and on the drivers side I may not have properly seated the shaft into the diff housing. Because of this it has excess play.

I have driven it several hundred miles like this and have not had a problem, but I think it is something I should fix.

The question is: do I need to dis-assemble everything again and try to re-seat it or can I beat on it with a punch and hammer and hope that it goes in and seats the "C" clip with out damaging anything?

Here is a video to show you what I am talking about:


Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[langsen]

It looks ok to me. I see in the video that it has a little bit of play but the clip must be seated for it to be in that far.

 

[GXO]

Correct... Plus if you put miles in it... The seal would have leaked if it wasn't seated

 

[TheOtherGuy]

Thanks for the relies Y'all. I think you are right that it wouldn't have gone in that far if the snap ring didn't get where it should go. There is also no oil leaking out even after driving several hundred miles like that.

I am still a bit concerned that it has so much play there. I can hear and feel it slamming against the diff housing when the suspension compresses over bumps in the road. I can feel it in the floorboard under my feet. I am pretty sure the CV axle is the cause. I checked all the other possible culprits I can think of such as ball joints, tie rods, swaybar contacting new shocks, and everything seems to be in order there.

Is there anything else that could possibly be wrong?

 

[alia176]

If they are aftermarket CV shafts, I wonder if the splined section is just a tad too long? If it were me, I'd remove it and compare it with another known shaft. My guess is that you had to return the old ones for a core so you may not have one to compare against. I have a spare shaft that I can provide you with some measurements if you need.

Good video BTW, really drives home the point!

 

[TheOtherGuy]

I believe the CV are OEM. I rebooted and repacked the ones that were one the truck and I am 99% sure they are OEM. They were in good shape but the boots were torn and I live in a place the almost never rains so they didn't have water intrusion.

 

[alia176]

If you used an OEM boot kit and the fit/finish was good then your axles are prolly OEM. I tried to reboot an aftermarket CV axle with the OEM boot kit and it didn't work very well.

 

[TheOtherGuy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have been driving on the CV for several hundred more miles since my first post and I am pretty confident that the CV is installed correctly and that the play is normal.

I have figured out that the noise I am hearing and feeling is most likely a characteristic of the Radflo shocks I installed at the same time as doing the CV job. I am thinking there is a slight looseness in the radflo joints or bearings that is causing the noise/feeling. I don;t think there is anything wrong with them it is just different from what I am used to.

 

[BlackCat]

Make sure your front diff mount isn't cracked.