Multiple front axle issue - CV clip and boots

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Those CV is fubar'ed. At this point, I would buy new CV and not worry about a rebuild, not worth the hassle for the price.

Hard to tell but your flanges look like the teeth are okay. If you put the Flange on the CV axle, is there play when you move it left and right? If not much play you can likely just re-use the flanges not buy new.

I would get new inner and outer bearings, and re-pack. Get new C-clip thing and makes sure it's the right thickness, it comes in different dimension options. I would buy a few extra clips in case.

Check the condition of the Knuckle bearing, check condition of Knuckle.

You need new locking washer, and 54mm nuts for sure. I would buy extra lock washers as you may new more in future, this is the thing you have to hammer back and forward to lock with the 54mm nuts. New flange gasket. I bought new nuts and washers and cone washers as they're not too expensive. I also got a new cap, they're not too expensive, if you keep prying the cap open and knocking it back in, it gets worn and loose.

When I replaced the CV axle, I also replaced the oil seal at the differential side. The left and right side, have different part numbers, I use Partsouq.com to check the part # needed for my VIN. The oil seal was a pain in the butt to get out and put in. I used a prybar to get mine out, and minding not to scratch the inside of the diff hole. I used the old seal as a hammer cover, I put the old seal over the new seal, and used a hammer over the old seal to hammer the new seal in, took a long time. You don't want to hammer the new seal directly, you will screw it up. If you're unsure about the seal step, and your seals look fine, just dont touch it!


When you get the new CV axle, be careful when setting them down, as there is a very delicate thin sheet metal around the ring of the CV (outer end). Try to also not damage the rubber gasket material on the outer end. Lay it on soft towel and be careful when inserting it in. You want to make sure there is a clean seal with the knuckle when you slide it in. The new CV axle is very stiff it's hard to move and work with.

When you insert the new CV axle in, there is a C-clip on the inner - end. Make sure that Clip is facing "up" on the groove, you'll use lube so it'll stick to that spot and not move around. If you have the C-clip hanging down on the bottom (6-o'clock) it will be very hard to shove it in. Note you will not shove the CV completely FLUSH into the diff hole, it'll still have a few mm of gap space that's normal, I thought I couldn't get mine shoved in all the way in but in reality it's already locked in.

When you put the new bearing in, replace the races, the new bearings come with the new races together (do both inner and outer races). You need a brass or soft material drift, and a hammer. Lightly tap the old race out, and when putting in the new race, you can use the old race as a tool on top of the old race to hammer it in evenly. You need to cut a small sliver with a dremel on the old race, so it can compress into smaller radius as it goes in and you can take it out. Make sure the new races, are all the way in! Or else you will have alignment problems on the bearing or your caliper may not seat properly.

When you put the bearings in, make sure you properly pack them with lots of lube. Spend a lot of time on this and make sure it's well lubed. Inside the cavity of the HUB you need to make sure it's got LUBE all inside it, don't skimp on this. Poor lube volume will damage bearings. It's a dirty job so get lots of towels and gloves.

The bearing pre-load step is very important (you need to torque the nut to tighten the bearings, then loosen the nut, then torque it very very lightly, then put the lock washer, and outer nut and torque the outer nut, then lock the washer to the nuts). If you don't do the pre-load right you can have a wobbly wheel and loose bearing, which can damage the bearing. Or if it's too tight you can have problems with the bearing getting damaged. Makes sure you do this correct per manual, there is a lot of guides on this on ih8mud.
The flanges are so cheap compared to CVs that I wouldn't risk reusing them and possibly damaging the CV splines, but that's just me.
 
That’s wild!! Yours is a lot worse than mine but I was just thinking last night how could the mechanic send it out the door like that? Same goes for your situation in particular lol
I can only imagine what it felt like to drive, haha!
Thankfully that's about the only hack-y thing I've found thus far, and I've torn the ENTIRE front end apart on my LX. Once I finish up front (and put my new engine in) I'll tear the rear apart to replace the trailing arm bushings & make sure it's all good-to-go. I'm waiting on another 25% off sale to pickup a new CV axle, since it's not like I'll be driving my LX anywhere soon...
 
I would take a look at the key critical safety areas. Like check suspension and steering is looking okay, check to see brakes are in good shape and inspect the calipers and what's inside. If there is non-OEM you should make note and replace next time around, and save the replaced part as an emergency Spare.

I would flush all the liquids and use proper fluids (engine oil, diff/transfer fluids, steering ATF, brake fluid).
 
I can only imagine what it felt like to drive, haha!
Thankfully that's about the only hack-y thing I've found thus far, and I've torn the ENTIRE front end apart on my LX. Once I finish up front (and put my new engine in) I'll tear the rear apart to replace the trailing arm bushings & make sure it's all good-to-go. I'm waiting on another 25% off sale to pickup a new CV axle, since it's not like I'll be driving my LX anywhere soon...
Good advice right here! Memorial Day is close, so I bet a nice offer will be popping up soon. If you can, wait just a little bit and you can probably get drive shafts 25 to 35 off with possible free shipping.
 
Hey again, I’m hard at work with the front axle rebuild but I also bought new OEM shocks and seem to have an issue. The new shock doesn’t have the seat / flange / perch that the circle washer goes on. Am I crazy or is this normal?

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Finally after weeks of waiting on parts, so many hours of work, and a lot of $$$ later it's back on the road. This was a beast of a job since I replaced basically everything I touched, minus ball joints. Those are next, probably after summer once it cools down again.

Ran into one issue right towards the end I couldn't find a way to fix initially, which was that despite every single thing in the axle/knuckle being brand new, the CV wouldn't come through the flange far enough to get the C clip on. No amount of prying with bolts and stuff like others have suggested would work for me. Probably all the brand new grease need to be squished out of the back side of the knuckle/needle bearing area.

Finally resorted to using a long bolt in the end of the axle and used a giant 37mm socket to act as like a ball-joint press style setup and after a bunch of cranking, that pulled the axle through enough to set the c-clip. Had to do it on both sides, but it worked. Hopefully this helps someone else in the future.

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