RTH- CV axle reboot (1 Viewer)

[ga12r1]

So the other day I noticed a small tear on my passenger side outboard CV boot on my 2000 LX. It couldn’t have been more then a day or 2 old because I was working on the front just the weekend before and it wasn’t torn. I did notice some seepage though and had already ordered a boot kit and planned to replace. As far as I know the axle has never been replaced so it has 190k miles on it.

Anyways I pulled the axle and started the reboot process. Once I got everything cleaned up I noticed some wear marks on the cage and there is a some slight pitting on one of the balls.
The other 5 seem to be ok.

The wear on the cage is smooth and there doesn’t seem to be any damage, but that ball concerns me.

Question is I’ll be leaving for HIHs soon and that will be a 5,000 mile trip. Should I reboot and not worry about it, or go ahead and replace with a new oem axle? If I replace with a new axle I’ll reboot this one as a spare.

The axle hasn’t given any symptoms of a problem, just that torn boot. What do you guys think?

 

[Skidoo]

Photos are kind of fuzzy to see issues. Can't make out pitting on ball, but damage there makes me nervous.

 

[ga12r1]

Photos are kind of fuzzy to see issues. Can't make out pitting on ball, but damage there makes me nervous.

Yeah sorry about that. There’s 2 very small pits in the ball and a few places that look almost like scratches. Maybe this pic is better to show one of the pits:

 

[abuck99]

Reassemble and roll West. They show signs of wear, but bathed in grease they should be fine for your trip. You will likely get some vibes since it will be tough to get the ball bearings situated back in the same cage seat to match the wear inside the tulip. But if you are usingOEM boot kits, you should be goodfor your trip and then some.

If you have $$ to spare, buy 2 new CV axles keep the old as spares.

 

[bucfl]

If it’s a blueish hue from heat no problem. If those are deep grooves or scratches I would replace depending on the severity. If that pit is deep I would replace as well. If your pressed for time you can go napa reman for quick turn around. If it’s not too much money you might want to keep your cv and order the bearings and race to swap the oem in later.

 

[abuck99]

I would not risk my 5,000 mile vacation on a Napa CV axle.

Best option is new oem- (and replace both sides at once).

Second best option: reboot what ya got with an OEM kit.

And if rebooting or new CVs install new diff seals or you’ ll for sure have a leaky diff.

 

[ga12r1]

Thanks guys. The more I think about it the more I think the CV must have been rebooted at some point by the PO(I think I’ve found some evidence of a reboot) probably after being ran for awhile with a bad boot. I feel like that’s were the damage would have come from, especially since the inboard boot was intact and full of grease. I’ve probably been running on it for 45k without even knowing. I think I’ll reboot with the OEM kit I have and keep on going.

 

[jahawk]

NAPA carries factory rebuilt axles, but not everyone one they sell is. I'd compare before installing. I've got about eight months and some pretty rough trips out of them with no issue. That's the route I'd go.

Jim