12 replies to this topic

[mx5nut]

All the bits finally arrived to upgrade my brakes from 7” to 7.5” discs and I thought I would get started with removing the CV joints since I have had the axels out of the car for a while. I have tried using a vice and a punch, holding vertically and whacking with a hammer and even putting back in the vice at a downward angle and using the hammer with a good deal more force.

For the life of me, I can’t get these CV joints to come off! Is there something I am missing? Everything that I have read and every video I have watched makes it seem relatively easy, so I don’t understand why I am having so much difficulty.

Any other tips or trick to get this done would be greatly appreciated.

[Spider]

You'll have no way of finding this out until you eventually get them apart, but it sound like the Inner C Clip has dislodged and jammed in the splines. I've had that a few times over the years. When that's happened, the only way forward I found, was to just keep banging away. You're essentially shearing the clip, then dragging it through the splines, so yes, they do get stuck hard. I'll say with the ones I have done, I've not had any damage the splines.

 

Just now another idea came to me though still won't be easy. If you no longer value the CV, you could cut it with an angle grinder to get to the inside of it and hopefully pull the C Clip off altogether, though, if the shaft has started to come out the C Clip will be inside the spider of the CV, perhaps from this point, with access to the inside, you could press the shaft out. If you go down this route, I'd suggest cleaning as much grease from the CV first and be warned, CVs are VERY hard, it will take some work to grind and you'll likely go through a few discs doing it.

[M J W J]

Hammer the CV back on to the shaft first. This can sometimes be enough to release the clip before you knock the cv off.

I've generally found if I can't get a cv to move in about 3 hits, then the clip has moved into a position that won't allow it to come off, so I start again.

There is a bit of a knack to it but once you've got one off you'll get the feel of how to hit them to release them.

[mx5nut]

Hammer the CV back on to the shaft first. This can sometimes be enough to release the clip before you knock the cv off.

I can try a couple light taps, but I haven’t even been able to get it to move a single millimeter. I think it is free exactly where it is, because I can see those little “star” points wiggle ever so slightly and a tiny bit of grease will ooze through. I’ll try a couple inward taps later today and report back with my results

[KTS]

also worth noting that water can, and does, get in there making it really hard to separate them.  i've had to resort to putting the drive shaft in a vice and use a club hammer and cold chisel to knock the end off.

[weef]

In this instance a "light tap" is not the desired approach.  Using suitable eye protection , first clean off any excess grease then knock the joint back onto the shaft. You do not have to but if you have a good vice grip the shaft in such a way as to give you a good arc to hit the joint inner. A large copper mallet is best but if not available a good sized "club hammer" will suffice. Now "tap" the joint with such force that you feel it would smash the joint to pieces, it is this shock force that  is needed to compress the retaining ring clip and free the joint. Continue as above until the joint slides free.

If your first timid approach has nipped the retaining ring clip then its a hard slog to remove the joint. 

[mx5nut]

I still have not had any success and am not sure what to do. I don’t have an angle grinder and would not be confident enough to use that and know that I wouldn’t accidentally cut too deep or something and ruin an axle.

Has anyone heard of a slide hammer successfully being used to remove a CV joint?

I am taking a break from the CV joints and getting the swivel hubs built up with the wheel bearings, ball joints, steering arms, etc. I’ll get back to the CV joints in a few days with a fresh perspective. Ugh.

[greenwheels]

I invested in one of these - https://www.amazon.c...24783148&sr=8-3

Makes life so much easier and saves all that awful hammering.
 

[MatthewsDad]

I invested in one of these - https://www.amazon.c...24783148&sr=8-3
Makes life so much easier and saves all that awful hammering.

Agree, haven't had any problems since buying one of these.

[mx5nut]

I invested in one of these - https://www.amazon.c...24783148&sr=8-3
Makes life so much easier and saves all that awful hammering.

I picked one of these up at your recommendation and it was fantastic! Funny, I had been thinking that something similar should exist for this and voila!

So when I got the CV joint off, the circlip shot off across my garage, which makes me think it was bound up in there somehow.I am going to clean the splines a bit better today but my first inspection of them didn’t look like there was any major damage to the splines. I did notice a small bit of rounding to the end of the splines that may have happened when I pulled the CV joint off, but that only seemed to be on two or maybe three splines.

The question in my mind now is, at what point to I need to get a new driveshaft and is there any level of minor wear like what I described above that is acceptable for reuse?

[sonscar]

Not all of the shaft wears so you can compare the worn and non worn areas.The spines should have a clearly defined squarish shape and fit the new joint with no play leading to fretting(fretting is bad)Steve..

[Maccmike8]

A modified cv puller can also be helpful.

[Spider]

The question in my mind now is, at what point to I need to get a new driveshaft and is there any level of minor wear like what I described above that is acceptable for reuse?

 

I've had a few like this over the years, the odd one needed a clean up with a file, but never had an issue with the splines giving any trouble.