I picked four CV axles from Rockauto, 2 for a Ford Contour and 2 for a VW Golf, in hopes of swapping the Ford outer CV's to the VW shafts. But, I just cannot get the outer CV's off either type of axle. I bought the CV tool, which doesn't seem to work, I've tried hitting the CV's with a heavy hammer, and I've even resorted to cutting one of the Ford axles so that I could pop the balls out and see what was inside the joint. So, does anyone know of any tricks for removing the outer CV's?
I did get the balls of of the cut axle, and can get the splined bit to move about a 1/16", but that's it. I put in the press to see if I could get it to move even further but no luck.
There's no circlip holding the splined section to the shaft?
I was hoping there was a clip, but there's nothing on the inner end of the one that I cut.
I made my first Youtube video ever to cover how to do this....15 years ago. Disclaimer: I'm not a professional content creator. This was from back when I had to split a two minute video into two parts to upload it to YT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz0x6LNo6HY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTooPkTAmIk
Need to find an exploded view. A lot of times it is just a round spring clip that really doesn't want to release, especially since they generally don't machine the groove with a bevel to make it come apart easily.
Sometimes you have to gyrate the joint and remove the balls one at a time, and then there is a circlip on the inside.
Other times, the joints just do not come apart!
Pete mostly covered it, but I'll walk through disassembling a C/V joint in some more detail:
- Remove boot
- Clean excess grease from the joint
- Mount outer race / stub in benchtop vice with the axle pointed up
- Bend the joint all the way to the side so that one of the balls is very exposed
- Use a pick or small screwdriver to pop the ball out of the joint
- Bend the joint around to the next ball in a star/cross pattern (just like tightening lug nuts) to remove the remaining balls
- With all the balls removed you should be able to move the cage around freely and find a position that allows you to remove the cage and inner race
- Now you have free access to remove the inner race from the bar. It will be retained with either a visible circlip that you might be able to pry off, or a buried circlip that you can't see. If it is buried, your best hope is a combination of a three-jaw puller and a slide hammer. A hydraulic press could work as well.
- Assembly is the reverse of removal
Good luck!
Tyler,
I'll have to try that method, looks much simpler than the few videos I've seen.
Pete,
I'm guessing the Contour ones dont come apart. Fingers crossed the VW ones come apart.
ShawneeCreek,
I had tried the ball removal prior to cutting the one axle. I couldn't get enough angle on the axle to expose the balls. But I'll try it again when I'm out at the shop. I did put the cut one in the press, but couldn't get it to budge.
As an aside, I've managed to find just the outers in Europe for not a lot of money, but I'll give it one more weekend in the shop before throwing more money at what was supposed to be a simple project.
If you don't see an external circlip, then it likely has one of these concealed spring clips. That's where the pipe trick comes in.
