CV axle shaft vertical play?

JHZR2

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This is my 82 300CD. Original boots were cracked and starting to tear, and stupidly I had a mechanic replace the shafts with what I thought were OE when I first got the car, verging on a decade ago now. I'm not so sure since they're rusted, when this car has never seen snow and salt let alone hardly any rain.

The right side has significant vertical play and makes a clanging sound. The left side has none. Both sides have about the same movement when trying to get them to go in and out of the differential/hub.

Does this mean a shot cv? Or does the vertical play point to something else in the hub? A rear bearing perhaps?

Car drives beautifully, though there is a bit of a clang in the rear occasionally (the sound I recorded), and there is a droning sound from the rear that is observable at around 40 and gone around 65. I think I saw metal in the diff, but I think perhaps it's related to this.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 
Its either a blown joint or bearing in the diff. Does the shaft move but the housing that goes into the diff stay stationary?
There should be no play or so little on the inboard side that its barely noticeable due to normal bearing to case clearance, you have a problem.
 
Originally Posted by Trav
Its either a blown joint or bearing in the diff. Does the shaft move but the housing that goes into the diff stay stationary?
There should be no play or so little on the inboard side that its barely noticeable due to normal bearing to case clearance, you have a problem.


The motion is definitely at the outboard side, near the wheel, not the inboard. So I think/hope the diff is Ok... though I did see what appeared to me to be metal in the oil when I drained it in the fall...

Could a bad wheel bearing be the equivalent of a bad bearing in the diff, just outboard?

Neither axle had any play at the diff. If I grabbed the actual shaft, each moved about the same inboard and outboard, with the suspension loaded. The rattle was at the right wheel-side.

Originally Posted by Farnsworth
Axle nut torqued correctly?


Certainly the first thing I want to check...
 
We need audio... Like play by play when you are doing stuff like this with your car...to hear you talking...

To know if you sound like Peewee Herman, or say Charlton Heston, or say Trace Atkins...

lol.gif



I hope it is something relatively simple to repair..
 
It is hard to tell with the camera moving like that when you shake the axle. Go to an auto parts store and compare it to a new one.
Having written that, my guess is that the axles are worn and need to be replaced. But it's just a guess.
 
These axles have less than 10k miles on them.

Concern is if the end bolt comes loose, the splines can shift and wear through the splines on the hub supposedly.
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
These axles have less than 10k miles on them.

Concern is if the end bolt comes loose, the splines can shift and wear through the splines on the hub supposedly.


You should be able to see if the whole bearing housing is moving in the hub or the shaft is moving in the bearing housing.
If the whole thing is moving, check the nut if you didn't already. Strange that would come loose after 10 years.
 
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I'll free up some time tomorrow to check that nut.

It made noise for the past while, and before I parked the car for like 6 years (kids).
 
It's definitely outboard and definitely the can that has movement. Have my car up on my kwik lift and realized I need to borrow or buy a bottle jack to get the corner up.

But here's a marginally indicative video:


Edit: jacked up and now there's no play. Axle bolt seems tight. Removed and no change in the shake length/noise.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

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Originally Posted by Trav
It looks like you may have a bad inner hub bearing #5. Time to pull it apart.



Does this change your mind at all?



The axle bolt was torqued to spec. Seems like there's some mismatch, like the OD of the cv joint spline is undersize. The joint can moves on the inside and it seems like the same think is moving on the outside.
 
Wrong parts or put together wrong. Or the bearing is so bad that it moved together.
 
At this point the only thing to do is take it apart to get the the bottom of it. The bearing(s) have probably had it, the joint splines may also be toasted. One thing is certain, its damaged and needs repair.
 
Originally Posted by Trav
At this point the only thing to do is take it apart to get the the bottom of it. The bearing(s) have probably had it, the joint splines may also be toasted. One thing is certain, its damaged and needs repair.


Can you help me to understand how to check the bearings?

I removed the axle bolt, used a brass drift and removed the CV joint. I can't really tell that there's much play anywhere. Not feeling it in the can, the splines all look good on the CV and the hub.

Is there a good test to check the bearings now? Does the caliper have to be removed to test?

There was no play anywhere when the wheel was lifted and I tried to check for play.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]
 
It seems like the bolt they used may possibly be too long and not pulling the axle in far enough. Put the axle back in the hub, pull it in with the bolt and see if there is in and out movement, the bolt may be bottoming out in the axle.
Is there any play in the hub splines when you try and move it?
 
Just went and prodded around. No play in the splines. No play anywhere except the bit of motion from the rotor to the hub. When they were both bolted in correctly, holding the shaft, they both went inboard/outboard with the same amount of play. This one has vertical play which is the differentiation here.

I'm thinking this is a foreign made axle that is good enough in build quality, and has insufficient parts. You're right that the bolt may be part of the issue - torquing it down did remove 75% of the play, but not all...

I ordered new washers as the FSM says to replace them - no idea if they were replaced.

Since this is a low use vehicle, wonder if I can find an OE bolt somewhere and try that with a new washer. Or alternately just put a lock washer on it to take some of the threads back. It can only take around 22 ft-lb per my understanding from the FSM (13mm head), but the bolt used there is pretty generic.
 
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