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so when i'm in a full lock right hand turn with any sort of power on i'm getting cracking noise from the right front.

for example accelerating right out of a T-intersection, or when accelerating out of a right hand U-turn.

is that sort of noise typical of a worn/failed outer CV joint?

i'm thinking to replace the outer CV joint, is it generally a good idea to do the inner joint while I'm at it?

cheers
matt

Yes early sign its on its way out

ok so i've the front right drive shaft on the dinning room table, outer cv joint removed (which turned out to have a crack in the housing). now i'm stuck trying to get the new outer cv joint onto the end of the drive shaft. the circlip that goes on the end of the drive shaft just seems completely impossible to compress enough on all sides to get it back on. the circlip was a right pain in the neck when it came to getting the stuffed outer cv joint off the drive shaft and now it's even worse trying to get it back on.

i have to ask, i personally can't see why you need the circlip in the first place. i mean without it the worst senario i can think of is that the drive shaft may move around a bit in a tight turn. not nearly enough to disengage from the cv joint.

certainly driving in a straight line it's not going to be a problem.

can i just discard the circlip and put it all back together OR is it going to mean that the first full lock turn i do it's going to be nasty.

matdav wrote:i have to ask, i personally can't see why you need the circlip in the first place. i mean without it the worst senario i can think of is that the drive shaft may move around a bit in a tight turn. not nearly enough to disengage from the cv joint.

certainly driving in a straight line it's not going to be a problem.

can i just discard the circlip and put it all back together OR is it going to mean that the first full lock turn i do it's going to be nasty.

The circlip is there to hold the ball cage to the shaft. As the suspension moves up and down the drive shaft has to change length. If this circlip is not installed it can't be guaranteed that the movement for the change in length will occur only in the inner joint that is designed to do this.

If it comes out you'll lose drive to the front wheel and tear a boot. It's not all doom and gloom, I've smashed the cage on a front outer joint and the shaft has just freewheeled in the joint, I would imagine that the same would happen in the case of the circlip not being in there.

I believe to get it on you really need to hit the outer joint hard to get the clip to compress and the shaft slide on.

Cheers

Bennie

success! i enlisted the help of a second pair of hands (my wife) who held the drive shaft vertical with the slightest of downward pressure while i compressed the clip with precission screwdrivers on both sides and then pop!, it was on. i had the axle nut screwed on backwards on the end of the shaft to give it a bit more stability.

in lieu of a photo here is some ascii....

[ ] << inner cv
|
| << drive shaft
|
[ ] << outer cv
|
------- << dinning room table

Good work mate!

It's there for a reason and it must be possible to do it!

Cheers

Bennie