CV axle refresh

[Matthew Jeschke]

I have a weird clicking noise that ONLY goes away when I turn right. I've been through the whole truck, literally, minus the CV Axles. Regardless I think it's time to refresh those Axles.

I snagged a spare set of CV axles at the junkyard years ago for cheap. My plan is to tear down the junkyard ones I have, inspect them, regrease and rebuild them as needed. Swap them on and see what happens.

Anybody know what kind of grease goes in them? Will good ol high pressure lithium work, the stuff used for ball joints?

Curious though, any thoughts on CV Axles? Any upgrades worth considering out there? It's always been on my mind to try and upgrade front diff with a locker, although I'd likely never need it, and I'd likely never do it. That said, it'd be nice to know I rebuild such that things like that can become possible. I think a locker requires the 3/4 ton front diff though? Either way... Any upgrades locker inspired or otherwise would be interesting to consider.

I'm also curious where they break? Do ends break? What is the failure mode. I always suspected the mounting flange to the half shafts in the axle housing as being a weak link.

 

[OR VietVet]

Right wheel/hub bearing, or the cv joint. When you remove it, flex it and see if can hear/feel a problem. If you decide to replace it, cut it open and post pics of the insides.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Will do, I'm going to likely be tearing down at least one set of these.

 

[swathdiver]

I have a weird clicking noise that ONLY goes away when I turn right. I've been through the whole truck, literally, minus the CV Axles. Regardless I think it's time to refresh those Axles.

I snagged a spare set of CV axles at the junkyard years ago for cheap. My plan is to tear down the junkyard ones I have, inspect them, regrease and rebuild them as needed. Swap them on and see what happens.

Anybody know what kind of grease goes in them? Will good ol high pressure lithium work, the stuff used for ball joints?

Curious though, any thoughts on CV Axles? Any upgrades worth considering out there? It's always been on my mind to try and upgrade front diff with a locker, although I'd likely never need it, and I'd likely never do it. That said, it'd be nice to know I rebuild such that things like that can become possible. I think a locker requires the 3/4 ton front diff though? Either way... Any upgrades locker inspired or otherwise would be interesting to consider.

I'm also curious where they break? Do ends break? What is the failure mode. I always suspected the mounting flange to the half shafts in the axle housing as being a weak link.

On two of three trucks, the outer boot rotted through and started slinging grease and soon after the joint was toast and had to be replaced on one of the three.

I bought all of the GM tools to rebuild them and even some of the parts but I was too sick at the time and just ordered new GM ones. These were an improved design with protection for the back of the hub. My trucks are the generation after yours and we run different part numbers. The grease that came with the boots is green or blue, can't remember.

The T1 1500s have a locker in their front differential.

 

[Marky Dissod]

Why do I have this idea running around in my head that the GMT900 CV axles are an upgrade of some sort for GMT800s?
I'm all about upgrading by updating whenever possible, but I gotta understand it first.

 

[mikez71]

...These were an improved design with protection for the back of the hub.

Neat, I remember thinking the back of my 15k mile front wheel bearings was pretty filthy dirty already..

And wondered if the dirt contributes to earlier bearing failure..
Don't pressure wash back of hub/axle interface. Scared to drive through puddles now..

Someone here installed a 9.25" front diff. Needed to mix and match axle ends I believe.
Something about 2010+ 2500hd front diff...

My fault, that was a GMT900 swap..

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Why do I have this idea running around in my head that the GMT900 CV axles are an upgrade of some sort for GMT800s?
I'm all about upgrading by updating whenever possible, but I gotta understand it first.

Now we're talking! That's a GREAT idea. Would be nice if I had a spare set to try and swap on.

Oddly the GMT900 trucks were not ANYWHERE nearly as popular as the GMT800. I virtually NEVER saw them at junkyards to pull parts. I'd love to put MORE GMT900 or newer parts on if they'd fit, given they're a superior design.

Neat, I remember thinking the back of my 15k mile front wheel bearings was pretty filthy dirty already..
View attachment 483530
And wondered if the dirt contributes to earlier bearing failure..
Don't pressure wash back of hub/axle interface. Scared to drive through puddles now..

Someone here installed a 9.25" front diff. Needed to mix and match axle ends I believe.
Something about 2010+ 2500hd front diff...

My fault, that was a GMT900 swap..

Yeah I kind of wondered if GMT900 splines on the hub side are a bit different? Possibly a frankenstin part.

I've been wondering if the shaft itself breaks? If so a thicker design might be better... I kind of think the flange brakes though on the axle typically?

Sometimes people "say" things break though and it's more rumor than anything. I've been unable to find that person who says and HAS experience with broken IFS setup... Other than, the original WistlinDiesel where he broke a bunch of the tie rods.

It's be really interesting to know... HOW these things break so I could look into building that part up.

I did some searching and arrived at Redline CV-2 grease. I think it's about as good as it gets for the bearings. I'll likely just tear down and inspect my junkyard spares, then throw them on for now... hoping my odd squeaking noise goes away.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

I got one axle dismantled. Few notes / things I learned so far...

First there's some bad tutorials on YouTube... One where the guy takes the boot off and the wheel side CV joint falls off! I think some of the refurbished parts (by rebuild shops) maybe skipping the snap ring. I hope he didn't put it back together w/o the snap ring as the play can effetely create a hammer on the other side! Several others are breaking the snap ring by hitting the wheel side CV with a sledge hammer!

The snap ring is for the wheel side is hidden below grease, if you clean it a bit there's an opening where you can get a tool in to release the ring, then separate the axle from the CV.

The diff side looks weaker. On another note the diff side moves more freely.. the wheel side offers up considerably more resistance.

I assume these break at the knuckles for the diff side?

The axles themselves are rough machined on the neck where it tapers down to the splines (darker gray). They effectively created stress risers in the machining process. If a person wanted they could strengthen these by cleaning up that rough machine work.

My guess is the shafts don't break though?

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Ran into a couple things I need a little help with...

Cleaning grease out: darn! this is the most sticky grease ever. It wasn't too dirty but I cannot seem to get the CVs perfectly clean. I tried acetone but the grease wouldn't dissolve what the heck can get this stuff off?

You can see in next picture, with MUCH effort; lots of shop towels & shop air I was able to get it mostly clean.

What are these markings on inside of joint: I never made note of orientation between this part and the bearing assembly. Not sure if it matters, however, I saw these markings and wondered if they had something to do with that?

Protective coating: the open parts of the axle and hubs were painted. I stripped most all that paint off. Curious what would be most appropriate to reseal this with? I was thinking of just using enamel based paint... but perhaps there's something better???

 

[exp500]

Coal Tar will last!

 

[mikez71]

Cleaning grease out: darn! this is the most sticky grease ever. It wasn't too dirty but I cannot seem to get the CVs perfectly clean. I tried acetone but the grease wouldn't dissolve what the heck can get this stuff off?

Sounds like you got it clean.. Lacquer thinner is what I usually use for stick/dirty/greasy stuff...

What are these markings on inside of joint: I never made note of orientation between this part and the bearing assembly. Not sure if it matters, however, I saw these markings and wondered if they had something to do with that?

View attachment 484757

My impression of dot type marks is hardness testing. But I have no idea...
Are they on the other two sections as well? I see something in the picture that looks like it could be on all 3 thin sections..
Also see what looks like a horizontal line, maybe jaw marks, above the dots?

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

I should note, the ball bearings on the non-plunger (outboard) side are 13/16". Researching them a bit... Getting too nuanced for typical parts catalogs. I think maybe if a person could find Diamond Like Carbon ball bearings they might work well in there (lower friction higher durability).

I'm getting ready to order new boots. They come with the grease so I might not bother to do the redline grease mentioned earlier in this tread. Curious where have you guys been ordering parts? Rock Auto went closed in Arizona. I've been going to summit racing which has best customer service in industry, but typically I don't order factory spec stuff there as it's about 20% more expensive than rock auto... eBay and Amazon are problematic (plagiarized / counterfeit parts). Anyplace else good?

Sounds like you got it clean.. Lacquer thinner is what I usually use for stick/dirty/greasy stuff...

Perfect I have a bunch of that too!

My impression of dot type marks is hardness testing. But I have no idea...
Are they on the other two sections as well? I see something in the picture that looks like it could be on all 3 thin sections..
Also see what looks like a horizontal line, maybe jaw marks, above the dots?

The other three sections have similar dot marks. One of the three pockets has a scribe mark higher up towards open end. Perhaps the jaw mark?

 

[Fless]

Rock Auto went closed in Arizona.

Curious if they've given you a reason for not shipping to Arizona. A few years back they wouldn't ship to incorporated areas in Colorado, due to having to calculate and submit sales taxes for each place, but eventually they must have signed up with a service that automatically calculates the tax and has a way to submit it. Until then, I had to ship to my son's place out in the county.

Updating, apparently there's a tax dispute about back taxes:

Why Car Parts Giant RockAuto Plans To Stop Shipping Parts To Arizona Residents - The Autopian

RockAuto is one of America's best sources for affordable car parts. But come November, car owners in Arizona will have to look somewhere else

www.theautopian.com

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

As the story goes, RockAuto charges sales rate for the destination where the parts are delivered to. Arizona pursued them for sales tax on ALL their orders regardless of destination. Their argument was some of the warehouses they drop ship from are located in Arizona. So basically, say you are in NY, you'd pay Arizona sales tax AND NY sales tax. Obviously the state lost this case in court. However, afterward the state refused to give them a business license to sell in Arizona. If I put an order in on their website and use my home address in Arizona it rejects the order *sigh* It may have saved me a bit as I was CONSTANTLY ordering parts to fix things that likely didn't matter. Now my cars are a bit worse repair but it's nothing important that cannot be done. In short, maybe I'm saving a few $$ not fiddling in the garage all the time.

This was all orchestrated by our lovely governor Katie Hobbs who it's safe to say stole the election. She counted the votes for her own campaign. Really stupid. She also vetos EVERY single bill. I passed the idea for one bill onto my state rep and they ran with it... it got vetoed. They were so dumbfounded by her vetoing everything, they started writing bills that made it obvious she was corrupt and she vetoed them also... e.g. like sex trafficking's bills, she vetoed all those. Not sure if this stuff even makes news. I got involved with that mess a while back. Part of this lovely mess is her working with state to deny RockAuto the ability to sell in Arizona.

I should keep the conversation to car parts here though lol