New driveshafts... Doesn't turn

Jhastings · Post by **Jhastings** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:52 pm

I put in reman driveshafts from Napa the other day. I torqued them down tight and one wheel turns, but the tother won't turn now unless the big nut is backed off a bit.

What is the deal here?

Is the bearing bad?

Did I tighten them too much and crush something?

As I remember it, I am supposed to get those things tight right?

Jamie

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:20 pm

You were sold the incorrect part. Later model outer CVs have a larger diameter that will bind up on your steering knuckle when the nut is tightened. You can remove material from the outside of the CV with a grinder to make it fit, or go back to the store and ask for a shaft with the correct, early model, smaller diameter outer CV.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:36 pm

You can search posts here as I believe someone posted some pictures of the CV after grinding some away. I don't remember how much work was involved and how much grinding needed to be done, but it does work. The outer CV on the shaft you got is too large in diameter to fit into the bearing on the wheel. You can probably look at the inside of the wheel bearing and see where it rubbed to get an idea of how much metal you would have to remove.

Jhastings · Post by **Jhastings** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:20 pm

OK. So one of them must have been the correct one and one was the wrong one. I will look at the pictures to see if I can just remove the material myself.

Thanks for the replies.

Jamie

bottleworks · Post by **bottleworks** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:49 pm

Jhastings wrote:I will look at the pictures to see if I can just remove the material myself.

Why? Take it back.

You bought them from NAPA...Which means you paid a whole lot for run of the mill parts. At least give them the opportunity to sell you the correct part.

Jhastings · Post by **Jhastings** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:10 pm

I'll ask them, but I think that is the only part number that they have.

Quantum TD · Post by **Quantum TD** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:35 pm

Top five reasons to never buy a reman driveshaft. That's one of them. Here's a few more:

1) They don't actually rebuild the shafts with new CV joints, or even cages and bearings. THey just clean them, and repack them with new boots.
2) For the price of a complete driveshaft reassembled in China/India/Mexico/whatever country has the cheapest labor, you could buy a new OEM Lobro CV joint (assuming it's actually bad) from your local foreign car parts store (like CarQuest) and it will last forever, assuming you keep the boots in good shape.
3) Reman's typically last about 1-2 years before they start making noise again.
4) I've seen broken cages in remans.

So why do people do it? We're all lazy, and it takes too long to replace a CV joint. But if it's the outer joint that's bad (and it usually is the one), you can just replace the outer joint without actually removing the whole driveshaft. No-one knows your car like you do, so why trust that some 12 year-old Chinese/Indian/Mexican working in a maquiladora actually gives a crap about what he/she's doing?

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:04 pm

Jhastings wrote:I'll ask them, but I think that is the only part number that they have.

Chances are the part number is right but the core parts used to build the shaft were incorrect.

surfcam · Post by **surfcam** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:53 pm

I've run in to this incompatibility from the wheel housing perspective. There are two different size housings to accommodate different bearing OD's. The splines are the same (ID). The ball joint locking pin is smaller in the smaller housing as well. Now there are two different CV's 90mm and 100mm. Which are easily identified by measuring the transmission side end 90 or 100. I think the problem happens when you try a bolt the 100mm CV into the smaller housing. My question is how can you bolt this to a transmission that only has a 90mm stub axle. Unless you have a frankin CV, 90 on one end and 100 on the other. Feel free to jump in I'm just try to get this straight in my mind.

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:14 pm

surfcam wrote:My question is how can you bolt this to a transmission that only has a 90mm stub axle. Unless you have a frankin CV, 90 on one end and 100 on the other. Feel free to jump in I'm just try to get this straight in my mind.

Yup that's exactly what happens. Shafts come in and they're disassembled and tossed into bins for cleaning and measurement. Then shafts are assembled from random good parts out of the pile.

Jhastings · Post by **Jhastings** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:12 am

OK, so I should have consulted this before hand. Now that it is done, do I take it back and hope I get one that has the correct outer CV size or just grind on the one I have?

Jamie

Post by **Fatmobile** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:55 am

Maybe this should have been a poll,..
I vote grind it.

Quantum-man · Post by **Quantum-man** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:53 am

If you live next door take it back, if it's 50 miles by canoe, then grind.

One check I'd do, to save embarrassment is to check that it's not you at fault with odd strut mount bearing carrier thingy-majigs...
A previous owner may well have grabbed the whole setup for one side from another vehicle

Jhastings · Post by **Jhastings** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:22 am

That is an interesting thought.

I'll check that. first.

Thanks for all the help.

rabbit_man · Post by **rabbit_man** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:39 pm

One check I'd do, to save embarrassment is to check that it's not you at fault with odd strut mount bearing carrier thingy-majigs...
A previous owner may well have grabbed the whole setup for one side from another vehicle

Yeah that happened to me a couple years ago, I was working at my Uncles VW/Audi shop so parts were easy to get but I tried twice and both times it was wrong. So we ordered a complete empi reman and it fit. That was two years ago and the shaft still works except that it ground a hole through the little tranny output flange cap which makes me think the shaft was slightly too long. Hope you can figure it out.