Inner CV joint failure after front spring replacement

[ww1dm1]

Those are some helpful tips, sadly that still means I have to remove the whole axle.

Pulled the inner joint apart completely while it's on the car yesterday. Unsurprisingly it was fallen apart already, so I gave it a shot with reassembling without complete removal. Cleaned the huge mess, regreased everything, even managed to put the cage and the balls into the cup without everything falling out (grease is sticky enough). But as soon as I put the outer part in and try to spin it, for some reason everything falls apart again every time. Maybe it's the wrong angle or needs some force.

Don't bother if you ever get into such a situation. I guess this job is impossible without axle removal.

[flyingtech55]

Unfortunately it's not possible to re-assemble the shaft on the car. I did try...I wasted about half a day trying. It's not too difficult to pull the shaft if you have the tools.

Using 3/4" square drive breaker bar slacken and remove hub nut from end of drive shaft (I used a 600mm one and a single hex socket).
Jack up whole side of car.
Remove wheel.
Turn steering to fully left hand down.
Remove two bolts securing bottom of strut to hub.
Using copper mallet if necessary push drive shaft out of hub while pulling hub outwards.
Unbolt intermediate bearing cap from bracket and remove.
Remove driveshaft from gearbox with a STRAIGHT pull. Do not waggle it out or you may damage the oil seal. It comes out quite easily.
Repair drive shaft on bench.
Re-assemble drive shaft to car using care when re-installing driveshaft to final drive to avoid damaging oil seal.
Refit intermediate bear cap. Do not overtighten!!
Re-insert driveshaft splined end into hub using care not to overextend CV joints.
Refit hub to strut bolts but do not tighten.
Refit hub nut.
Centre steering.
Refit wheel and put car back on ground.
Tighten hub nut. You should use a torque wrench for this + 60 degrees. However, you can with car on ground tighten it by feel. You will feel it go tight...DON'T go mad. It's tight but not stupidly tight. I've seen people overtighten these and break the driveshaft.....unbelievable!!
Reach in and tighten the strut to hub bolts as best you can with the weight of the car on the ground.
Jack the car up (and if necessary remove the wheel again) and correctly tighten the strut to hub bolts.

You should really have a torque wrench if you are doing suspension work. They are not terribly expensive these days. You can now drive the car and can take it if possible to someone who can tighten the hub nut using the correct technique and a torque wrench. It would be wise to do this.

HTH

TimR

[flyingtech55]

By the way, when refitting hub nuts, never, ever use grease, Copperslip, Ceratec or anything else on the end of the driveshaft. These nuts must be put on dry. You can apply a small amount of grease to the splines to prevent the shaft from seizing into the hub due to corrosion but never on the threads or the part the hub nut bears upon.

HTH

TimR

[ww1dm1]

Originally Posted by flyingtech55

Unfortunately it's not possible to re-assemble the shaft on the car. I did try...I wasted about half a day trying. It's not too difficult to pull the shaft if you have the tools.

Using 3/4" square drive breaker bar slacken and remove hub nut from end of drive shaft (I used a 600mm one and a single hex socket).
Jack up whole side of car.
Remove wheel.
Turn steering to fully left hand down.
Remove two bolts securing bottom of strut to hub.
Using copper mallet if necessary push drive shaft out of hub while pulling hub outwards.
Unbolt intermediate bearing cap from bracket and remove.
Remove driveshaft from gearbox with a STRAIGHT pull. Do not waggle it out or you may damage the oil seal. It comes out quite easily.
Repair drive shaft on bench.
Re-assemble drive shaft to car using care when re-installing driveshaft to final drive to avoid damaging oil seal.
Refit intermediate bear cap. Do not overtighten!!
Re-insert driveshaft splined end into hub using care not to overextend CV joints.
Refit hub to strut bolts but do not tighten.
Refit hub nut.
Centre steering.
Refit wheel and put car back on ground.
Tighten hub nut. You should use a torque wrench for this + 60 degrees. However, you can with car on ground tighten it by feel. You will feel it go tight...DON'T go mad. It's tight but not stupidly tight. I've seen people overtighten these and break the driveshaft.....unbelievable!!
Reach in and tighten the strut to hub bolts as best you can with the weight of the car on the ground.
Jack the car up (and if necessary remove the wheel again) and correctly tighten the strut to hub bolts.

You should really have a torque wrench if you are doing suspension work. They are not terribly expensive these days. You can now drive the car and can take it if possible to someone who can tighten the hub nut using the correct technique and a torque wrench. It would be wise to do this.

HTH

TimR

Great guide! That hub nut will be a pain, I'm sure it's rusted dead on there and I have no breaker bar. And I'm sure the axle itself will be stuck in the hub. And everything that can be stuck will be stuck. God I always loathed suspension jobs.

If you don't mind, a couple of questions:

• I read the Haynes guide, it tells me that the steering tie rod has to be disconnected from the swivel hub. Did you manage to avoid this?
• Will pulling the axle out of the gearbox cause gearbox oil spillage?
• Why tighten the strut bolts with the car on the ground and retighten with the car up instead of just tightening them before the hub nut?

[flyingtech55]

I'll answer the questions in the order asked:

I read the Haynes guide, it tells me that the steering tie rod has to be disconnected from the swivel hub. Did you manage to avoid this?

Yes I did avoid disconnecting the track rod end from the swivel hub. This why I mentioned to put the steering fully left hand down (LHD) in step four. I found this gave me enough room to pull the hub off the drive shaft. Putting the steering fully LHD pushes the track rod fully towards you and wins you an extra few inches. I was fully prepared to disconnect the track rod if necessary but I always believe in avoiding extra dismantling of other bits if I don't absolutely need to. It worked in this case.

Will pulling the axle out of the gearbox cause gearbox oil spillage?

It shouldn't. That's why I mentioned jacking up the whole side of the car in step two. I found that if I jacked up the whole side of the car using my two trolley jacks (or two axle stands) the gearbox oil migrated over to the passenger side of the gearbox and the level settled at below the level of the drive shaft oil seal. No oil was lost. Just to put my mind (or what passes for same) at rest I subsequently confirmed the correct gearbox oil level when I got access to my pal's four post lift.

Why tighten the strut bolts with the car on the ground and retighten with the car up instead of just tightening them before the hub nut?

The strut to hub junction constitutes the camber angle adjustment. The range of adjustment is small but significant. On my car, when I bolted the strut to the swivel hub with the car off the ground I could, when I drove it the that the car felt as if it were on 'tippy toes'. I followed the procedure I outlined and this restored the correct geometry and 'feel' of the car. The correct way to do this is of course to have the geometry reset by someone who has the equipment, knowledge and skill to do this accurately. In my experience this is more difficult than actually doing the job.

Hope this properly answers your points.

Upon re-reading my notes, I realise that I omitted to mention that you will probably need to disconnect the drop link from the strut at some point. This can be problematic; the nuts are normally rusted to the studs and attempting to remove them generally causes the ball to rotate inside the socket at the ends of the link. I normally cut the drop links off using my air cut off tool and fit new ones. I can never be bothered fighting with them. Use your own judgement on this.

That hub nut will be a pain, I'm sure it's rusted dead on there......

Give the exposed thread a good clean using a wire brush. Spray on a good penetrant spray such as a paraffin and light oil mixture or WD40 or whatever and leave it to soak. Get a single hex 3/4" square drive socket and a 900mm 3/4" square drive breaker bar. Also have to hand a length of metal tube which will fit over the breaker bar. Have helper to apply the car brakes. Apply socket to hub nut ensuring good fit, apply breaker bar to socket such that you are 'lifting' the end of the bar. Have helper firmly press brake pedal and lift end of breaker bar applying steady force. Don't try and 'jerk' it loose; use strong, steady pressure. If not slide scaffold tube over breaker bar and try again. The nut will come off. I didn't have any trouble with mine just using the breaker bar, didn't need scaffold tube. My 900mm 3/4" square drive breaker bar cost me £30 + VAT and will shift anything. I will be surprised if the shaft does not come out of the hub. Mine came straight out with no problem. If not, try a couple of good belts on the exposed end of the shaft with a COPPER mallet. Never hit the end of the shaft with a steel hammer. You will mushroom the end of the shaft. If you need to hit it with a lump hammer, screw the nut onto the end of the shaft backwards and set it level with the end of the shaft but be sure to monitor progress. You must work with confidence or you'll allow yourself to be beaten.

Good luck

TimR

[ww1dm1]

Very detailed, sure gives me confidence! Right, the damned drop links. When I was changing the spring they were a real pain to get off, ended up cutting the bolts. Fitted new ones, and when I disconnected one again while trying to reassemble the CV joint and tried to retighten after I was done the new one started spinning again. Was able to block it from spinning with a screwdriver this time to tighten it, but not sure if it will work again.

Really dumb design if you ask me, there is no way to keep the ball joint from spinning except for tiny cutoffs on the rear of the ball joint bolt. Not sure if there is a special tool for this, but no wrench fits the size well, besides wrenches being way too thick anyways. Only a screwdriver will fit, and that will only help if the bolt is sparkling clean. Could have a hex hole in the bolt or something, would save a lot of frustration.

By the way, if you jack up just one side, will you be able to remove/refit the drop link? I recall that I had a hard time doing so, as the strut bar puts tension on the link and strut, had to jack up the front rather than side.

[flyingtech55]

You're right about the drop links! On some designs there as a small hex hole in the end of the bolt to allow it to be held. Other designs have two parallel flats ground on the end of the bolt so that it can be held using a spanner or vice grips or some such thing. If you have access to air tools, a rattle gun will generally spin the nut off as you can hold the body part hard against the strut or whatever while applying the gun. However, they can be a pain in the neck.

As for your second point...generally disconnecting the link isn't a problem. Either disconnect it earlier in the process or whizz off the nut and push it out with a suitable pin punch. Just watch your fingers as it disconnects with a bit of a twang. As for reconnecting, I just put a trolley jack under the hub and lift it until I can wrestle the bolt back into the hole. The anti-roll bar is quite springy so with a bit of wrestling and cursing it's not normally a problem.

HTH

TimR

[ww1dm1]

Alright, that's clear. I wish I had air tools. Nothing useful really fits behind the drop link, so I guess screwdriver and a cup of muscle again.

Hopefully the last one: is it generally ok to reuse the big bad hub nut on Volvos, or is it "replace without questions"?

[flyingtech55]

Provided you don't damage it removing it, it's quite in order to reuse the hub nut. I certainly do (though that's no guarantee of anything). It is a 'stiff nut' so you wouldn't want to keep re-using it but once or twice is fine. You're correct in principle of course, some of these hub nuts are single use. I think the Ford multilayer one is a single use item.

It is handy having air in the workshop. I put off installing air in my (domestic) workshop for some time as it is quite an investment. Also I don't have a 3 phase supply and using a domestic single phase supply does limit the size of the motor which in turn limits the free air delivery (FAD) of the compressor. Also decent air tools cost a lot of money. You can buy cheap rattle guns but they don't deliver much torque and that combined with limited FAD means that they are limited in what they can do. Most of the work I do is with normal hand tools but air is very useful to have if you want to wizz the lug nuts off, reach for the air cut off tool, inflate tyres, wizzing the nuts off corroded bolts, blast debris out of the plug cavities before removing the plugs and so on. Now I've installed air I wouldn't be without it.

HTH

Tim