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Side to side CV movement


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The CV's have to have side to side play because the axle needs to lengthen and contract as it goes through it's travel arc. Same reason your front drive shave has a slip joint and the rear shaft slips in and out of the transfer case. This is not a problem.

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Can you describe what you mean by side to side play?

 

 

I can crawl under my vehicle and grab on to the CV and move it back and forth between the transfer case and the wheel about 1/3 to a 1/2 inch.

 

The left side has more play than the right.

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You must mean the differential case to wheel hub movement. That should do that. That doesn't mean the CV's aren't dry or worn which may be your noise. Pull back the boots and see if they joints are dry.

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There should be minimal "in and out" movement when the axle is bolted in to the spindle. The inboard joint moves in and out, the outboard joint is fixed. I would say 1/2 inch in and out would be on the further end of worn out. Im installing new fronts this weekend, ill let you know the "after" spec.

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Why does it sound so bad now

 

If the rubber Boots wear out and split they get at little dirt in the CV and wears the bearings out quicker .I've just replaced mine over and had a bit of a knocking sound when I steer full lock in reverse. Fixed the problem and also a rocking sound going over bumps that was the front sway bushes .

 

Have you checked your front sway bar bushes to see how much play is in that. They should be worn if you haven't changed them yet .

To check ! Grab your front sway bar and see if it moves a fair bit if so change the bushes over. Easy to do yourself plus the CVs.

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The amount of play you described is excessive, so I agree it sounds like you have worn out cv joints. While the cv joints are designed to allow the shaft to move in and out as the suspension travels up and down, you shouldn't be able to move it in and out like that by hand while it is all bolted up to the truck. I just checked mine and it really doesn't move at all when I try sliding it back and forth. What kind of noise is it making?

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The amount of play you described is excessive, so I agree it sounds like you have worn out cv joints. While the cv joints are designed to allow the shaft to move in and out as the suspension travels up and down, you shouldn't be able to move it in and out like that by hand while it is all bolted up to the truck. I just checked mine and it really doesn't move at all when I try sliding it back and forth. What kind of noise is it making?

 

 

going over bumps, it sounds like something is loose and banging around.....I crawed under the car and this was the only thing I can find. I replaced the sway bar bushings not too long ago, the steering rack has some play in it, but not a hard stop....The cv movement, you can hear it stopping against something hard at each end of the side to side movement.

 

**I tried this with the car on the ground and also with the front end jacked off of the ground. There is no play at full droop. only when the suspension is compressed by the weight of the vehicle.

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As promised I just installed my new CV's and checked the play. The only play is the mm of slop where the end of the shaft moves at the end of the hub and stops on the snap ring, almost nothing. There you have it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just read this thread and I am having the same issue my left axle is banging around making left turns, I went under there and I can push the axle in towards the diff a significant amount and its popping out of the other end towards the wheel. I just lifted it and these axles were new but they were Rockauto cheap ones so I am thinking I blew up the bearing inside the axle with the angle not set right, I didn't have time to open up the hub and look at the wheel bearing assembly but after taking off the the upper boot it looks like that is where its moving. A little nervous finding this the night before a trip, I am not sure what will fail I will keep my hubs free spinning and hope for the best, 4wd still works just doing FS roads so probably won't need 4wd but it's 300 miles RT, wish me luck.

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I just read this thread and I am having the same issue my left axle is banging around making left turns, I went under there and I can push the axle in towards the diff a significant amount and its popping out of the other end towards the wheel. I just lifted it and these axles were new but they were Rockauto cheap ones so I am thinking I blew up the bearing inside the axle with the angle not set right, I didn't have time to open up the hub and look at the wheel bearing assembly but after taking off the the upper boot it looks like that is where its moving. A little nervous finding this the night before a trip, I am not sure what will fail I will keep my hubs free spinning and hope for the best, 4wd still works just doing FS roads so probably won't need 4wd but it's 300 miles RT, wish me luck.

 

If you installed spacers to lift your ride, you probably damaged/cracked/broke one of the CV joints. Not all CV axles have the same operating angles. Some brands of CV axle have different bearing cage thicknesses which can limit the max operating angle. In order to ensure there's no axle binding after installing strut spacers, you need to rotate the axle by hand and feel for binding when the wheel is not on the ground. If there's binding, then you will likely grenade the CV when the suspension drops (such as when a front wheel is airborne).

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This noise happened before and went away after I took it offroad and again today it was not an issue heard little to no noise at all from that side I even put it in low coming down a steep hill, then I kept it in high 4wd for about 10 miles down a winding road with no problems. It might just be the C clip, I am going to take apart the hub and take a look and also put it in the air anad see if there is binding then assess it at that point. I am running OME HD with 1in spacers so it could be the angle too. I am wondering if I just need to put it in 4wd every now and again to seat it, its a very interesting issue. I went to the length to do slow doughnuts after my journey to get it to do it and nothing.

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I have OME HD with 1in spacers and it's fine. There's a few folks out there who (somehow) run AC coils with 1" spacers with no issues, so I doubt lift is the problem. I'd agree with the C clip idea. Whatever it is, hopefully it's simple/cheap!

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