Is my whole CV Screwed?

[01silvapathy]

So today I decided to wash the pathy, and get her clean, while washing the front passenger wheelwell, I noticed some grease on it, that wouldnt come off, so I get down to look and my jaw drops when I see the CV shaft and the boot.

This is what I saw

 

 

This is what it should look like

 

So this is the first time I noticed it, but it looks bad, my questions are how do I fix this? does the whole CV Shaft have to be replaced now? Whats with all the grease that came out? And is it SAFE to drive in, because I have a 3 hour drive back home at 70mph the whole way that im making on thursday. If I do can it cause any damage. The Hubs are unlocked, which leaves me wondering how this happened. It looks as if the top ring on the boot came off and took some of the boot with it

[Simon]

You can just replace the boot, though, it's more work than just replacing the shaft.

 

The grease came out because of the tear in the boot.

 

Yes, it's safe to drive, especially since I assume you'll be in 2wd the whole way home. Granted, on an R50, the front drivetrain turns even in 2wd, (unless you've got Warn hubs) though, it's a low stress condition anyways.

[k9sar]

easy to replace if you use a split-boot application. But I have never seen one hold up for very long

[k9sar]

Granted, on an R50, the front drivetrain turns even in 2wd, (unless you've got Warn hubs) though, it's a low stress condition anyways.

 

seriously? that's lunacy

[Simon]

Yessir.....no auto hubs on an R50, so the CV's, front diff and driveshaft turn regardless of 4wd shifter position. That's why Manual hubs are an even better upgrade on the R50 as compared to the WD21.

[Simon]

Where did he get auto hubs from? No stock R50 had auto hubs. They had fully engaged splines.

[01silvapathy]

Thanks for the quick replies, I tested out the 4wd by enguaging the hubs, and driving in the parking lot in 4wd high, and 4wd lo, and I can still Mall Crawl quite well . Anyways since thats the case im going to see if its the same thing once i get back from my trip, if so im going to try and just replace the boot, and put on new clamps and put some new grease in. No use in spending 65 bucks if the axle isnt broken. Im currently trying to find a write up on how to remove the cv and put on a new boot, but its a no go Any help?

[Simon]

Basically, disassemble the hub, unhook the outer tie rod end. Unbolt the inner CV joint from the diff, then slide the whole shaft out of the knuckle.

 

Take off the inner boot on the CV, and release the snap ring to disassemble the inner joint. Release the inner snap ring to remove the other part of the CV, so you can slide the inner boot off. NOW, you can undo the clamps on the outer boot, and slide it off the shaft. Then reinstall the new boot, reassemble the inner joint (don't forget the inner boot) and reinstall the shaft.

 

For all that work, IMHO, it's worth it to just replace the whole thing for $65.

[k9sar]

and pickup a boot. Fix the old one at your leisure thn you have a spare on hand.

[87pathy]

make sure to clean that water infested greese out of your cv and replace it with some good greese.

 

or you'll be changing the whole cv soon.

[01silvapathy]

Okay so my plan is to go back to my friends and see if my CV is still good after that trip(not making any noises) and if it is im going to go ahead and just replace the boot. That is because im a poor college student...that and NISSANDOMS47 stole a bunch of money from me...so ya in a bad situation right now. But ill post up and tell yall what im doin

 

Andrew

[Zibi]

last august I had both outer CV boots replaced by a local dealership. The service manager was a tech for a good 20 years and is a family friend, my brother worked for him for a few years and he introduced my brother to who is now his wife, so I trust him.

 

Anyway Nissan policy is to replace the entire CV axle when a boot cracks. As someone previously mentioned, you have to almost remove the whole axle to get at the boot anyway.

 

Being a poor college student I didn't want to shell out the extra for the axle so I asked him what would happen worst case (my passenger outer CV boot had been completely torn in half for about 4 months at that point). He said when they fail you'll be able to hear an audible clicking sound which is more noticeable when at full lock, but in his experience causes no other problems unless you actually put it in 4wd. He said in his 20 years as a tech (which would cover almost the entire life of the IFS pathys) he's never seen a CV axle completely fail.

 

 

Point is nothing to worry about. Spend the $20 to get a new CV boot. If you did your own lift replacing the boot should be no problem for you. Just get all the @!*% out of the joint and regrease it. Worst case it does go at some point down the road it's not going to cause any harm.

[k9sar]

yea... cv's never go bad.

 

 

[Kingman]

Nope...never.

[nismothunder]

Humph...thats what my passger side looks like...I've been meaning to replace it but its been at least 2 years like that(like that since I got the truck)I get a little bit of clicking out if it(started about a month ago)

[01silvapathy]

Yep I still havent fixed it, cause its in a completely different state from me

[Tungsten]

lifts or any other modification to the suspension is what usually causes these things to break

also if you floor it around corners or if your links are bad, that will put alot of stress on these CVs

[01silvapathy]

lifts or any other modification to the suspension is what usually causes these things to break

also if you floor it around corners or if your links are bad, that will put alot of stress on these CVs

 

Yep well, my hubs have been unlocked for the majority of the time, i think that it was a stick that jammed up there and knocked it loose. And this is also glad I have a SFD because once installed, it will return the CV's back to their almost stock location

[LovemyPathfinder]

wow, you got yourself a squirter.

[01silvapathy]

wow, you got yourself a squirter.

 

[tekazgtr1984]

Yep well, my hubs have been unlocked for the majority of the time, i think that it was a stick that jammed up there and knocked it loose. And this is also glad I have a SFD because once installed, it will return the CV's back to their almost stock location

 

So you're going to take out the lift coils when you install the SFD?

[180sx]

So you're going to take out the lift coils when you install the SFD?

 

Thats what I was going to say...er...ask...

[alexrex20]

So you're going to take out the lift coils when you install the SFD?

 

 

ya, so he can sell them to me. that way, i can have the AC coils without them having my money.

[01silvapathy]

All yall are being stupid. No im not going to take out the lift coils (maybe) The front Sub frame is dropped with with the 4 blocks, lowering the whole front diff, and hense the front CV shafts back to almost level. The front struts have the strut spacer to make up that idfference in 4 inches. meanwhile the engine, bolts to the subframe and on that the 4inch blocks have to be bolted on to and then the engine bolted on to, to bring the engine back to its stock location. The rear however, if i ever get a answer, or boston tries it, may be getting some F350 coils instead of using just the Ac coils with a spring spacer.

 

Alex- I could sell you the rear coils and you could try to retro fit them on the struts to try and bring your ride back to level, if not give it some cali lean

[alexrex20]

no, are YOU being stupid? if you drop the diff and the struts by the same amount, your CV angle will be EXACTLY the same as it is now. the reason Thunderbolt has zero angle on his CV axles, is because he does not have lift coils. if you add lift coils (or in your case, do not remove them), then you will still have the issue of severe CV angle.