CV Joint washer... gone??

[H_Krix]

So, I pulled apart my CV joints this weekend. Nothing too suprising - except that one of them had wheel bearing grease inside it instead of moly grease...

Thats not the issue though. When I took them apart, I inventoried all the parts form the tear down, and ended up missing something. Following the guide on my2002tii.com, Keith shows a cupped washer on the axle shaft, here:

Now, I took apart 3 CV shafts (one extra from another car in case I lost anything or something was shot inside of mine) and I never saw this washer on any of them. They all appeared to be original, with the exception of the one that had wheel bearing grease in it. Is this a Tii thing? Can anyone comment on this?

I want to get them back together this weekend, and I need to order parts today. thanks guys.

[BLUNT]

my non tii halfshafts had those washers

[WVGranat]

Do you have 320 halfshafts/cv joints installed? If so then no washer is used on the 320 joint, if you use one, then the circlip won't fit.

[H_Krix]

Nope. All factory 2002 stuff right now...

[Guest Anonymous]

I encountered the same thing (extra washer) when confronted with several choices when I was replacing the rubber boots.

I was told they were unnecessary and would not fit with the "C" clips. I did not confirm this, but suspected that the washer may have been used depending upon the type of CV joint used. After all, yours had the washer and the C clip?

I recall there were two and possibly a three styles of cv joint on factory new 02's. The originals on my 72 were fat and slightly rounded like a wide tire on a small rim. The replacements on the 74 were not curved. I cannot recall a third example at the moment, but it may come to me.

You mentioned one of the joints was found to have wheel bearing lube. This suggests what you may have is not original and that might even include the other joints. But on another note, how do you know the "presumed" wheel bearing lube is not compatible with your cv joints? While I would normally expect to find the sliver gray grease under those boots, I was recently informed by others, that according to some synthetic wheel bearing grease manufacturers' labels, their grease is recommended for general purpose applications as well as high temp disk brakes and constant velocity joints. This obviously may not apply to all greases. But . . . maybe you are incorrect in your diagnosis.

[H_Krix]

But . . . maybe you are incorrect in your diagnosis.

Its certainly a possibility. Lord knows I'm not omnipotent. Here's a breakdown of what I saw when I dis-assembeled the joints:

3 CV Axles = 6 CV joints.

5 joints were packed with Moly Greast

1 joint was packed with wheel bearing grease. It appeared to have factory-style clamps and boot on it.

The only reason I think the wheel bearing grease was "incorrect" is that it had lost much of its viscosity and become more like hard clay inside the CV bits. This one required a significent amount of effort to dis-assemble. The moly-grease packed ones were more "free" but the grease was nearing the end of its life as well.

In all 6 joints, I did not encounter that cupped washer shown above. However, there was no play between the splined spider and the C-shaped retaining clip to show that a washer would be needed at all. All in all, strange... The washer shows up on RealOEM, but I can't get a part# on it...

[TobyB]

I actually know the answer to this.

It might be the only time you get real information from me...

There are at least 2 thickness 2002 CV joints, and there are at least

2 lengths of splining on the shafts. The early 2002 shafts seem to have

about 3/16" longer splines, and the very early 2002 CV's are thicker.

At some point, the 2002 CV thinned out a bit (3/16"?) and the washer showed

up. I dunno when this happened- 71.5? 73? 74?

At some point later (1976?) the shafts shortened their splines, and the washer

disappeared.

Occasionally, someone with thick CVs will try to make the late-320-to-2002 adaptor CV shafts and discover that the CVs will not seat far enough onto the

shafts.... and need to get later 2002 or early 320 CVs

In this whole fiasco, the length of the 2002 and early 320 CV stays the same. The later 320 is longer... and all the dimensions change again. Except that the dimensions of the splined insert stays the same as the later 2002.

This is, of course, all 'As far as I know'...

t

[H_Krix]

At some point later (1976?) the shafts shortened their splines, and the washer disappeared.

Interesting... The donor parts were off a 1976. My car was manufactured in December of 1975, thus making it a "model year" 1976 (possibly. I have yet to find an original bill of sale confirming this)

So its possible I have later-style shorter splines. I still have one CV axle I haven't dis-assembled, so I'll make sure to check that one when I tear it apart.

Thanks for the help!

[AceAndrew]

Toby, you saved me tonight.  Thank you.

[Conserv]

Toby, you saved me tonight.  Thank you.

Ahh! The power of the search function demonstrated yet again! (Not to mention the wisdom of certain forum members!)

Regards,

Steve

[jgerock]

The older joints on my 69 appear to be different than the newer replacement ones I purchased.

Older ones - note the taper and notches in the joint.

Will take some measurements and add to this post.

Edited October 31, 2014 by jgerock

[TobyB]

 

Toby, you saved me tonight

...and I'm not even ordained...

 

hee

 

t

[Ireland Engineering]

I know this thread is pretty old but it seemed the right place to post this information. I was redoing the CV's axles and I found that each axle had only one bell washer. So when I put them back together with the new CV's I realized that one side of the axle had too much play in the joint, indicating that my axles had 2 sizes of joints on them. So then I was short 2 washers and I found these on McMaster-Carr and they did the job. Part number for McMaster-Carr is: 93501A038