This was sent to the wrong address, rather than @autox.team.net
Nolan, this is the LAST post of yours I am forwarding.
mjb.
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Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 09:41:10 -0800
From: nolan penney <npenney@erols.com>
Subject: Re: FW: TR6 Drive unit
> If you check them one in spring (April) once in fall (Oct) and once mid
>season (July) then is still not often enough to save you. If the
>rubber crack 1-2 months after your last check that leaves you riding on a
>busted boot for over a month. All the grease has been ejected and the CV
>is now toast.
I really disagree with that. Many folks and mechanics believe that if
a cv joint is ever exposed, or starts to click, it must be instantly
replaced. Reasons given are usually a mumbled "something is going to
happen" sort of response. Rubish. While it is true that once a click
starts, said click is not going to stop. This does not adversely
affect the ability of the car to drive. Just as one can drive quite
successfully a car that leaks a little oil, smokes a bit, uses a tad
of coolant, have a tapping valve, low compression in a cylinder, and a
click in a cv joint. When, and if, the click becomes more of a crunch
bang you are approaching a degree that problems can happen. Such as a
jammed joint or a broken joint. Neither of which are particularly
dangerous. For you are going to jam or break that joint when you have
the joint at maximum angle, with maximum thrust. Ie, making a hard
turn from a standstill. Not while you are blasting down an
interstate.
My current fwd car, complete with cv joints, makes a good case
example. Little car had a ripped cv joint boot when I bought it
several years ago. Previous owner paid to have it replaced several
years earlier (car came with complete records), but at the joint was
clearly an original factory boot, I was confident that the garage had
ripped her off. After driving the car for roughly 100 thousand miles
with an exposed clicking joint, living back up a dirt road, the car
gradually started to develop the crunch bang, and I finally replaced
the joint. Upon inspection of the joint though after I had pulled the
axle, I darn near put it back. For even using a micrometer to measure
wear, I couldn't find any. There was no play, no scoring, and just a
slight bit of bluing.
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