How painful is it to change CV's on a FWD?

[Bananaman]

Evening all,

So, it seems my fine daily will be needing the CV's changed at some point in future. Having never touched anything FWD before (buying this car was a necessity.. not a choice) - just how hard is it to do yourself?

Is it worth bothering, or is it cheap enough at a mechanic to just pay for it to be done?

Cheers
Bardin

ed: By the way, CV is too short a term for searching, so if there is threads on this, by all means point me in the right direction :)

[5000gt]

i think it stands for "continuous velocity"... or something like that..... or at least that's what comes to mind....

Anyhow, simple as... what car?

Normally involves undoing shaft nut, unbolting most arms/rods from bolt, pulling out the old shaft, put in new shaft, bolt everything back up....

depending on car, may need to stop lube from pouring out of the shaft input.

Rebuilding a CV shaft is a little more involved, but normally just entails the replacement of the outer and inner joints, which you can purchase in a kit that contains lube, the joints, and the boots and straps.

If you choose to be lazy, i think it only takes an hour by a mechanic.

Cheers.

Tan.

[Dale]

Constant velocity, yep... CV's are the actual joints, the rest is the shaft.. search for driveshaft etc and you should find more info

As for how hard to replace them, how long is a piece of string? :P

The type of car will come into play slightly, it's one of those jobs... extremely easy provided you have the correct tools and have done it before... otherwise so long as you're pretty handy with a spanner it shouldn't be too hard for a first timer

Mechanics shouldn't charge a lot to change them, there shouldn't be more than an hours labour all up to replace both front driveshafts

[Bananaman]

Yeah, but who is going to make a thread about continous velocity joints :P

Car.. a 92 honduhh civic. If its relatively easy, my finances at the moment mean that i will do it myself rather than be lazy. I was imagining needing to lift the engine and stupid shit like that :p

[Dale]

The basic work involved is:

crack the hub nut(s) and undo them - good breaker bar and a long jack handle or piece of pipe will likely be needed for leverage, as well as a large socket (toyotas are 30mm)

undo the hub from either the lower control arm or the strut (depends on the suspension setup of the car)

drain gearbox oil (you can reuse it if you drain it into a clean container)
remove outer CV joint from hub

pop cv joints out of gearbox with a sharp blow using a

screwdriver/breakerbar/prybar/whatever fits in there best

replacement is the opposite except you have to pry the cv inwards with something (lever works best)

[Gavatron]

Honda's aren't too bad IIRC. Remember to drain the trans fluid or you will probably have some coming out the axle holes. And be careful of the driveshaft seals when removing/inserting the splines.

EDIT: Beaten

[LeeRoy]

I had one replaced in my corolla a few months back by a CV place at North Parramatta. I think it was around the $60-80 mark for them to remove and replace with a new one.

I have done them before ie when removing the gearbox. It was easier for them to do it for me especially considering how much it cost and it only took him about 15 mins once it was up on the hoist.

[Enchanter]

Just so you know, I had a torn CV boot replaced on my 95 Hondahh accord last week. It cost $102 total. It only involved 1 CV but included cleaning up the cv and regreasing it.

[mynameisrodney]

$150 for both sides on my magna a few months ago.

[Gavatron]

Are you planning on getting reco'd shafts? Or are you going to replace the CVs on the chafts yourself? There is more mucking around if you are going to replace the CVs themselves.

[IN 05 NT]

how bad are they? making a clicking noise when turning? if so there farked, replacing the boot wont make anydifference,

you can just buy the CV themselves, get a big brass hammer and put the shaft in the vice, and give the old CV a couple of good wacks till it comes off the spline,

generally take about 1hrd to do each side, (thats being time generous)

dont forget some GBOX oil either as you may lose a a bit of oil from thru diff.

Blake

[Cuzzo]

Id suggest getting someone to do it. Under $200 for one side on my corolla. AE82.

I was going to have a go at it but with no hoist and plenty of grease was getting thrown around everywhere i just payed someone to do it.

One side or both? Can be done in one day by a shop but you could take a few days.

[RA40Rob]

go and get new driveshafts put in. most of them are exchange so don't cost a lot.
can take 1 to 2 hours to replace both shafts. let the experts do the cv joints, I do and I am a mechanic. as for cv boots we have a device that stretches the boot over the cv joint saving a lot of time.

[Bananaman]

I'll do some ringing around and price them up i guess before making a decision. It is clicking when turning, originally only when up my steep ass driveway but now on most corners, so i'm talking more than just the boot. Sounds to me like its only the passenger side.

Thanks for all the help gents :)

[Bananaman]

Ok, reco or new?

Called 2 places, one said $140 exchange fitted for reco, the other said $180 exchange fitted, new.

Its my shitty daily, is the extra money worth it? Or will they be just as good?

[IN 05 NT]

exchange......

[The Witzl]

i would go the newer one.

[Bananaman]

exchange......

Both are exchange, but its a choice of replacing it with brand new, or reco one

[Dale]

technically they should be the same thing anyway...

reco should be new joints and boots on an old shaft, which is as good as a whole new jobbie

[takai]

The worry is if they see reco as take boot off, shove more grease in there and shove boot back on.
Which is what the place that did my drivers side inner GZE shaft did. Admittedly i needed it done fairly quick smart, and they didnt charge a lot, but thats what they saw as reco, rather than new.

[IN 05 NT]

just go reco, if its a daily. all we use are recoed shafts at work, which as said above, old shaft with new cvs and boots.

[Bananaman]

just go reco, if its a daily. all we use are recoed shafts at work, which as said above, old shaft with new cvs and boots.


what do you charge? I'm not that far from you these days

[IN 05 NT]

what car is for, c what i can work out,

you need a wheel allignment afterwards also.

[Bananaman]

what car is for, c what i can work out,

you need a wheel allignment afterwards also.

1992 EG honda civic. Pov spec model, 1.5L carby. Think its just the passenger side

[IN 05 NT]

do it for $130cash, thats a reco. we generally charge alot more then that. (coz the boss is a tight ass curry muncher!)

(might be able to do it a bit cheaper, but will have to call supplier mondy)

[driftae71]

what car is for, c what i can work out,

you need a wheel allignment afterwards also.


i've replaced heaps of CV's never got a wheel alignment and never had a problem so that news to me... thanks...

Just go reco shaft and if u are going to save 80 dollars i reckon do it urself... all u need to do is jack car undo strut from hub and tierod then outer of the shaft will come out and pull the whole thing out... installation is the opposite... some cars can be done in well under an hour...

[IN 05 NT]

dont have to do a wheel allignment, but recomend it, we undo the strut and fold the hub down, so theres a bit of shufling around in that area,

we just recomend it to cover our ass when the customer walks out the door. :p

[driftae71]

dont have to do a wheel allignment, but recomend it, we undo the strut and fold the hub down, so theres a bit of shufling around in that area,

we just recomend it to cover our ass when the customer walks out the door. :p

yeah ridiculous... one of the few trades where u are legally liable if someone dies or gets injured after fixing their car... lol i been a mechanic i dont mind not going back...

[Bananaman]

do it for $130cash, thats a reco. we generally charge alot more then that. (coz the boss is a tight ass curry muncher!)

(might be able to do it a bit cheaper, but will have to call supplier mondy)

sounds good, let me know :)

Unless it royally roots it i'll pass on the wheel alignment for now, and save it for when i change wheels / tyres :)