Front Drive Shaft Tri-Bearing Housing

[Panrixx]

Hi all,

I am in the middle of replacing the CV boots on both front driveshafts.

Having cleaned all the bearings, prior to repacking I noticed that on one of the shafts the tri-bearing housing back plate has slight scoring in the centre where the shaft end has rubbed the plate at some time. Also, the three roller bearings have made contact with the back plate. In this case the plate is not only marked/rubbed but is slightly deformed by the pressure exerted by each bearing. If you look on the outside of the housing back plate, where it is normally bolted to the diff flange, there are three slight concave shapes where the bearings have pushed against the plate from the inside. The markings are clearly evident but I would not say the housing back plate has been trashed.

The other drive shaft shows no similar markings and on inspection both driveshaft bearings look good and the shafts seem fine.

My questions are:

1. Has anybody else noted this short of wear inside the tri-bearing housing on only one driver's side?

2. Does anybody know what could cause the shaft to move so far back inside the housing that the bearings make contact with the housing back plate? Extreme off-roading?

3. Does the back plate need replacing (looks to be an interference fitting into the bearing housing)? The plate has not been worn so much that it has lost much of it's thickness and my thoughts at present are that the concave shapes formed now give the bearings that little bit more movement before they 'bottom' onto the plate.

Any views or similar experience wil be gratefully received.

Regards
Brian

[TonyN]

by deformed do you mean this shape.....



Its supposed to be this shape.

You can knock it out, not sure if you'll get a replacement though, the inner joint will push all the way up there and mark it, but not normally, only when your wiggling it to get it in or when a outer joint has separated.

[JimL]

mine were the same as in Tonys pic, its funny you say the passenger side hasnt got the shamrock shape - now thats weird

[Panrixx]

TonyN and JimL,

Thanks for your comments.

On my driver's side tri-bearing housing back plate each of the three bearings has made a small indentation within the standard 'shamrock' configuration, which does exist on both sides. So I'm not talking about the standard 'shamrock' shaped depressions but smaller depressions within each of the three shapes.

Regards

[Panrixx]

CV Joint Separation from Driveshaft

by deformed do you mean this shape.....


Its supposed to be this shape.

You can knock it out, not sure if you'll get a replacement though, the inner joint will push all the way up there and mark it, but not normally, only when your wiggling it to get it in or when a outer joint has separated.

Having completely cleaned all the driveshaft components and given them a good inspection I have notice that the outer CV joint ball bearings are slightly worn and a couple have small pits. Also, there is greater in/out play in the bearing than I beleive there should be.

This probably explains why the bearing housing at the other end of the driveshaft shows signs of the shaft and tri-bearing bottoming out.

Replacement CV joints are available and come complete with the splined shaft that fits into the wheel hub.

My question is: How do I seperate the longer splined shaft (inner), along with the tri-bearing, from the shorter splined shaft (outer), along with the worn CV joint? I assume that the CV bearing gage is held onto the shorter shaft by a circlip similar to the one that holds the tri-bearing in place!

Once dismantled, how do I secure the new CV joint inti position?

Many thanks to anybody who gave assist me.

[TonyN]

My question is: How do I seperate the longer splined shaft (inner), along with the tri-bearing, from the shorter splined shaft (outer), along with the worn CV joint? I assume that the CV bearing gage is held onto the shorter shaft by a circlip similar to the one that holds the tri-bearing in place!

Once dismantled, how do I secure the new CV joint inti position?

Many thanks to anybody who gave assist me.

With a large hammer, it has a wire clip that holds it in. When reassembling, use a new clip on your drive shaft, and slide it through the new CV and it'll spring out and hold the joint in place.

[Panrixx]

Thanks TonyN,

The parts supplier said exactly the same thing and both driveshafts have now been re-built and installed. Eveything is now working fine.

Regards
Brian