How long do driveshafts last? I have an '09 JSW with just under 157k miles. The CVs dont make any noise at all but the car's gone a few miles now. I'm replacing the coilovers in a couple weeks, was thinking I should replace the driveshafts while I'm under there. They're not too expensive (I'm not going to buy genuine VW shafts). Would you replace them both or wait until one starts to make noise and do it then?
Drive Shaft Lifespan
kroberts
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How long do driveshafts last? I have an '09 JSW with just under 157k miles. The CVs dont make any noise at all but the car's gone a few miles now. I'm replacing the coilovers in a couple weeks, was thinking I should replace the driveshafts while I'm under there. They're not too expensive (I'm not going to buy genuine VW shafts). Would you replace them both or wait until one starts to make noise and do it then?
The actual shaft should last a good lifetime or more. The CV joints fail earlier. The outer ones usually are the first to go since they have the biggest job. The turning under power is really stressful for a CV joint.
Most shops replace the entire assembly when a joint fails. Why? Because the Chinese make the parts too cheap not to. A good German CV joint costs as much as two Chinese drive shafts.
Most shops replace the entire assembly when a joint fails. Why? Because the Chinese make the parts too cheap not to. A good German CV joint costs as much as two Chinese drive shafts.
Again, Buther scores a direct hit.
Which is why I buy the good German stuff.
And here's why. The German axle costs as much as two Chinese axles because it's as big as two Chinese axles. Not because it's stronger - it's hollow, and therefore less weight for the same strength. The Chinese part was much heavier, and also the wrong length. I ended up returning it and just replaced the joints on the German axle. One big lesson I learned during my VR6 swap was that part of the reason why these cars become money pits is that the original part fails after twenty years and gets downgraded to a Chinese one that fails in five. CV joints are precision components.
As for doing the CVs 'while you're in there,' I say if the boot is ruptured, replace the whole joint. If the boot is still intact, remove it, clean the old grease away, apply new grease, and put a new boot and snap ring on the joint.
I have never replaced a CV shaft on any front wheel drive car that I've owned, and I've taken a couple past 400,000 km.
Much depends on driver behaviour. If you are in the habit of turning the steering completely to the side and then accelerating hard (which puts the maximum possible stress on the CV joints), you may end up paying for that. If you drive on gravel roads a lot, tossing up rocks at the CV joint boots, that could do some damage. If your car is at substantially incorrect ride height so that the shafts operate at bigger-than-normal angles during normal driving, that may cost you.
Much depends on driver behaviour. If you are in the habit of turning the steering completely to the side and then accelerating hard (which puts the maximum possible stress on the CV joints), you may end up paying for that. If you drive on gravel roads a lot, tossing up rocks at the CV joint boots, that could do some damage. If your car is at substantially incorrect ride height so that the shafts operate at bigger-than-normal angles during normal driving, that may cost you.
From my understanding, and I am not an engineer, is the reason for a hollow shaft is that they do not twist as much as a solid shaft. The Germans [probably all of them] figured the twist must be the same left and right or there will be issues. What issues? I do not know but probably driving like a race car driver and ending up in the ditch.
It's simply stronger for a given weight. The same way an I beam of a given weight is stronger than a flat bar of the same weight. Better able to resist twisting, bending, snapping, etc. It relates to the moment of inertia of the beam.
Yes, to to even the twist from left to right, they put a hollow shaft on the longer side. Therefore the twist would be similar. Again, I am not an engineer, but I was told [or read], if they used a solid shaft, it would have to be substantially larger in diameter to have the same twist......heavier too.
When the Mk1 Rabbit first came out, I was amazed what the Germans did to fix problems a little kid like me never would have thought about. I doubt if lightweight was the main reason but a side effect.
When the Mk1 Rabbit first came out, I was amazed what the Germans did to fix problems a little kid like me never would have thought about. I doubt if lightweight was the main reason but a side effect.
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