Re: CV Joint Problem (92foxrox)
The first time I lost a CV (passenger side), it went from silent/faultless to "clunking" on hard right turns instantly. It completely skipped the "clicking" stage and the joint completely sheared within _10_ miles{mileage: ~125k}. BTW, the boot was still intact, sealing, and stuffed full of lube. The passenger side skipped clicking and went straight to clunking about 100k miles later, again. Once again, no tears in the boot, just a failing joint. As _soon_ as this began to happen the second time, I took it, very gingerly, straight to my mechanic - calling him on the way to line up delivery of the new axle while en route - and had it changed within 2 hours. (Miller Genuine Draft really greases the rails at his shop!
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As for the longevity of the axles, it varies widely. I now have a torn boot on the driver's side. This axle has almost 230,000 (original) miles on it. Just for reference - I put a 2.0L ABA with TT goodies from head to tail in my wagon ~98,000 miles ago and have run it with the K&N filter since day 1 (for me, as second owner, since 108,000 miles). I shift it very hard and pull at the ground with 195/50 - 15's. Lot's of torque, lot's of contact patch (compared to stock), and lot's of reason for things to fail prematurely. Why has the driver's side axle lived so long? I don't know...
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If my experience is at all typical, perhaps this demonstrates the variable life span of the drive axles.
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Sno
The first time I lost a CV (passenger side), it went from silent/faultless to "clunking" on hard right turns instantly. It completely skipped the "clicking" stage and the joint completely sheared within _10_ miles{mileage: ~125k}. BTW, the boot was still intact, sealing, and stuffed full of lube. The passenger side skipped clicking and went straight to clunking about 100k miles later, again. Once again, no tears in the boot, just a failing joint. As _soon_ as this began to happen the second time, I took it, very gingerly, straight to my mechanic - calling him on the way to line up delivery of the new axle while en route - and had it changed within 2 hours. (Miller Genuine Draft really greases the rails at his shop!
As for the longevity of the axles, it varies widely. I now have a torn boot on the driver's side. This axle has almost 230,000 (original) miles on it. Just for reference - I put a 2.0L ABA with TT goodies from head to tail in my wagon ~98,000 miles ago and have run it with the K&N filter since day 1 (for me, as second owner, since 108,000 miles). I shift it very hard and pull at the ground with 195/50 - 15's. Lot's of torque, lot's of contact patch (compared to stock), and lot's of reason for things to fail prematurely. Why has the driver's side axle lived so long? I don't know...
Sno
