Safety Warning
DIY auto repair can cause serious injury, fire, or vehicle damage. These guides are for informational purposes only. Always follow OEM torque specs, wear PPE, and consult a certified mechanic if you are unsure. You are solely responsible for your safety.
Inner CV Joint, Checking: Notes
Removing
The joint must be disassembled to replace dirty grease or for checking the balls and ball tracks for wear and damage.
-- Swing ball hub and ball cage.
-- Press out ball joint housing in direction of arrow.
-- Press balls out of cage.
Ball hub and joint piece are paired. Do not interchange.
-- Flip out ball hub from ball cage via running path of ball -arrows-.
-- Check joint piece, ball hub, ball cage and balls for small broken off depressions (pitting build-up) and chafing.
Excessive circumferential backlash in joint makes itself noticed via tip-in shock. Joint must be replaced in such cases. Flattening and running marks of balls are no reason to replace joint.
Installing
-- Insert ball hub into ball cage via two chamfers. The installation position is at random. Press balls into cage.
Ball hub has 2 different distances between ball tracks, a larger and a smaller.
-- Insert hub with cage and balls upright into joint piece.
When inserting, make sure that in each case the wide gap -a- at joint piece contacts narrow gap -b- at hub after swinging in.
Chamfer on inner diameter of ball hub (splines) must face large diameter of joint piece.
-- Also note chamfer on inner diameter of ball hub, it must be visible after swiveling in.
-- Swing in ball hub, to do so swing out hub far enough from cage -arrows- so that the balls have the distance of the running paths.
-- Swing in hub with balls by pressing forcefully onto cage -arrow-.
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When to See a Mechanic
Stop DIY work and contact a certified mechanic immediately if any of the following apply:
- • You smell fuel, burning insulation, or see smoke.
- • Brakes feel soft, pull hard to one side, or make grinding noises.
- • The engine overheats, stalls repeatedly, or misfires under load.
- • You are missing required tools, torque specs, or safe lifting equipment.
- • You are not confident in the next step or safety outcome.