Question about half shafts / CV boots
 

While doing some other work on my car, I noticed that there was play in
in my halfshaft. I could grab the part between two of the accodian
looking boots and could move it back and fourth (towards either boot).
Is this normal? Does it make it bad? The boots themselves look fine
(not torn). Usually threads about halfshafts/CV boots reference torn
boots, but mine look fine. The car has 113,000 miles on it..

That would be your "plunge". As the wheel moves up and down, the distance
between the inner and outer joints changes. the CV joints allow the axle to
move in and out to take up this plunging action.

In other words, it's normal.

Brian


> wrote in message
oups.com...
> While doing some other work on my car, I noticed that there was play in
> in my halfshaft. I could grab the part between two of the accodian
> looking boots and could move it back and fourth (towards either boot).
> Is this normal? Does it make it bad? The boots themselves look fine
> (not torn). Usually threads about halfshafts/CV boots reference torn
> boots, but mine look fine. The car has 113,000 miles on it..
>

wrote:
> While doing some other work on my car, I noticed that there was play
in
> in my halfshaft. I could grab the part between two of the accodian
> looking boots and could move it back and fourth (towards either
boot).
> Is this normal? Does it make it bad? The boots themselves look fine
> (not torn). Usually threads about halfshafts/CV boots reference torn
> boots, but mine look fine. The car has 113,000 miles on it..

The CV velocity joints should not be sloppy by any means and can fail
even if the boot is ok. A cold CV joint in good shape, that is
properly lubricated should even feel stiff due to the viscosity of the
grease. There should be no play if you essentially try to push or pull
the CV joint in line with the half shaft. This could indicate a worn
joint. This will typically be diagnosed with clicking noise under
acceleration and particularly sharp turns where the wheel is turned all
the way to the left or right. The entire rebuilt half shaft of my
import cost only $75 so in some cases they are a pretty cheap fix
easily done by yourself (this greatly depends on the car). If the
joint is not making any of the symptomatic sounds you could pull the
outboard boot off (the CV joint closest to the tire which is almost
always the first to go) and regrease the joint. I found that a can of
carb cleaner does a pretty good job of stripping the old grease.

The above two mentioned responses mirris my 50-50 split on people asked
the question. However, I'm leaning towards bad since when I compare it
to a new one, the new one doesn't have the play in it that the one on
my car has. I went to an auto parts store and asked to look at a few.
Not getting rebuilt if I can get a new one for a few bucks more ($100
vs $60).