Z31 inner cv removal

[rossman]

I started replacing my Z31 turbo half shaft boots this past weekend. It took much longer than expected. Seems like everything does these days .

 

The outer CV was no problem. I just removed the outer snap ring and the cage slid right off. The inner CV was not so easy.

 

I read another post on here that advised simply hammering it off with a dead blow hammer. I did that and ended up breaking the c-clip (or whatever it's called) and chipping the shaft splines. No big deal I guess. The replacement boot kit came with a new clip and the chipped splines are on the unloaded portion of the shaft (between the groove and the tip).

 

Apparently, the c-clip is big enough and the groove is deep enough such that the c-clip can stick completely outside of the groove. When this happened it got wedged between the shaft OD and cage ID and sheared off.

 

I think what is supposed to happen is that the chamfer on the cage causes to c-clip to compress radially until it sinks into the shaft groove and the cage slides past.

 

Anybody know a trick to get the shaft out without shearing off the c-clip? I still have the other one to do and I'd rather not break it too .

[rossman]

Hmmm, nobody eh?

 

I'm thinking I may try to clean out the old grease without separating the CV from the shaft. Maybe just soak it in solvent then blast it with brake parts cleaner. The boot can slide on from the opposite side.

[rossman]

I ended up not removing the inner CV on the second shaft. I just blasted it with a whole can of brake parts cleaner, wash it with detergent, rinsed it with clean water then blew out the remaining water with compressed air. There were no signs of the old grease.

[piston]

i will give it a shot. i did mines also a while ago and had no idea so i didnt touch it then. now im in school learning about this stuff at universal technical institute(automotive tech school). wow, i am amazed at how much more i know and understand these different style joints. here is my take down on the removal.

 

the inner is called a rzeppa joint which is more popular on fwd but since the same style joint is used in the IRS for flexability RWD vehicles. it is used on the inside unlike fwd that requires angle on outside as it steer's. rwd has less outter angle movement so the style joint is used on the inside as the diff itself is almost mounted solid. it is very similar to the outter joint but does not slide in and out. if i recall, my z31 did not have female groove on the cage itself to lock it in place from sliding outward instead it has a snap c clip to give it a stop so it will only move inward so far towards the shaft side. if it does have a female groove for the snap ring to hold it in place, which i have seen other applications, just use a snap ring plier depending on which style snap ring before sliding cage off shaft. now on the cage itself(rzeppa joint), the ball bearing slots on the cage will have square design instead of round and there will be two loner more oval design on opposite sides(only two). look carefully to see which ones are the oval ones and those are the two that will be hammered on cage end to raise the opposite side upward first to release the bearings from the oval slot. use a brass punch and hammer the cage end until opposite side is lifted and ball should just fall out. work your way around until all the balls fall out with the cage still inside. now the two longer oval slots are the key to get the cage out of the joint housing(race) after all balls have been remove. use these oval slots to clear the corners on inside jousing housing and work them out assuming it does not have a female c clip holding it in. another trick is to keep the shaft still intact inside the cage to move it around(control). once the cage is off, pretty much you know what to do from there. clean and pack it up with your favorite grease and reinstall using the same procedure with the two oval slots going in first and the ball bearing one by one(it just drops in), you might have to slightly tap cage with the hammer to control the cage angles.. hope this helps. sorry if it doesn't make sense. tried my best to describe the process!