CV Joint Replacement

[00Buck]

What's the difficulty of replacing a CV Joint on a 97 civic. On a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being a tire replacement and 10 being a head gasket replacement on a 350 engine.

[johnb16a2]

I'd say about 5 or 6, because you do have to seperate the knuckle and tie rods from the control arms. GL

[mikesmat]

And a decent set of tools makes a hell of a difference!

I grew up working on cars with my father who always had the bare minimum and we'd spend half a day just trying to open one nut. Two days and several bandages later we'd get the job finished.

[ekb18swap]

does anybody know if the stock b18 cv axels will fit the 96 civic hb with the swap or do you have to use the swap axels

[jclark]

If you go to replace that cv joint, also price the shaft ass'y.
Last time I bought one, the entire new shaft ass'y with both cv joints
was cheaper than the one cv joint by itself. Weird huh!!!
So always check.

[Scrapper]

i agree buy whole half shaft or axle what ever you want to call it..be alot quicker and cleaner..use too you would pay same price for 1 CV joint now the whole half shaft about same price and you get both inner and outer CV joint..

[alfonso2501]

How do you know U need a new CV joint? Does the car vibrate like hell @ highway speeds?

[jclark]

It can.
Usually the boot tears first and you loose all the grease, then dirt
gets in and the joint starts to make a noise from the grinding.
Inspect your boots and jack the car up and spin the tire and listen
for noise. Wiggle the tire and axle and check for play.
I have never seen one go bad with the boot intact.
But I guess it can happen.

[Scrapper]

i guess it could vibrate depending on how long you have driven it..but mostly turning corners it'll click,click..

[96CivicEX06]

I helped my friend replace his passenger CV joint for his 98 not too long ago. I'd say a difficulty of 6 out of 10. The only snag we came across was that the end that goes into the transmission didn't want to go in too easily, we had to make sure the teeth were aligned and then used a rubber mallet to bang it in there. Make sure you have it in enough because you don't want to put everything together then have to take everything apart because you're leaking oil or you can't engage the tires.

[PEARL1]

if you still see grease in the torn boot its not too late yo just get a boot kit and replace it, by the question you asked i assume you cant do that, you will have to have a vise and seperate the joint to slide boot over, you also need special pliers for the clips, but you can price it having it sent out for that, i have seen boot kits for $10

[Scrapper]

you do not want to get a quick boot kit as it will fly off...i know i've seen someone try it...your going to waste your time and end up buying half shaft so you'll have to take it out again.and if you do use it you'll see what i mean...

[PEARL1]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

you do not want to get a quick boot kit as it will fly off...i know i've seen someone try it...your going to waste your time and end up buying half shaft so you'll have to take it out again.and if you do use it you'll see what i mean...

dont know about the person who did yours but, i have never had a problem before, we have done many at the shop...... why would a rebuilt be any different than the one you do yourself, its the same thing, there is a guy doing yours and there is you doing yours, the autoparts places around here rebuild them in the back of the store, thats why i said depending on your experience, i assume the person above who started the post does not have the experience to do this, i was just helping him understand on some of the other ways of taking care of this situation

[Scrapper]

yah but why not change whole half shaft??

[PEARL1]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

yah but why not change whole half shaft??

you are right, only reason there is a diff in price, remember you can only do this if you notice the boot has torn recently only, obviously once the joint get full of water, dirt and sand, it is junk
these boot kits are dirt cheap, problem is people dont know how to do them so they change whole shaft