change strut bearing and now spindle won't fold back up

dougw2007 · Post by **dougw2007** » 02 Mar 2016, 10:45

I change my strut bearings on my 99 v70. I did the left side no problem but the right side it seems that the cvc joint has come apart inside the rubber. This is the inner one and now the wheel won't fold back in to get the upper strut to spindle bolt and if I turn the wheel the rubber casing would just twist and be destroyed. Is this now mushroomed into a whole new axle assembly. And did I ruin it or was it bad? Thanks Doug

Cees Klumper · Post by **Cees Klumper** » 02 Mar 2016, 12:35

Try tapping the inner bearing back in the 'holder' with a gentle tap with a hammer against the end of the axle. Should not need much, they're a tight fit but once it gets back over the first 'ridge' I think it should be fine without any harm done.

Post by **dosbricks** » 02 Mar 2016, 12:52

Doug, you just overextended it. It's likely neither bad nor did you ruin it. You're not the first to have this happen.

As for Cees' advice, you can try it, but don't tap too hard lest you break the cage inside the outer CV joint.

There are some tabs on the edge of the inner joint canister which hold the joint in. They got bent out on one side and allowed the the joint to slip out. Remove the inner boot off the canister and locate the problem. Work the joint back in. You may have to bend out another tab or two to get it back in place. be careful not to let any of the three bearings slide off their posts while the joint is out of the canister. After it is back together tap the tabs back down and reinstall the boot onto the canister.

On older axles, I think the inner joint is held in with a wire clip, but I believe you have the tabs like my '96 and '98.

dougw2007 · Post by **dougw2007** » 02 Mar 2016, 15:06

Thanks for the replies, I will let you know how this works out. I am encouraged that I won't have to dump more money into this. At least this week.

dougw2007 · Post by **dougw2007** » 03 Mar 2016, 19:12

Well, I got it put back together today. If I had known how this worked I could have done it without taking the boot off. Put I was not sure what I was forcing, so I took the boot loose. There were just some punch marks in the metal that created a slight ridge to keep the thing together. Once I saw that I just put some force to it and the bearings popped back in.

I now have completely covered all the suspension stuff my hands and the floor with cv joint grease/oil. I will take it for a test ride tomorrow and hopefully it will be fine. The original job was the strut tower bearing plates.

Thanks for the help.

Post by **dosbricks** » 03 Mar 2016, 19:42

Sorry if I made the repair more complicated/messy for you. When dealing with preserving the OE axles, I like to err on the side of caution because the aftermarket ones are generally of poor quality.

Cees Klumper · Post by **Cees Klumper** » 03 Mar 2016, 21:23

Hate to say I told you so! Glad you got it back together, for me little things like this are part of the fun of working on my own cars.

Post by **abscate** » 04 Mar 2016, 07:02

I did manage to break my OEM axle doing by FWB - I tried to drift off the axle from the hub with the spindle out and broke up the carrier on the inner CV joint (matches the outer on my 1999, not the earlier cross type)

I got a good used OEM from Erie VoVo for $99

Im still looking for a Good Volvotarian to find a bad axle shaft to send the CV joint carrier so that I get a good OEM axle someday.