Prop Shaft Removal & CV Joint Replacement Writeup - 2006 S60 AWD

[justanotherhumanoid]

Hi all,

Recently while replacing my angle gear collar sleeve, I damaged the front propshaft CV joint (probably by bending/hammering on it to separate it from the angle gear output flange). Not knowing at the time how bad it was, I freed it up, put some fresh grease in it, and reassembled everything. When I tested it by rotating the prop shaft by hand, it had a stiff spot, but I didn't think it would be too bad. When I went to drive it though, there was a horrible vibration that peaked at exactly 30mph.

Confident of what the issue was, I talked to Colorado Driveshaft, who suggested that while I could replace the whole driveshaft, I could also try just replacing that front CV joint. They sold me a kit for a very reasonable $120 (which included shipping) and sent it super fast.

I used these videos as guides:

These three for removing the propshaft:







This one for replacing the CV joint:




Also, I was surprised to find that there was an identical CV joint at the rear end, that also seemed to be binding up a little. I picked up another kit, which I was a little surprised to find at an O'Reilly's near my house. Both are cheaper than the Genuine Volvo kit sold by FCP Euro. IPD sells an aftermarket kit for just $75 which I wish I'd figured out earlier.

FCP kit:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... 0-31216175

IPD aftermarket kit (cheapest option):
https://www.ipdusa.com/products/16498/D ... 175-126018


The reason I was surprised is that there is a statement on that FCP page that says "The rear CV is not replaceable and an entire prop shaft must be ordered to replace the rear CV." I found this not to be true for my particular driveshaft. It's literally the exact same part front and rear, splines, size, everything. So I replaced the rear as well, and it has been working perfectly. The shafts appear to be balanced independent of these CV joints, which makes sense. None of the bolts appear to be weighted, either. Volvopartswebstore and IPD websites also says the rear CV cannot be replaced, and the whole driveshaft has to be replaced, so there's a chance I screwed this up, but a couple hundred miles later and it's buttery smooth, so... I asked FCP about this, we'll see what they say. If my car explodes, I'll also follow up, but so far so good.


Shaft out, front CV joint removed:

Both CV joints replaced:

Close up of rear CV joint (old, removed joint in the upper left):

For reference, my driveshaft has the following sticker/part number on it (30713372):

Probably the most helpful piece of advice I found for the process was the bit about using a sawed-off screw shaft (the smooth part, not a threaded piece) and an improvised tap to push out the rear CV joint from the Haldex. If not for that trick I'd still be under the car trying to separate the two. I snapped a pic of the bolt and shaft pieces I used so you can get an idea of the necessary lengths. Bolt is M8x1.25, about 20mm. There's also a pic of where I threaded it in behind the Haldex flange to push out the prop shaft.

M8x1.25x20mm improvised tap bolt inserted behind the Haldex flange:

Here's the overall length of the tap bolt and the sawed-off bolt shaft used as a spacer:

Victory shots:

[Rvolvos]

Excellent write up!
According to Vida you need to mark how the driveshaft is oriented with respect to the angle gear and haldex damper before removing.
I also used the 2 M8x20 mm bolts to push out the driveshaft.
There is a part number difference between the front and rear cv joint, don’t know why. Part numbers are engraved on the outside.
My experience with the pro sweden part was it lost a lot of grease and had a lot of radial play, identical to the failed Volvo part in less than 100 miles. The Dorman part arrived with a broken cork gasket and felt loose and floppy. Did not attempt to install.

[justanotherhumanoid]

Thanks!

This should be an interesting trial, then - I've got a Dorman in the back and...whatever CO driveshaft sells in the front. I'll ask them who the manufacturer is, since I didn't see any indications on the box. Both seemed decent.

I did not mark the shaft position with respect to the angle gear or Haldex... we'll see if that comes back to bite me, but not much I can do about it at this point. I've only got about 300 miles on the car since this repair, next time around it'll probably just be a whole driveshaft swap using a reman shaft from CO.

Fingers crossed that it all holds up - it wasn't too painful a job (thanks to the M8 bolt trick) but without a lift, I'd prefer not to be doing it again any time soon. Hopefully nothing explodes.

[abscate]

If it smooth And vibrationless, the balance is probably good!

Victory!

[erikv11]

...
This should be an interesting trial, then - I've got a Dorman in the back and...whatever CO driveshaft sells in the front. I'll ask them who the manufacturer is, since I didn't see any indications on the box. ...

Maybe ask CO driveshaft about replacing the rear when you contact them, and if they prescribe the same part? I agree you're probably fine but it would be great to know if they suggest a different part for the rear.

In the rust zone the CVs can get fused into the harmonic balancers and you may have to get more intense on "tapping" them out. I've removed a few now and what has been foolproof is to get a socket head cap screw that matches the 6 on the front of the CV, maybe a few mm longer even. This will slide through one of the the non-threaded holes on the rear of the harmonic balancer and act as your lever pin. The recessed hex head is key: you can put a pointy air hammer bit in the hex recess and zap the CV out without the bit slipping away and the air hammer damaging anything. Works really well, front or rear CV.

[abscate]

I’m not getting the visual on this Erik, maybe a picture sometime?

[jonesg]

I’m not getting the visual on this Erik, maybe a picture sometime?

he's saying use a cap head allen bolt from the rear, through a blank hole into the threaded front plate, use a pointed air chisel in the allen bolt, the cap head bolt will prevent the chisel point from jumping out.
Its 8F here, maybe in the summer.

[xHeart]

I’m not getting the visual on this Erik, maybe a picture sometime?

he's saying use a cap head allen bolt from the rear, through a blank hole into the threaded front plate, use a pointed air chisel in the allen bolt, the cap head bolt will prevent the chisel point from jumping out.
Its 8F here, maybe in the summer.

^this is clear like a sunshine - happy holidays!

[erikv11]

It's 50 ˚F here today!

The long bolt with red loctite residue is a factory drive shaft bolt - those go in the flange from the front. On the short bolt that you can use from the back of the flange for driveshaft removal, I think its 12 mm long, you can see the threads are mashed in from using it to drive out CV joints.

Bolts

From the top, note the deformed socket head. Battle scars!

Top view, bolts

The air hammer bit must be long-ish, at least 7 inches. The short pointy bit that came with my cheapo air hammer was too fat and too short. You'll dull the point in use but hey that's what it's for.

Bit must be long and pointy

This is the approximate angle when in use under the car. The socket head keeps the point of the air hammer bit from slipping.

Will sit in socket head about like this

Access to the hole in the rear of the flange is easier when you are doing the job because you first remove the DEM.

Where the bolt goes

Sorry, no pics for the front of the drive shaft, but the same hammer bit and bolt worked up there, too.

[jonesg]

If I could afford the parts I'd do it. Could use AWD up here in Maine.