spiralsmurf

my driveshaft is causing problems including vibration and a general slack of the drivetrain. It seems that most people are simpling repacking the CV joints and installing a new center bearing if it's worn. The only person i've seen replace the actual joint is TornadoS6 (Rokas). My question is at what point should I just replace the CVs? Do i need to disassemble them to see if they are worn? for $350 I can get my driveshaft rebuilt with new german CVs and center bearing. Should I do that? and not waste time repacking the originals?

|skolnick

if the cv is not making noise just repack it

spiralsmurf

well how do i know if the CV joint is making noise or just the bearing? there is definite play in the joint, probably about .75-1" of movement. when the car is in the air and you rotate the wheels back and forth, the joint clicks.

Tornado //S6

Replacement time. Most likely it's the front joint; the rear rarely goes bad. Labor is about the same as repacking, costs 80$ for the new joint.

Rokas

spiralsmurf

when i had the car on the lift, both joints had play and i hear noise from back and front. makes more sense to replace the whole thing while its out in my opinion. i'll do it by myself in the next two weeks.

if i'm getting basically a complete driveshaft assembly would the process go something like this:
1. jack up car and remove exhaust.
2. remove heat shields and driveshaft.
3. send for rebuild next day get it back
4. install the new shaft
5. replace shields and exhaust with new bolts probably.

is there any alignment necessary or should I be alright since i'm using an audi replacement bearing with the same bracket.

Thank you guys.