no such thing as a quick repair!!

[123-jn]

Well after having a knocking sound on a right turn I decided to change the driveshaft joints on the left. The wheel bearing had play in so I thought I'd do that as well. I used 6ft of scaffolding to get the hub nut off and then raised the van to remove the driveshaft. The outer joint was so loose and floppy that it flew apart as I removed it from the shaft, this one would have to be changed. The inner joint was full of hard grease but after a bath in petrol it all looked ok so I regreased it and put it back on. The outer I replaced with a joint from vwheritage. Wheel bearing replaced I started on the brakes. What a mess!!! brake fluid everywhere. So one new wheel cylinder and a lot of cleaning later and the left side was done. Perhaps I should look at the right side brakes? A good job I did, this side was worse and surprisingly the bleed nipple had been broken off leaving as small hole but luckily no leak. New cylinder on here then time for some bleeding. Bled fresh fluid through to the back both sides and went for a test drive.
I'm now throroughly depressed as I have a rhythmic knocking from the driveshaft under power. Now I would love to assume this is the old joint I regreased but I will be mightly annoyed if I take the shaft off again, fit a new joint to the inner and still have a problem!!! what a pain!!

[dave friday]

Swap the drive shaft end to end [swop the cv that was on the gearbox end to the wheel end and vice a versa]

[CovKid]

Aye, and if you're ever planning on looking at brakes in the future, always have new cylinders to hand. I always do. If they've not been off in a long while, you can bet they need replacing. In fact I always fit new even to do brake shoes.

[123-jn]

Thanks for the advice guys, now I'm even more confused as I now have a new joint on each end of the shaft and guess what clear as a day drive shaft knock under acceleration. coming from the side Ive done!!! Could these joints be faulty? or do they need to wear in? or? Oh dear?

[CovKid]

Where did you get the joints? Brand? Makes a big difference. Can better advise then. If ebay, post a link.

[123-jn]

Got the joints from VWheritage on the net?

[123-jn]

I've now ordered a pair of Meyle joints so I hope they are better. Vw heritage say they have never had any problems with their joints but I have found various links on the net saying they are quite rough and supplied by Roulex. The high def pic of a new one are horrific, apparently they run in the wrong place due to the machining with the balls too close to the edge? Lets hope the new ones are better.

[kevtherev]

OEM CV kit is still available.
Manufactured by GKN

Brickwerks stock these
I wouldn't buy anything else, for something so important

[123-jn]

lets hope I don't end up regretting that I did not spend the extra £30.00 at brickwerks!!

[kevtherev]

I am all for saving money..
By doing the job yourself the money saved is worth the exta expense of quality parts surely.