CV shaft or joint replacement

Purchased a 1986 Saab 900 last month. Heard minor clicking at turning on power. As of today there is clunking and clicking. The driver side has oily type residue, like it had been sprayed. I have not been on an oily area that I can remember.

I know the cv joint is bad. I am living in Seattle. Wanting to know that being I am mechanically inclined on cars, should I replace the joint or shaft. I have read here that buying and replacing the whole shaft seems cheaper. I don't understand the 2006 post discussing the remove/replace. It would appear a $70 driveshaft would not have a tripod bearing. What additional hardware do I need to purchase? It would sure be nice to have a Bently manual, but I really need to get this done as soon and as cheap as possible.

Right now I am just making it road worthy. Any help would be great.

Reply to
asg2307
Loading thread data ...

That might have been mine? The initial problem was the NAPA had the wrong part reference for it, so they gave me a full shaft but with the wrong tripod on it. Eventually I returned that, took my original into the local "A1 driveshaft and universal joint rebuilders", and for a surprisingly low amount and an hour and a half of time, it came back reground, new bearings, new grease, sandblasted, recoated, and looking like new. If you have a shop in your area (and Seattle is certainly big enough to have them) I'd call around and see what they say.

The rebuilt one I got came with a tube of grease and a new hub nut, so it was all-inclusive. You'll need that socket (37mm maybe? Measure it before you start all this, trust me on that!), other than that, basic hand tools. You will get VERY greasy doing this job.

Yup. Because when a CV actually _fails_, you go nowhere at all.

Reply to
Dave Hinz

So what is with all the extra things to think about, like putting some sort of wedge before jacking and having to remore a cover(?) before pulling the whole shaft out. All in all how much did you pay? A local repair shop says they can repair in an afternoon a used shaft or joint for $250. I see that doing a joint is going to be at least $100 plus.

Reply to
asg2307

Ah. That, is just so the a-arm doesn't go too far down with spring pressure. Chunk of 3/4" thick plywood worked for me.

I can't imagine what that would be.

I'd rather pay the garage to install a rebuilt one, even if it means driving the bad shaft to the rebuilder yourself. How about this - find your local A1 Driveshaft or whatever in the yellow pages, and ask them if they have a wrench they deal with often. Nothing unique to Saab on that particular job. 250 bux for a used part which could fail at any time seems high, but you could probably get a rebuild _and_ installation for that. The rebuild shop will know someone; they may even do it themselves.

Let us know what you end up doing so we have more information for the next guy to ask, please.

Dave Hinz

Reply to
Dave Hinz

The shaft can be separated from the CV joint. It is quite easy really, a few weeks ago I did it on my 9000 and it is the same setup as on the

900. The minimum the OP needs is a new CV joint + tools.

To the OP. I would not pay good money for a used CV joint + labour to fit it. If you are asking for additional hardware you may need quite a lot (I would have large hub-puller, long lever to socket for driveshaft nut, torque wrench to tighten driveshaft nut, jack, I would like as spare spring compressors ... and on it goes).

As far as a manual goes ...

formatting link
or
formatting link
Post again as to what you want to do;-)

Regards Charles

Reply to
Charles C.

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.