CV joints, should they stay or should they go?

[ndwhitaker13]

Ok, i have a 95 limited with high mileage and i see that the cv joints are starting to go. I don't really have the money to put into them at the moment, and was wondering if taking them out temporarily (ie 4 months or so) would be ok. Im guessing this would give me slightly better milage as there would be less drag, but im wondering if this would mess up my differential, or would just be too much of a pain. And if you are wondering i do not have the "AUTO" 4wd, its the 2wd, then Auto, then 4 low. Let me know if im just being an idiot

 

[IAmTodd]

If you remove the half shafts the front wheels won't stay on. In 2wd they're free wheeling anyways. So there isn't a lot of stress on them.

 

[ndwhitaker13]

why wouldn't they stay on, the wheel is attached to the hub, and the hub to the steering nuckle. im more or less worried about oil coming out from the differential, and or rust and dirt getting in.

 

[94Blue302GT]

shoot, i accidently got a hole in one of the boots and was going to buy a 15 dollar boot but then the guy said that the whole unit with new shafts, boots, and both cv joints was 50 bucks after the core. I obviosly replaced the whole thing, which made it really easy.

I was replacing the ball joints at the time, so it was apart anyways.
Lee

 

[Hartman]

why wouldn't they stay on, the wheel is attached to the hub, and the hub to the steering nuckle. im more or less worried about oil coming out from the differential, and or rust and dirt getting in.

The CV shaft goes through the hub and locks it all in place with a nut on the outside of the hub. If you remove the CV, the hub bearing will seperate eventually.

 

[IAmTodd]

The CV shaft goes through the hub and locks it all in place with a nut on the outside of the hub. If you remove the CV, the hub bearing will seperate eventually.

Its basically like a big sandwhich! lol

 

[gijoecam]

Indeed. If you wanted to, you could gut the outer CV joint, leaving just the outer half of the outer joint in place to hold the hub together, but again, they're $50 at AutoZone with a lifetime guarantee. If you're going to go through all that work, why not replace them?

Oh, and the inners hold the oil in the front diff, so I don't think you could run without them anyways.....

-Joe