CV shaft goes boom, and hub assem question

[wrigley_1285]

Ok so merry christmas to me with a busted cv shaft. today while pulling into the ditch in front of my grandparents house my suspension flexed a little bit and my left cv shaft made a very, very loud clunk/boom. i know it's been needing replaced for about 2-3 months, i have the new shafts just haven't had anytime to replace them. part of the reason i think this happend is bc i did the tt/shackle lift on my truck over the summer. and i might of twisted the front a little too much. so i'll back it down some and get it realigned.

so to you guys who haven't done this lift yet be careful to measure how much your lifting instead of eye balling it. i know BIG mistake on my part.

ok so onto my question(s). i'm going to replace the cv shafts and while doing so i was going to go ahead and replace my front brakes while it's apart. so should i go ahead and replace my hub assemblies also? how do i know if they need to be replaced? anything else i should replace while it's all taken apart?

i've read the threads on how to swap out shafts and it seems pretty straight forward. you guys have any extra helpful hints for me?

oh yeah little side note. i had to drive to chicago for my g/f's family x-mas stuff today and instead of taking my ex, like i planned, i had to drive my step-dad's f-150 4x4 off-road. it's pretty cool, mostly stock with full magnaflow cat back dual exhaust. it diffinatly doesn't fit in around here and everybody keeps stareing up at me, so i just look down at them and laugh. these city folk get to see what a real truck is next to their little imports:thumbdwn:

 

[brianjwilson]

how many miles? I would have a good luck at all of the balljoints, tie-rod ends and sway bar bushings, since you'll be taking half of that stuff off anyway. Good time for brakes too if they need work.

 

[gavin]

wouldn't hurt to get the new hubs if you have the cash.
but don't put 'em on, until you've checked the ones on there now.
with the cv axle removed, rotate the bearing and see how it feels.

I've had bearings go bad, but you couldn't tell with the weight of the tire on, but when spinning by hand, it had a dry feel to it.

if the hubs feel good, return 'em.

 

[IZwack]

Good idea about purchasing a hub assembly and returning it if the one on there now is still good.

In general you'll know when a front hub assembly needs to be replaced because it makes this sound that you'll hear even in you're deepest sleep -- its like a jackhammer some one has strapped to the underside of your Explorer.

 

[wrigley_1285]

my truck flipped over 117k only a couple minutes before the cv shaft went out. my ball joints are almost 2 yrs old with about 40k on them. i haven't replaced the tie rods ends since i've got the truck almost 3 years ago with 60k on it.

i already have everthing to do the front brakes. plus i got the HD rotors and pads that they had at the store, plus they came with a lifetime warrenty.

i'll go ahead and get some hub assemblies. plus i'd really hate to take everything apart, not replace them, and have to take it all apart in a couple months to replace them.