If your vehicle has recently begun to make grinding noises, you may have a damaged
axle assembly. This sort of damage is common to vehicles that go off-road or
regularly travel difficult roads. The axle assembly is a combination of an axle
shaft, a CV (constant velocity) -joint or two and maybe a U-joint. It functions
to transmit rotational force from the transmission to the wheels and is commonly
found on front and 4-wheel drive vehicles, trucks, and high-end rear-wheel
drive European imports. The transfer should be seamless, and to accomplish this,
all the moving parts are very carefully greased and packed away from the elements.
The rubber gasket that forms a seal around the CV-joint is called a boot
and must be tough to keep abrasive dirt and dust from contaminating the joints.
Should you have the tools for the job, flushing contaminants from the joints is
messy work with a high chance of failure.
Often times it is not only
a terrible pain to correctly change a cracked joint boot, but the damage may
already be done to the joints from even a brief exposure to road contaminants.
Even if there is no noise when turning yet, you can be sure the life of the joints
has been dramatically decreased. Purchasing the entire axle assembly is not
only about the same price as having individual components replaced, but you
can be assured that all the components are in fine, new condition. Car-stuff.com
carries high quality OEM and performance axle assemblies that can be installed
quickly without having to worry about seals. |
