CV Joint and Rear Spring - C5 X7

[cedrichn]

Good evening,

I come to get some advices, as I just failed my MOT for the CV Joint (offside, wheel side) and a broken rear spring (offside too). My car is a C5 X7 2.0 petrol, 91 000miles on metallic suspension

CV Joint
I read a lot of horror stories about how to put a new CV joint. Being there myself on some car, trying a lot of different methods, I would like to go to something feasible without too much pain
How would you do it ? Buy a full new drive shaft ? Ask a good shop to retrofit mine ? Find a way to install the new CV joint without dissassembling the drive shaft ?

Rear spring
So, to start with, I have to change both, right ? Even if only one is broken...
My other question is: should I change both shock absorber and spring, considering the mileage of the car ? Any supplier you would recommend, to keep the "Citroen" effect ?

Thanks, always nice to have some other point of view

[bobins]

Is it actually the whole CV joint that's failed, or just the rubber boot ?

Technically, it's good practice to replace both springs, but realistically - most garages would only replace the broken one. I'm sure that 99% of garages would only replace one broken one if it was a warranty job !

[cedrichn]

Hum, sorry for the confusion, my native language is the same as the C5 It is the rubber.
Saying that...I have a "hiiiiiiiiisss" while driving, exact same sound as when disc brakes are rusty for not driving from a long time. As I don't drive a lot lately, I thought it was the brakes, but I am not sure it really leaves....Could it be the CV joint ? Or a wheel bearing, due to lack of grease (as escaping from the rubber boot) ? I always thought that damaged bearings gives vibrations at motorway speeds, and CV joint makes noise when driving with the steering full left or right... I have non of both

For the springs, I am sure they would do this That's also why I try to avoid any as much as I can, for both the Citroen and my weekend car... I am more thinking "what is right to do", without also falling in the other extreme (it is not a performance car :p)

[cedrichn]

I was having some reading, and I found that I need to check if I have the GKN drive shaft or not.... I went to check on the car, and obviously, I found more rust than sticker
On Service Citroen, with my VIN, it says 3273VY (RP 98 016 188 80): sadly, this is where my IT skills stop... Does anyone know with this, if I have the GKN or not ? Hopefully not...

Thanks !

[RichardW]

You are right that a worn CV joint makes a distinctive clicking sound on full lock, so it sounds like yours is OK. I don't believe you can tell from the part number which make of shaft is fitted, only by inspection. If it's the type with non removable joint you can use a stretchy boot which is fitted over the CV joint, or dismantle the shaft....

[cedrichn]

Thanks Richard !
By inspection, you mean in situ in the car, or only after dissassembling ? How to make the difference without the sticker ? I am concern trying to dissassemble one that can't be, and then damage the CV which is fine....

[wheeler]

Save yourself the hassle, use a stretchy boot, It will also probably last longer than the hard rubber originals.

[Paul-R]

Can you actually fit those stretchy boots without the special expander I've seen?

[cedrichn]

There is this "cone" method, but it is the one I always struggled with...
Anyway, I bought one of the stretchy one delivered with the cone, and one CV joint splitter. Hopefully, one of the two method is going to work ! If not, then I will bring the drive shaft to a more competent mechanic

No idea how to recognise the GKN from the others, even after having removed the boot ?

I also see that a lot of nuts are "to be used onced, replaced when re-assemble", but when checking the nuts on internet, they don't look like being Nyloc or anything...Any point of view on this ?

[RichardW]

Usually if the CV joint is separate, then the shaft is splined, and you can see the end of the splines, and the joint will have a bit of float on the shaft. If you have the fixed type then, I imagine (not actually having seen one) that you will be able to see that the spider is fixed to the shaft, and there will be no end float.

[cedrichn]

So, to give some feedbacks, in case it can help someone one day, or if you have some feedback to give to me

Concerning the boot, it went pretty alright. I used the stretchy boot finally, bought to a seller recommended on another topic here http://stores.ebay.co.uk/J-R-CV-JOINTS-DRIVESHAFTS
I used the cone, so the shaft could stayed in. Still don't know which shaft I have Also used the technique of putting a tube at the end of the cone, so you can strech the boot onto this tube, and then present the tube in front of the shaft (trick also found on another thread here ). Not a funny job, but nothing too complicated there They say on the procedure that you need to remove the ARB drop link, but I just disconnected one side (the ARB side, as it looked easier)

Concerning the spring, to sum up, it was a nightmare... One of the worst job I did on a car
Why ? Because it is really hard to compress it... I dissassemble the broken one, and then tried to assemble the new one with a "cheap" spring compressor for few hours.... After damaging the spring (and my hands!), I had to agree that I was going nowhere...and I found a "cheap" hydraulic compressor for sale. After painting back the spring, I then I gave the hydraulic compressor a go: not that great either! It is really hard to compress in the way that you can then put the stopper on top of it: the damper and spring are hard to keep parrallel... Took me 2 hours, and again, had to paint the spring again so it will not rust (too fast).
Then, to put it back on the car, it says on the procedure: "put the top screw, then put the bottom screw". Sound easy, but it is not... I had to disconnet the ARB, and then re-attach the wheel so the weight would the hub down, and then you can "somehow" screw the spring in.... Nothing hard, but again, take me the full afternoon to realise and find a solution.... I found the procedure "half useless"

Anyway, job is done....! Not sure I would touch a spring in a McPherson anymore !