Axle CV joints

[Raider89]

The manual says inspect/rebuild every 500 miles. I have not done it yet (currently at ~1200 miles), but really curious if this is overly conservative. For those that abide by the schedule, how has grease and bearings looked upon inspection? My boots are fine and secure and have not driven in the rain yet either. I have watched the videos and have the Sebeco service kit. I just remember similar axle joints on my Radical that recommended inspection/rebuild every 10 run hrs, but they could easily have lasted 20hrs according to some folks upon inspection. Any experiences anyone can share?

 

[Sebeco Motorsport]

This interval is based on the demands of endurance racing - where a single CV failure would result in loss of position in the race. For sprint racers and track day drivers, you could conceivably run the axle until it fails and needs to be replaced.

For preventative maintenance, the CV's should be regreased after about 8 hours of running - Stratus will undo the boot clamp and pump grease in with a syringe before re-clamping. This maintenance wouldn't necessarily require a rebuild unless there are parts of the axle boot showing excess wear.

It should be also noted that the CV cooling ducts will extend the life of the grease in the boot substantially over cars that do not have these ducts.

 

[Raider89]

Thanks. I am not a fan of going until failure as that introduces all kinds of issues. I will try the Stratus method initially, after inspection. Simple repacking of bearings within the boot is straightforward. I was just curious what others have observed and the timeframes.

 

[Raider89]

Its my understanding from some previous threads the preferred grease is some combination of NEO HPCC1 and Swepco 101. Can someone advise the ratios of each assuming that is still the recommendations? On my previous Radical with similar axles, we used the GKN Tripod Joint Grease in a caulking tube.

 

[StratusChaz]

Its my understanding from some previous threads the preferred grease is some combination of NEO HPCC1 and Swepco 101. Can someone advise the ratios of each assuming that is still the recommendations? On my previous Radical with similar axles, we used the GKN Tripod Joint Grease in a caulking tube.

I believe it should be 30% NEO grease and 70% SWEPCO.

 

[CarlFlorida]

I’m just had an axle fail at 2100 miles…woke me up when it did…was just at a track day too.

A couple of the guys way past my mileage without any issues but given this I’ll definitely be moving my service intervals up to prescribed amounts and not chancing it. Also going to add cooling - if it saves one failure it’s basically paid for itself is how Im looking at it.

 

[CarlFlorida]

This interval is based on the demands of endurance racing - where a single CV failure would result in loss of position in the race. For sprint racers and track day drivers, you could conceivably run the axle until it fails and needs to be replaced.

For preventative maintenance, the CV's should be regreased after about 8 hours of running - Stratus will undo the boot clamp and pump grease in with a syringe before re-clamping. This maintenance wouldn't necessarily require a rebuild unless there are parts of the axle boot showing excess wear.

It should be also noted that the CV cooling ducts will extend the life of the grease in the boot substantially over cars that do not have these ducts.

Thanks for posting I’m going to start doing this with the syringe

 

[Raider89]

I went ahead and removed/inspected/serviced my axles at ~1200 miles. Wow, it was time. For those unclear or on the fence, I recommend servicing at similar ~1000 mile intervals as noted above. The grease inside both ends was extremely tacky, less lubricity, and actually somewhat gummed up making cleanup quite lengthy. The grease on the tripod end had completely gunked up around each roller, with rollers hard to even spin. The grease on the ball bearing side was similar, very gunky making the cage quite stiff. I would be very concerned going any longer than my mileage.

This is coming from pure HPDE use, never in rain, and never overheated as I dont run in hot TX summers and only 30 minute sessions at a time. The boots were fine, pliable, and certainly reusable. I did order additional grease and extra boot clamps independently.

FYI - After seeing the mixture of the Neo and Swepco provided in kit from Sebeco and its condition after ~1200 miles, I would sure like to try GKN Tripod Joint Grease (not CV grease) instead. We used that on similar axle tripod joints in the Radicals and it was much more like original grease after use without breaking down at ~15 hours.

 

[CarlFlorida]

I went ahead and removed/inspected/serviced my axles at ~1200 miles. Wow, it was time. For those unclear or on the fence, I recommend servicing at similar ~1000 mile intervals as noted above. The grease inside both ends was extremely tacky, less lubricity, and actually somewhat gummed up making cleanup quite lengthy. The grease on the tripod end had completely gunked up around each roller, with rollers hard to even spin. The grease on the ball bearing side was similar, very gunky making the cage quite stiff. I would be very concerned going any longer than my mileage.

This is coming from pure HPDE use, never in rain, and never overheated as I dont run in hot TX summers and only 30 minute sessions at a time. The boots were fine, pliable, and certainly reusable. I did order additional grease and extra boot clamps independently.

FYI - After seeing the mixture of the Neo and Swepco provided in kit from Sebeco and its condition after ~1200 miles, I would sure like to try GKN Tripod Joint Grease (not CV grease) instead. We used that on similar axle tripod joints in the Radicals and it was much more like original grease after use without breaking down at ~15 hours.

let us know if you try the GKN grease - Id also be interested in know if the stratus guys have tried that before?