Subject: Re: Compatible? Q vs non Q 1/2 dshaft

[E. Roy Wendell IV]

snip
> Thanks Huw.
>
> I need the front 1/2 drive-shafts for one of my VW
> Quantum Syncros. The outer boots are ripped.
>
> I guess I'll just get them rebuilt at this place I've
> dealt with before for about $65 bucks a piece.
snip

No such thing as "rebuilt" driveshafts, or at least not ones  
equivalent to new. I love reusing and recycling as much as anyone but  
CV joints are one use only items. Once they wear to the point that  
the balls get loose you are done. The tolerance of ball to groove is  
very tight. Once the groove and/or ball wears appreciably there is no  
real option other than replacement. Some companies have attempted to  
fix them by installing oversized balls and/or machining the grooves  
oversized. In both cases, the surface hardening treatment  applied to  
the grooves is gone and wear will be accelerated vs a new joint. The  
economics of the complicated machining involved dictate that it's  
just as cheap to make a new joint as to machine a used one.

The good news is that in the average quattro (or syncro) you'd be  
hard pressed to wear out any of the joints other than the outer  
fronts and even those seem to last a very long time. The rest just  
don't experience a lot of angular motion. Boot failure is the only  
common problem and that is once again confined to front outer joints.  
I've cleaned, greased, and installed a new boots on a few front outer  
joints that had been run for some time with a split boot and gotten  
tens of thousands of miles of continued service without a problem.

65 dollars sounds about right for the parts and labor to reboot a  
joint. My guess is that those "rebuilt" joints are just that- 
serviceable ones that have been disassembled, visually inspected, and  
reassembled with new grease and a new boot.

E. Roy Wendell IV
erwendell at mac.com
Too many type 44 tq
A pair of MR2s