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  #71  
Old 12-31-2018, 12:35 AM
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I've found that an impossible to move CV spline will pop right out once remove the attachment to the strut. Miraculously different. I had the problem the other way and no amount of any effort helped get it in. I loosened the two bolts that hold the carrier to the strut and it popped in from the rubber spring of the CV boot all by itself.

Once out you can put some light oil like 3-n-1 to help with putting it in.
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  #72  
Old 12-31-2018, 12:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewwynn View Post
I've found that an impossible to move CV spline will pop right out once remove the attachment to the strut. Miraculously different. I had the problem the other way and no amount of any effort helped get it in. I loosened the two bolts that hold the carrier to the strut and it popped in from the rubber spring of the CV boot all by itself.

Once out you can put some light oil like 3-n-1 to help with putting it in.
Unfortunately, I've had something come up and I can't spend much more time on this right now. I'll try that when I have a go at it again. Right now, I have to put it back together and I'll tape the boot end for now. Hopefully I can have a go at it again this coming weekend. Depends on the weather.
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  #73  
Old 12-31-2018, 05:59 PM
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Coincidentally, when I removed CV axle, I had already disconnected the carrier from the strut and had no difficulty knocking the axle out with a couple hits with a 3# hammer.

When reassembling I for whatever reason reattached the carrier to the strut before I attempted to put the axle and the axle spline would go half way in and nothing I did would make it go farther.

I could see the CV boot was putting sideways force on the end of the axle so I decided to loosen the strut bolts to get a straighter shot and as soon as I loosened the second bolt the axle shot itself through the hub like magic.

I'm hoping that the same works in reverse. Be careful not to mushroom the end of the axle and if you did, bevel off the end before you try to remove the axle.

When possible I recommend a test fit of the spline eg if you have the end of the CV off, test fit the axle into the hub. If it doesn't fit smoothly a little sanding and filing will help and of course some assembly oil.

When changing the CV axle I will take the c clip off and do a test fit to make sure the spine doesn't bind. The same idea applies to the hub side. If you can test fit the spline to the hub it will eliminate the question of if it's binding or there is a burr or something preventing it from going in.

It was comically easier to get the axle into the spline once the hub was free to match the angle I don't see why it wouldn't be similar for removing.
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  #74  
Old 11-05-2019, 10:34 PM
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Update:

I bought a universal tool for hub pulling. Came with two pullers. One was mostly flat and it fit my bolt pattern. It worked quite well for pressing the axle out. It's clear it was pressed in in the first place. There is no sliding it out.

Took off the boot. Used the modified CV joint puller. It worked well, but definitely won't unless you modify it. Put a new boot on and put the CV back on the shaft and put the clamps on. Then started trying to put it back together.

There was no "sliding" it back in. I spent a couple hours beating the crap out of the carrier to get the axle back in. I got it most of the way in then I made a mistake. I thought I could get it the rest of the way in by putting the axle nut on and tightening it to pull it the rest of the way in. Stripped the end of the axle. Pushed it back out. Got a replacement and installed it. The damn thing slid right in with no effort at all. It's clear when BMW puts these things together they press the axle in. That's why it's a battle to get it out. Doesn't matter how much stuff you disconnect from the knuckle (I did). It has to be pressed out.

Lesson learned. If I need to replace a cracked boot I'm going to do one of two things; use a "sticky boot" or put in a complete new axle. They're cheap enough ($90) and it would take a hell of a lot less time and effort. Now I know why most mechanics just replace the axle instead of the boot.

Last edited by Fifty150hs; 11-05-2019 at 10:46 PM.
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  #75  
Old 11-05-2019, 11:33 PM
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FWIW, I had bad results with a $90 shaft. I believe the country of manufacture was China. Also, I heard profound testimony to the fact that some failed catastrophically.

My failure did not cause damage, however it did fail with only 10K miles. Original went 80K.

At the time of replacement, we compared the $90 shaft to an OEM, and found issues with dimensions.
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  #76  
Old 11-06-2019, 01:25 AM
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This thread was about the CV Removal Tool but it digresses to Axles lol...

- I know a VW Jetta owner who religiously replaced the Axles using GKN boots ($10-$15/each) every 100K. The factory VW GKN axles lasted to 350K miles when the VW went to junk yard.

- This is bc the big ball bearings inside the cage do NOT rotate like a wheel bearings, they just slide back and forth a bit with grease to accommodate the up-and-down movement and the right-and-left movement of any CV joints.

- There are 2 issues with any CV Joints:

1. Out of sight ---> out of mind. Unless you religiously look in there every 3 months.
In fact, you don't even have to remove the wheels, just turn the steering wheel to let's say the right side to look at the right axle (using a flash light).

2. A lot of labor. Although someone in forum said you simply leave the 36-mm nut alone. Just undo the strut bolts (mark it first for re-installation), and undo the C-Clip and separate the outer CV Joint in situ. Still, it is labor.

This is why axle aftermarket is a big market, millions of dollars. Mostly Chinese axles with hit-and-miss issue. In the Volvo forums, the Chinese axles sometimes fail catastrophically (breaking in 1/2), stranding the driver in the middle of nowhere.

GKN axles are simply the industry best in terms of vibration-free and robust, easily go to 350K miles if one is religious about CV Boot(s).

My personal opinion: the first 60K-80K, you can kind of ignore it bc the car is still new (although the outer boot can be hit with road debris!). After 80K miles, start inspecting the CV Boot religiously. Make a reminder notebook in the garage and check it every 3 months. At the sign of first minor rubber cracks, replace the boots.

If everyone is religious about this, there is virtually no market for aftermarket axles...
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  #77  
Old 11-06-2019, 03:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cn90 View Post
This thread was about the CV Removal Tool but it digresses to Axles lol...



If everyone is religious about this, there is virtually no market for aftermarket axles...
And that is why there is a huge market for aftermarket axles. lol
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  #78  
Old 11-06-2019, 12:51 PM
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Glad you got it fixed Fifty150hs

I bought this tool (because ... why not) back when this thread started.

Changing the boots on my X5, I don't need it because the axle nut stays in place the way I do it.

But I finally got a need to use this on my Honda Odyssey, and it did not work. In working really really hard before giving up on the tool, I'll say the main design flaw is that the bore hole is too narrow. It was too small on my Odyssey, and from discussion earlier in this thread, I think, it will be too small for the X5.

Because that hole is too small, the tool will hit the splined section rather than fitting over the splines. So even with the best attempts you might only get one or two threads on the axle nut, and because the ability to fit there is so narrow, you can't attach the other end where you want (e.g., in a groove where it will actually hold). So it slips at that end and won't work.

Of course if everything is easy it would work, but if that were the case, you might not even need the tool.

And there's no reason at all that the hole is too small. The designers just never considered that axle splines would be that big, I guess. Frustrating when you're trying to hack your way around something like that. Well built tool too.

BTW - on the Odyssey job, I gave up on the in situ repair, removed the whole shaft assembly, put in vise, then failed repeatedly using my 5lb slide hammer. Wow. I ended up using a cold chisel on the inner race of the CV joint, and a 3 lb mini sledge. That finally got it free. BTW, that joint was replaced along with the boot. And my conclusion for why it was so hard was that the c-ring in the rectangular channel was just doing its job a little too well. Once it popped into the interior groove and the splines slid, it was easy. And the splines were all in good shape for reassembly. And all of that took about 1/5th the time of the failed attempts at getting the special tool to work.
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  #79  
Old 11-06-2019, 05:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldskewel View Post
Glad you got it fixed Fifty150hs

I bought this tool (because ... why not) back when this thread started.

Changing the boots on my X5, I don't need it because the axle nut stays in place the way I do it.

But I finally got a need to use this on my Honda Odyssey, and it did not work. In working really really hard before giving up on the tool, I'll say the main design flaw is that the bore hole is too narrow. It was too small on my Odyssey, and from discussion earlier in this thread, I think, it will be too small for the X5.

Because that hole is too small, the tool will hit the splined section rather than fitting over the splines. So even with the best attempts you might only get one or two threads on the axle nut, and because the ability to fit there is so narrow, you can't attach the other end where you want (e.g., in a groove where it will actually hold). So it slips at that end and won't work.

Of course if everything is easy it would work, but if that were the case, you might not even need the tool.

And there's no reason at all that the hole is too small. The designers just never considered that axle splines would be that big, I guess. Frustrating when you're trying to hack your way around something like that. Well built tool too.

BTW - on the Odyssey job, I gave up on the in situ repair, removed the whole shaft assembly, put in vise, then failed repeatedly using my 5lb slide hammer. Wow. I ended up using a cold chisel on the inner race of the CV joint, and a 3 lb mini sledge. That finally got it free. BTW, that joint was replaced along with the boot. And my conclusion for why it was so hard was that the c-ring in the rectangular channel was just doing its job a little too well. Once it popped into the interior groove and the splines slid, it was easy. And the splines were all in good shape for reassembly. And all of that took about 1/5th the time of the failed attempts at getting the special tool to work.
You are correct, the bore as shipped is too small. I reamed mine out so the X5 splines would fit. Worked fine after doing that and grinding the top of the ring so it was perpendicular to the arms/shaft. Mine was poorly constructed, but so cheap I didn't mind spending some time modifying it if it worked. It worked well once modified.
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  #80  
Old 11-06-2019, 09:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fifty150hs View Post
You are correct, the bore as shipped is too small. I reamed mine out so the X5 splines would fit. Worked fine after doing that and grinding the top of the ring so it was perpendicular to the arms/shaft. Mine was poorly constructed, but so cheap I didn't mind spending some time modifying it if it worked. It worked well once modified.
Hi Fifty150hs,

Couple questions for you.

1. The round hole (factory is 30 mm), did you ream it to 32 or 33 mm?

2. The wide part (the part that says 100 mm across), is it wide enough to accommodate the wide part of the CV Joint?

I may take my tool to a local machine shop to bore the round hole bigger for me...
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