Felicia inner cv joint

[Cappy65]

Worked on my Felicia, changing the top strut mount and bearing. Unfortunately the inner cv joint is hanging out now. I had to wrestle the coil spring assembly back in before I noticed it while looking under the car.. I'm surprised it popped out. Could I have damaged it? Can I get it back in without taking it all apart again?

Noticed at 9pm and was too tired to carry on.

[Favorit Fan]

If you haven't fixed this already then: YES it can be damaged!. If your inner joint has popped out of the joint cup in the side of your diff, then take great care with it: there are three spherical caps on the joint, and if they come off, you can lose the roller pins that they capture inside. losing just one of those pins will drastically reduce the working life of your CV joint: mine lasted just four months after I lost one, then I ended up replacing the whole drive shaft!, as a complete shaft was only £20 more than a single CV joint.

To fix it its best to have an assistant to safely guide it back into the joint, or suspend your driveshaft at the right height with string, because you need to separate the bottom ball joint of the suspension arm from the hub, and then re-fit the inner CV joint, and whilst keeping the inner joint in its cup, re-join the suspension arm and hub and re-fit the pinch bolt, although once the bottom ball joint is back inside the hub they don't tend to fall out again if you limit the movement of the hub. Alternatively, you may be able to get enough movement in the hub by removing your shock absorber again, but I haven't tried it that way myself.

Edited 22 February, 2017 by Favorit Fan

[HeavyMetalRich]

If you can, you could separate the strut from the hub. There is enough movement with the lower arm (provided any anti-roll bar is disconnected too) to get the strut in to place, manoeuver the hub back over the bottom of the strut and keep a bit of pressure on the drive shaft to hold it in. 

 

If you have to have the c.v. joint separated for any length of time you would be advised to wrap some tape right around your tri-axe (bits with roller bearings in) to reduce the possibility of the bearings being lost.