What is the consequence of letting the CV joint destory itself? I know it sounds dumb, but I do not know the mechanical consequences of such an event.

Would it seize all of sudden and cause the car to veer off the road?

Or, what would happen?

Thanks,
Sean

 

I think the teeth would wear out and not catch... you wouldn't go anywhere.

 

I had the axle literally fall out of the joint on my old Subaru. You need to make a pretty tight turn to have that happen, though... You'll know way (WAY) before it's at that juncture before it happens. When it clicks ALL the time (not just turns or on/off load) it's gone and it will fall out of the joint at any opportunity. Theoretically, this could happen on the road and the axle will catch on the pavement, destroying the output spline and the transmission in the process.

So, on second thought... when you knowi t's bad - replace it before it fails on you in motion.

 

if the CV joint fails/fractures at the hub end, it could remain connected at the transmission end. At speed, the shaft would then immediatly spiral out, being carried outward with the centrifical force. the end of the shaft would then hit every part of the suspention that was exposed and then lodge towards the rear of the car. The sudden stop (deceleration trama) created by this stop would effectively rip the still connected transmission side of the CV joint from the tranny, most likely taking a nice sized chunk of the tranny case with it. If it fails/fractures on the tranny side, the Joint/hub on the trans side simply breaks at the pivot point and the CV spins freely, usually creating no damaging aftermath, you just cant move forward and hear a nice clicking sound. I have seen it both ways, and the first isnt pretty. CVs are like 100$, fix it now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SlapSmak &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">being carried outward with the centrifical force</TD></TR></TABLE>

Centripital Force

There is no "Centifugal Force" and certainly not a "centrifical force".

Don't mess with a dork.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITR 98-0652 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is no "Centifugal Force" and certainly not a "centrifical force".

Don't mess with a dork.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i ******* hate it when people say "centrifugal"... retards.

 

Just for you D

 

Been there, done that. Of course, this was a stock axle (w/ less than 10k miles on it). I snapped this one at the track (2nd launch). LS/VTEC w/ maybe 180-185 whp (have not yet dyno'd), 2550 lbs. w/out me in it, 205/40/17 at a full 33psi.
I snapped it's replacement on the street not 3 months later. That one, however, suffered a more painful destruction: it shattered the CV joint (into what sounded like the liquid terminator when it was frozen and had a shotgun shell pumped into it) when I hit 2nd gear on the way to work one morning. I didn't loose control, just power(when I opened the throttle, the rpms would just climb as if the car were in neutral and the portion of the axle still attached would just rattle around inside the wishbone). I guess I just have bad axle luck!

 

"Because the centrifugal force exists only in rotating reference frames, but not in inertial reference frames, it's sometimes called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force.

We don't like this characterization because there is nothing fictitious or pseudo about it when your car goes off the road and crashes... The Earth's equatorial bulge is not a fiction, nor is the problem an engineer confronts when designing turbine blades of jet engines that have to stay together at rotation rates of up to 100,000 revolutions per minute."
http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/na....html

And I should know, I'm an engineer who designs those 100,000 rpm turbine engines. (centrif is outward, centrip is inward)

AAAnyyway- yes, if you let an axle come apart the consequences are dire. The other scenario that no one explored would be if it wore out and didn't fly apart, you are putting all of the engine torque through one side of the diff- which will wear it prematurely.

 

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"Because the centrifugal force exists only in rotating reference frames, but not in inertial reference frames, it's sometimes called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force.
We don't like this characterization because there is nothing fictitious or pseudo about it when your car goes off the road and crashes... The Earth's equatorial bulge is not a fiction, nor is the problem an engineer confronts when designing turbine blades of jet engines that have to stay together at rotation rates of up to 100,000 revolutions per minute."
http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/na....html

And I should know, I'm an engineer who designs those 100,000 rpm turbine engines. (centrif is outward, centrip is inward)

AAAnyyway- yes, if you let an axle come apart the consequences are dire. The other scenario that no one explored would be if it wore out and didn't fly apart, you are putting all of the engine torque through one side of the diff- which will wear it prematurely.
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Some time, it does take a rocket sientist to settle an argument like in this case.

 

You are the most paranoid person I've ever known.

 

I have driven an integra with really bad axles.

Under a load the wheel shakes, as the one bad axle grinds itself into shavings, There was no more boot left at all, and once I pulled the ball joint out, the inboard joint fell onto the ground in little pieces.

I doubt it would sieze, but it could sure become a road hazzard as pieces fall out, and if you were to lose drive on one wheel under a heavy load, you may veer to one side (like torque steer kinda).