"The brake light comes on. You wouldn't know that because the picture of the wife and kids." LOL!

I learned this the hard way. Drove my 97 Ram for several thousand miles without them. Snapped 2 wheel bearings in a week. Replaced one and it snapped the second I put the truck on the ground. Eventually had to drop a new front end in it, don't risk it y'all.

Thanks and you're welcome- always great to hear from you!

I didn’t realize cv axles offer so much stability on top or the power transfer they’re made to do wow..thanks for this video man‼️

This makes so much sense. Thank you. I just had to have a lot of this stuff replaced on my car.

You can tell a lot from a mechanic when the split pins are done beautifully. Well done sir!

Thanks for sharing this. I was considering driving with the CV axles out of a Jeep WJ for a week while I wait for parts to come in. Now I know to not do that!

I fell in love with some of the lifted Subies that have been built over the year but did not want to deal with the shorter life span of the axles and such.Prime example here.

That's right. His hunting buddy who was with him is a diesel mechanic in training and recommended he just pull the axle out.

my front axle was sloppy so I took them out and then went for a drive last weekend. wheel bearing hub lasted 5 miles and did the same thing. Abs wire was ripped off the hub. wish I saw this video first. two drive axles and a hub bearing was $278. tow was $75. blown weekend fixin it! just happy me and the GF weren't hurt! (axle nut torque is crucial here- too much or too little can ruin the bearing also)

I need to replace my CV axle on my 07 Yukon Denali. Cracking sounds every time I turn left. This on my driver side ! Thanks for explaining

Thanks- I'm just glad he didn't lose/roll it. I love the owner of the truck- good people.

Oh wow you just help me diagnose my bad cv axle, my brakes were grinding and after taking em apart and putting them back together again throwing new parts at em 3 times they were still grinding, turns out my passenger cv axel was going bad and the wobble was pushing my brakes apart and making them sloppy in the caliper which made them grind. Thanks for the help!

depends if the cv shaft is holding the assembly together. for example all toyota 4wd pickups 79-94 use what i would refer to as a full floating front. basically the wheel bearing is mounted on a snout, the axle shaft goes through the snout and engage in splines that are in a flange. the only connection between the shaft and the wheel is the spline. the shaft only transmits a torque. same for the 100 series landcruiser and everything before. the 3rd 4runner and tacoma use this type of shaft that rely on that threaded shank to keep it all together.

wow dude you have an encyclopedia of videos, every time I open up my home page there's a video I haven't watch, great work keep it up

I've had a number of CVJ's go bad, after the boot tore, but despite driving several even more than a year on, only the noise and looseness reveals any issue. Obviously removing the axle is far worse than just driving with the old one until you either repair the boot, or replace it. And he's right, the Soobie bearing is going to be compromised without a proper torqued compression to hold the two sides of the roller bearings under tension. Outer splined hub is pressfit into the inner bearing race, so without an axle nut it could conceivably fail and drop the wheel. I'd worry about the uneven load on the differential as well, over time.

I remember in 2008 I was on the interstate heading back from Flight School and the Ford Ranger (only Rear wheel drive) I had at the time suddenly started shaking violently and the ABS light came on. I pulled to the shoulder carefully and looked up on my phone to see if there was a garage around (given I didn't have roadside assistance with my insurance policy at the time and couldn't afford a tow out of pocket). Found one that was only a couple of blocks off of the next exit which was half a mile down the road, so I carefully made my way along, keeping to the right side and running the hazard lights as I went slowly towards the Shell station. Turns out that the cause of the whole problem was that when I had had the front brakes and rotors replaced at Midas a few months earlier, they had neglected to lubricate the tapered wheel bearings, and so what remained of the old lubrication dried out, resulting in the bearings rubbing against the rotor on the front right wheel until the bearings were ground away and the rotor was left grinding against the knuckle (all that remained of the bearings was a very thin fused ring about 2 mm thick). Surprisingly, all of that had been without any noise being created.

A while back, my 96 suburban needed both cv shafts replace, but it woulda been like $400 to get them, so i made my own shafts. They are essentially shortened driveshafts, with a u-joint on either end, and a sliding spline shaft (from an old junkyard driveshaft), with the ends of the CV shaft (procured from the cv shaft) welded on. They are ugly as sin, but both of them together cost me less than $50 to make and they still work, going on 7 years. And i dont need the fancy rubber boots.

I tried that. Once. 2001 Silverado. Some KZfaqr did it so I figured I could get away with it, too. Decided to drive to town while waiting on new Axles. Turning into a parking space both bearings blew apart and shredded. Had to get a tow back home. Had to replace both wheel bearing assemblies, both caliper mounting brackets (the pressure actually distorted them), both rotors and both front wheels (gouged bigtime). I mean, those wheel bearings tore apart in a grand fashion.

Thanks for posting the video. Always wondering what happens on a CV failure and owner's persistence to drive it in to get repaired.

That's crazy, and pretty interesting to see. Thanks for sharing Brian

i worked at a gm dealer for a long time and i know gm came out with hub/bearings in like '08 for like the 99-07 trucks that were for both 2wd and 4x4, they had the splines for the axle but the rear sides were reinforced so it didn't need the axle and nut to hold them together. but you could still get the other 2 styles, and the regular 4x4 one, said for 4x4 only, while the 2wd ones didn't even have and axle hole. i haven't heard if any other manufactuers came out hubs like this yet.

I was told by a number of mechanics that I was safe to drive that way. My passenger side wheel, hub, and brakes came off going 70mph with my wife and kids in the truck with me luckily no major damage. Fixed it all since

I appreciate the info!im dealing with a four wheeler but it def helped me

Serious play there--glad I fixed my Jeep ZJ pronto with new axles

If the axle nut and the outer cv joint were helping in holding the wheel bearing together(from falling out),there will have to be another bearing on the outer cv side against the spindle to allow rotation.so no the bearing gave up due to the wheel spacers and took out everything else with it.

Good stuff Brian, thanks for the videos!

very similliar to a chevy blazer / s10 hub bearing :) smashing tutorial brian!

thanks for all ur videos. love them all.

That's a tough one. I love fixing these cars and hate doing accounting/billing. Another issue is I try to hook people up- so the price I do would be low and make it seem like EVERYONE is ripping people off.

Interesting thing- the splines on that output shaft were barely usable and it should be replaced. They got really rounded due to the inboard joint being so bad.

They can make your lug nuts not seat as far as intended. They can create stresses to the wheel studs (leverage). Basically you compromise wheelstud/lug nut holding strength. The right way to do it is to get a wheel with the offset you're looking for.

Very informative video. I didn't realize this could happen. Made me get to a bad cv joint much earlier. So we did get the new axle in before any bearing or brake damage, but the inner boot is puckered. What would cause that?

Was that a new word I just learned? Fershitzled? Thanks for the informative videos, and keep up the great work.

I have them. I always use redundant support. Jack stands are just a cheap way of redundant support setup.

I just saw an s10 blazer that made it from North Carolina to West Virginia like this. It wasn't going to go any further. People don't seem to understand that the spindle nut is what's torquing the WHEEL BEARING. Thanks for the informative vids with humor!

Let me say this, I work in parts and as a mechanic. If you have a 4wd truck and you lose a front CV axle, YOU WILL NOT HAVE FAILING SPINDLES! The spindle has no parts to fail and is NOT PART OF THE CV AXLE ASSEMBLY. The reason that thing is falling apart is because the bearings weren't maintained nor were the axles. The only thing that happens is the front differential spins freely since there is no opposing torque(unless you have a locker or limited slip diff). You can drive it in RWD just fine with no issues whatsoever. The 3 bolts at 01:10 are the ones that hold the hub bearing assembly on to the spindle which is held onto the truck by upper and lower control arms. The brake rotor is held on by the wheel and lug nuts to the hub assembly. That little 3 bolt flange at 02:57 is actually pressed onto the bearings and essentially permanently attached to them and is what holds the wheel and brakes to the hub. This is simply a failure of bearings that was not taken care of coupled with a broken axle. I sell these bearings all the time and I have seen things just like this with the axles STILL INTACT ON THE TRUCK. This whole video is invalid information.

Hey Brian how do those abs sensors work? is it like a brush with a contact point of some kind on the hub like the way an alternator brushes make contact? Great video as always! I'm an avid viewer and I've got to say I've learned a ton from your videos. Thank you for taking the time to make them, as a young car guy I can definitely say you've helped shape a lot of my understanding of automotive systems and mechanisms.

Thank you perfect video for what i wanted to figure out

Depends on the vehicle. You actually can't do that due to the taper of the hole on the knuckle side. The threads would fit, but not make it through enough to get a nut on it. One side is big and the other is small.

I actually drove with my shaft out for a few weeks because the bering cage on the cv busted during a hella snow storm. Got under there and cut the boot out of the part in the diff to keep junk out then left the nut on the hub. Just leave the bolted end on. knock out the bering cage with a chisel. Then cap the end the goes into the selector.

This guys cv axle just fell. Mine won't come out with a truck tugging on it

In an emergency you can pull it out, remove the boots and the axle between the CV bearings. Then put the axle end on the wheel side and torque it down, then put the transaxle side in, then drive it. As long as the axle end is installed and torqued down the hub will work as normal, abs will come on. The transaxle end is installed to keep the dust out until you can get a new CV axle assembly installed. Hope that help someone in a pinch. Of course you'll only have a one wheel drive so go easy on it until you get it fixed. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya

that means… i’m FREAKING LUCKY. drove my subaru in a remote area to go on some trails and noticed that an axle nut came loose while driving. previous guy likely under torqued the nut. either way i had to drive it like that until i got back into town (because phone service, couldn’t call a tow). honest to god i’m surprised it drove as well as it did. hopefully the lost nut is the only damage… will find out in the morning.

Thank you!

Wow. That's almost ALWAYS a cracked tone wheel. I'd check for metalic dust on the wheel speed sensors and also check brake fluid level and pull codes if you have access.

😳 I never would have guessed! I would have just assumed that the wheel wouldn't have been driven.

Brian on a FWD car if one of the CV axels was removed would the car even be able to move forward? I can't help but think without a limited slip diff all the power would go to the side without the axel. I had no idea that the CV axel held the wheel hub on. Once again thanks for the awesome and informational video! Lately you've been doing some great, informational, and helpful for the average Joe. I like that kind of thing because so many people do dangerous things without knowing.

your a cool as mechanic ! Wish you live in my area!!!

EricTheCarGuy encourages the cv joint to break and just fix it then. Sounds fun.

Brian, you sound like you cannot imagine how can somebody drive a car like this.

Ok just wanted to add that the 2wd and 4wd envoy/trailblazer use the can run these trucks without cv axles. You just need to leave the inboard cv joint housing snapped into the diff to prevent leaks and contamination of front diff.

This is common. In these cases you can undo the wires out to the plug in the fender well and disconnect it there and just pull the wires with the hub.

A lifted Ford F350 4x4 came in through the shop. His wheel bearing had failed similarly but instead of the rotor keeping the wheel on, it fractured and the centre of the rotor separated from the disc. His 38" tire came off the axle and mashed up the fender & door of his truck while he was driving down the street.

Hey Brian, fantastic on the dangers of the loss of the front drive shaft! Two questions, what if anything, did you have to do to the transmission side the drive shaft and has anyone ever driven into and damaged a customers vehicle parked out on that busy street before picking their vehicle up?

That's good info. Thank you.

Thanks for posting such interesting and informative videos. What was the cause of the cracked rotor? That looked really bad.

Leave the stub in, remove rest of axle, fixed lol

You take the broken axle apart and insert the hub side back in and the one into the trans. I did it on an eagle talon and drove it rear wheel drive for a year

Yes! That would be the correct way to do it.

I took my cv axles out last month along with front drive shaft and front differential. Everything works fine but the key is I cut the old cv axles in half and set the cut cv into the hub like normal.

The wheel-hub bearings were the first to go; the CV joint followed; then the axle had enough room to come adrift.

I am going to look at a truck today. The guy says it has a bad CV axle, and that it "came apart at the knuckles"

Wow Thanks for the info

the things people manage to do to cars will always cease to amaze me

wow iv bin driving my 05 Dodge Ram quad for 7 years with no cv shafts(only put them in for winter)and no problem

that is true. sometime my friends want me to work on there cars but I have no clue what to charge them.

Most people do not know that the axle nut when tight, keeps the bearing from getting shear pressure. In this case the wider tires and that wheel spacer magnified that force. He is very lucky to have not gotten hurt. If you find yourself in need of removing the axle to get the thing home you could leave the cup still bolted to the hub and remove the rest of the axle. Doing this will also leave a big gaping hole where the output shaft is that dirt and sand will get into. Its always cheaper to fix it right in the long run.

For off road and regular 4x4 use solid is the way to go.

Good and informative!

This is a GREAT VIDEO thanks You

My dad had a friend that wanted to take the front CV shafts off of his truck because he thought they were wasting fuel. We told him that it keeps the whole wheel bearing together. Fortunately, he listened to us.. I wasn't sure what it would do, but this is awful!

I just did this job on my 99 ram last weekend!

Thanks

After watching this video, I was like "crap, I removed the rear axles on my daughters 06 Vue because the rear differential unit was bad"......seriously, I was worried. But before I removed them, I looked up the wheel bearing part numbers for the same car with and without all wheel drive.....part numbers were exactly the same. So some cars use the same wheel/hub bearings for AWD and just FWD, so cross reference before you drive without axles. (my example is on the rear drive assembly on a 06 Saturn Vue) Sleep easy

Love this guy,

Very good! ! Thanks

This vehicle has a male output to the front differential. So it's all sealed up and didn't leak or lose any fluid.

the trick is to rip the axle apart at the joint (it basically slides apart once you cut the rubber boot) and leave each end in the car so its keeping your bearing together and your differential from leaking but theres no center section to connect them cheap fix without any further damage

would he have been better off to disassemble the axle at the hub. leaving the axle part going thru the hub?

so I’ve had my abs, brake light, and traction control light come on my Camry but no popping sound or clunk until yesterday and couldn’t understand the problem nor would it show on scanner.. thank you I now know what the cause of it was

That's how this was. When I took of the rotor the hub just came right out too. No fluid loss. The output is male.

Another good video. Thanks.

But u can pull the cv axel apart and put the threaded stub throught the hub and torque the axel nut and be ok? Right and pull the front drive shaft and cv axels on both sides and 4x4 fuse from fuse box.. a 2wd conversion. . That will work and b ok on the hub? Im gna do this on my trailblazer till I can fix my differential bearing and seal..

Fershitzled. I gotta start using that one.

You're welcome- and you're RIGHT! The car becomes immobile, but very noisy on that side.

Im currwntly driving with no cv axle no front differential no front shaft, seems my 3 bolts behind the hub and control arms along with a arm is holding everything together! Lmk if im wrong but it seems to be running better now. -03 merc mountaineer.. same for the trail blazer and explorer.. for anyone needing this little info

It's suspected to have been towing a huge trailer and getting the rotors super heated and then crossing an icy stream.

axles won't cause all that think about it, one end just pushes in to the diff, nothing to secure it but a little spring clip

I've heard of people seperating the front CV joint from the rest of the axle to get home or to the shop. At least you'd still have that front cup holding it together temporarily.

@Brian good video as always.

Hey Brian, great video. Question, can a bad rear CV on an 07 Chrysler 300 affect the transmission shifting performance? Since my abs light came on a week or so again I notice the brakes are like you say not as good but also notice the transmission is sticking in first sometimes . Taking it in this Thursday.

just saw your video had that happen to me when towing my honda fit the boot came off what a mess had to buy new pads,cv axle, rotos dont now how the wheel stay on.

the bearing would've failed either way. the axle itself doesn't support the weight of the vehicle nor does it clamp anything together. only select lightweight cars employed that method including Subaru BRATS, Justys and some others I haven't worked with. the hub and bearing is a pressed assembly either pressed or bolted into the spindle(knuckle) assembly. the truck in the video having over 154,000mi on it was due for a new bearing especially since it seems like 4WD was being used for elk hunting. the C/V was worn for two reasons. #1the extreme angle from excessive torsion bar adjustment for lift and #2 excessive miles and 4WD use. Theoretically you can drive 4WD in just RWD employing this tact, as long as the front end isn't already falling apart.

That’s why you should fit free wheeling hubs no wearing on front shafts or cv

IMHO: 1. the failure and removal of the CV axle had nothing to do with causing the brake problems or the hub problems. 2. the problem with this truck was the failure of the hub bearings. The failed hub bearings allowed the hub and attached brake rotor to run out of alignment and wobble, pushing the brake pads back and leaving excessive space between the rotor and the pads - causing the brakes to operate poorly and the brake warning light to come on. 3. removal of the failed CV axle would not cause the hub bearings to fail. More likely the failed hub bearings gave excessive flex to the CV joint and contributed to the CV boot failure and damaged the outer CV joint. 4. the extreme suspension lift would add strain onto the CV joints. The extreme suspension lift might also add strain on the hub bearings if the angle between the axle and the hub exceeded the operating angle limit of the CV joint, causing the axle to bind as it turned. 5. the added spacer between hub and wheel increase the leverage of the load on the wheel onto the hub bearings - like using a longer wrench or lever to make it easier to break loose a stuck or rusted nut. The further the wheel is mounted away from the hub, the greater the torque force exerted on the hub bearings (torque equals load times crank arm length). The load is the weight of the truck that is carried by that wheel - the spacer does not change the load, the spacer puts that load out further away from the hub, increasing the crank arm length and increasing the torque that the hub bearings must carry to support the weight of the truck. 6. the added spacer between hub and wheel also increases the torque load that the wheel bolts must carry. 7. the CV axle is not intended to secure the hub onto the vehicle. The CV axle is intended to transfer drive power from the differential to the wheel, i.e. to transfer a rotational force only. If the CV axle is loaded laterally, it will fail prematurely, and if loaded longitudinally it will pull part. 8. The comment by ImpenetrableSilence, posted below, is the best of the bunch that I have read here.

those customers are great for the pocket book. lol

Good vid. Very useful info.

we had put on a new passenger side axle and everything was fine. i think it came loss. i drive it for days then all of a suddden i couldnt accelerate and when to put into part and it made a terrible noise. did you think if we could get the axle in all the way it wpuld stop this? please help mom of 4 and stressing.

Question. My cv axle is busted Waiting for a replacement. I left the outside spindle with the nut still attached to the wheel hub. Will it be ok to drive like that. It’s a 2500 Durmax.