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I have my 2007 G55 axel is broken down. Pulling the hub bearing with a cheapo Amazon brand was a little tough, but as usual, leverage with a breaker bar saved the day.
As a reminder, I was feeling a slight metal grinding in the steering wheel and a faint noise while driving 25mph and putting slight left pressure on the steering wheel.
So far, everything looks good in terms of the bearings, but I noticed this while cleaning my hub. It is pitted. The inner locking nut is pitted as well. On teardown, the locking washer tab was only pulled forward on to the outer locking nut, no tabs were pushed back to the inner locking nut.
Do you think this could be a cause of my issue? Is my hub reusable? I assume I can simply swap the inner/outer nuts so I have a clean nut face toward the hub?
They look pretty done to me. Surfaces need to be clean, damage free, and within tolerance to re-use a part or you will be back at it soon. Inspect your CV joints carefully for excessive play or binding.
Yes, I have new hub nuts and a new hub coming. Just to be 100% safe.
That bearing race looked much worse than mine.
I still have to break down the CV, but it seems very smooth and tight when I twist the axel and cv end. Moving it through the articulation feels good, no binding. I just have to check the hub splines to cv to see if there is any play there. I’ll compare it with the new hub to see. I am not sure if I need to check anything else on the CV. Any guidance is appreciated.
Bah! I was trying to break down the axel/cv to fully tear down the cv joint to look for issues and wound up damaging the joint. Now it has play in it. I was able to get the circlip removed without too much trouble, but when hitting the cv race to separate it from the axel, I must have been too aggressive, now there is slop and play in the joint. I am trying to get another one to me. Meanwhile, the axel still has not come off the old CV joint. I'm at a loss. I was hitting it pretty good.
Bah! I was trying to break down the axel/cv to fully tear down the cv joint to look for issues and wound up damaging the joint. Now it has play in it. I was able to get the circlip removed without too much trouble, but when hitting the cv race to separate it from the axel, I must have been too aggressive, now there is slop and play in the joint. I am trying to get another one to me. Meanwhile, the axel still has not come off the old CV joint. I'm at a loss. I was hitting it pretty good.
That is exactly why I have an extra bare axle - damaged CV joint getting it off the axle. I end up buying a complete axle/CV/boot from MB via two day shipping. Took it in the pooper on the cost, but the new assembly was an easy, solid, worry free replacement.
Yeah, no idea why it is so hard to get off once the circlip was removed. A real shame too, because I went over the cv carefully and it felt perfect before I started hitting it with a hammer. Haha. In hindsight, i should have simply cleaned and re-packed it still attached to the axel. Not sure why I wanted to take the extra step of breaking it apart.
I’m hoping it goes together a bit more easily (if I ever get it separated).
Ultimately its an Audi joint. We own and have owned many Audi's. They use the same clip. Provided you haven't spit/cracked the inner cage by hitting it you will be fine. The joints are not the easiest to get off the shaft just use a drift and hit the centre part. Once the joint has moved past the point where the clip wants to go back into the grove have at her. I put it into a bench mounted vice and have the joint pointed to the floor with a basket and towel to catch the joint when it falls. This is nothing compared to working on a 928..
Ultimately its an Audi joint. We own and have owned many Audi's. They use the same clip. Provided you haven't spit/cracked the inner cage by hitting it you will be fine. The joints are not the easiest to get off the shaft just use a drift and hit the centre part. Once the joint has moved past the point where the clip wants to go back into the grove have at her. I put it into a bench mounted vice and have the joint pointed to the floor with a basket and towel to catch the joint when it falls. This is nothing compared to working on a 928..
The clip is completely removed and it is still stuck on there. I'm going after again this afternoon. I definitely borked the CV as now there is considerable play in the joint now when there was zero before. I'm pretty upset by that. Now that I am replacing the CV, I'll be more aggressive with it, but I don't see how it could be holding on so tightly. Maybe I'll hit it forward first.
I took have the far axel end in a bench vise with the cv floating just above the ground and have been using a drift to hit it to no avail so far.
Edit: FYI, I used the "Russian" method of clip removal. I took the hooked end of the clip and bent it out of the groove, then used a flat screwdriver and hammer to tap the clip around in a circle. The tongued end begins to wrap around the outside of the axel until the entire clip finally comes free. There is risk here that if you bend the clip too far, it can break and you'd be totally screwed.
I just bought the entire axel assembly for $750. I was going to pay a few hundred for just the CV anyway. @Floobydust will the CV come already filled with grease? I assume so.
@Black Forest How far did you back off the inner locking nut? I'm 1/4 turn backed off of 200nm. I'm going to check the end play in a few miles and readjust if needed.
FYI, the left side repair did not work. The noise is still there. The good news is that the right hand side wheel bearings are terribly shot. I don't know why they were not checked initially. Oh well, back in again I go...
With mine it was just over an 1/8 th by the time the dust settled. I backed off the inner nut then by hand snugged it up. I did this about 4 times before locking into place. All the while rotating the wheel. Im quite sure it's your wheel bearing making the noise. As mentioned with ours it was the right front. Reason I knew that side would be the issue was the shake test. That slight clunk sealed the deal for the right side. Did you ever get anything from doing the shake test? Glad to hear you are plowing through the job. We just returned from a 1000k road trip and I was so happy not to hear that bloody noise when I turned the steering wheel....
@Black Forest How far did you back off the inner locking nut? I'm 1/4 turn backed off of 200nm. I'm going to check the end play in a few miles and readjust if needed.
FYI, the left side repair did not work. The noise is still there. The good news is that the right hand side wheel bearings are terribly shot. I don't know why they were not checked initially. Oh well, back in again I go...
Bummer about the noise being still there. I backed off the nut about 1/8 of a turn to just a smidgen less than finger tight.
Good to know! Thanks. Mine is pretty locked up with grease, so I want to get it hot and recheck it.
the right side is actually frustrating how obvious it is. After my test drive, I jacked up the right and there was a huge amount if play. I’m frustrated at myself for now checking and taking the word of the MB dealer who stated it was the left side and that “everything looked good” during the B service. Getting on a lift and checking wheel play should be one of the obvious, basic things to do. It obviously was not done because the amount of play is absurd.
I have an order in for another CV so they are evened out. I’m hoping for half the time, so 15 hours for me lol.
If you can feel play with your hands at 12 o'clock and 6 unloaded thats bad.. I could not feel anything on the right side unloaded but loaded definite clunk.. Keep an eye on the stub axle. I have seen photos of them machined down on the inside by a bad bearing.
If you still want my RH axle, you are welcome to have it. Could be easier that beating the crap out of the old CV.
I will let you know! I have most of it broken down, just have to pull it apart. Much quicker, but still pretty tough breaking all of the bolts loose (caliper, top and bottom housing, and hub nut).
I have the right side broken down. It definitely has a bad bearing on that side. The play in the hub bearing cage is much worse than the other side. There is enough movement in the CV/axel for a ticking, so @Floobydust is being generous and sending me his extra short shaft. I have a new CV from Vlad coming. I am cleaning and painting the parts now. Hope to put back together next week. I'm hopeful that this will be the fix!
While waiting on parts (hub, nuts, and axel seal) I continued cleaning and getting the housing ready and was happy to find this (pic attached). This is the inner bearing race and it makes me happy as it is obviously worn and damaged and would definitely cause what I was feeling in the steering wheel. This makes me confident that this will all be worth it in the end. Thanks again to Floodbydust for GIVING me his spare short axel. 🙏🏻
08-19-2020, 06:37 PM
haha
