The service life of the drive depends on the condition of its joints. Constant velocity joints are quite durable and, if the vehicle is used carefully, can last more than 100 thousand km. As a rule, the outer joints of the drives fail earlier than the inner ones. The service life of joints is reduced by: an active driving style, interference with the design of the car's suspension, but most of all - damage to their protective rubber covers. When the cover is torn, water and dirt get into the internal cavity of the hinge, wash out the lubricant and accelerate wear. Rupture of the protective cover may occur as a result of natural aging of the rubber or mechanical damage. For example, when a car is moving in a deep rut. When the front wheels of a car get stuck in the ground, sand or icy snow, the rubber can be torn by hardening clay or freezing water on the cover. And then, dirt, dust and snow can cause the joint to become unusable within a few tens of kilometers.
But if you detect a break before the hinge fails, you can limit yourself to just replacing the cover. But in this case it is necessary to disassemble the joint, thoroughly wash all the parts and add new grease.
You can tell that the outer joint is worn out by the characteristic clicking sounds in the area of the front wheel hub when turning sharply. As the joint wear increases, the clicking becomes louder and can quickly develop into a constant crunching sound even when driving in a straight line. If you do not replace the joint in a timely manner, it may break while driving.
We perform the check in the following order:
1. We prepare the car for maintenance and repair.
2. Hang the front wheels on stands. On vehicles with manual transmission, we engage neutral gear; on vehicles with automatic transmission, we move the selector to position N.
3. Visually check the integrity of the protective covers of the outer hinges 1...
...and the inner 2 joints of the front wheel drives, we look for grease leaks from them (if you suspect something, you can slightly stretch the cover with your hands). We check whether the clamps of the covers and the damper mounts 3 have loosened.
4. Turn the steering wheel so that the wheels are pointing straight ahead. We hold the shaft with one hand and rotate the hinge housings back and forth with the other hand and make sure there is no play.
5. Rotating the front wheels by hand, we visually check the drive shafts for any wobble.
6. Alternately turning the front wheels first one way, then the other, and rotating them at the same time, we check if there are any extraneous sounds (knocks and crunches) in external and internal hinges. When checked in this way, serviceable joints operate silently. The faulty joint should be replaced (either separately or the entire drive assembly). You can limit yourself to replacing the damaged cover only if the hinge is in good condition.