MM CV drive shafts

[Hawksfield]

Hi

I am getting a light cracking sound coming from the rear when I accelerate forward against the hand brake but not in reverse.
I fear a problem with the driveshaft CV's are there any common faults with the CV's

Can anyone tell me which CV's Mick Miller used in their drive shafts and are they the same at both ends, purchased in 2002

Thanks in anticipation

[Grizzly]

How many miles have you done on them in that time?

All the issues i know of with MM drive shafts may have been down to a possible bad batch of CV joints so i doubt that's your problem (if its a bad joint it would have played up from new). It's worth checking the securing bolts are tight too as there difficult to torque.

As with all Elans they have a lot of Articulation so the CV joint may prematurely wear anyway.

[512BB]

Mick started off using GKN joints. If I recall, they then became unavailable and Mick sourced a different joint. It was then that they experienced problems, in that the newly sourced joints could not take the angle of dangle, but your joints were made before that happened. As Grizzly says, try tightening up the bolts.

There was a lot of discussion on here about them failing, do a search.

Leslie

[Orsom Weels]

This is what Susan told me about a year ago when I'd popped in for a chat & coffee

The CV joints Mick used in the MM conversion are Ford Granada, they were originally manufactured by GKN & gave no problems. Unfortunately, GKN no longer manufacture these joints & those replacements that are available are made in China, but not to the same tolerances. They are fine when used on a Ford Granada, or even a +2, but on the Elan, due to it's short drive shafts & the angles they achieve on full suspension drop, some joints can be damaged & fail. Seems a bit luck of the draw if you get a joint that is just out of the original tolerance. No one seems to be sure when GKN handed production of the joints to the Chinese, so it's difficult to know if you have genuine GKN or Chinese copies, & if copies, whether they are within original tolerance or not. Sue had some problems with premature failure & has handed the manufacture & sales to Tony Thompson, who sells them with his reduced travel shock absorbers which limit the suspension travel & so eliminate the problem. Sue felt having to include a pair of modified shocks in the kits, made them too expensive but selling them without opened her up to potential warranty claims & hence no longer supplies them.

[Hawksfield]

Thanks all for the information

I will be inspecting the rear suspension on Monday and will report back on my findings, the CV's have been on since 2002 and a mileage of 8000. without trouble up to now

[tonyr27]

I recently changed a CV boot on my MM shafts and can confirm that the boot kit for a Granada fitted fine.

Isn't it Kelvedon that has taken over the supply of the MM shafts, and I believe they have done a couple of modifications

TonyR

[Hawksfield]

Tony

Was that the boot only or did you fit a full cv kit, if a full kit do you have a part No

[AHM]

Gents,

Within reason....

Disc VL CV Joints come in sizes according to their torque rating - The higher the torque the greater the size. shaft diameter is similar. Sizes are all standardised.

So the gaiters are also pretty standard.

Go to your local CV joint shop and ask for "one of those please" it really is that simple.

[tonyr27]

Unfortunately I don't have the pert number for the full kit, I only changed one boot.

TonyR

[Hawksfield]

Tony thanks

I've removed one side and stripped it down, they are the same as Sierra/Scorpio/Granada ie : splines 25, size 100x32mm. Plenty about lets see what the quality is like.
Both CV's have radial play when the shaft is held in a vice I am sure there should be non

Hopefully this will cure the problem

[Grizzly]

Do you have them articulated when you check for wear? Used ones often have slight movement in the center and it should be consistent as you extend the cv joint, if you feel more play or a step (they should move smoothly) then replace.

You can often tell the joints condition by the condition of the grease or lack of it.

If you do decide to replace the joints use the best quality ones you can find and when its all fitted make sure the wheel will turn off the floor without the shaft locking up.

[Hawksfield]

Hi all

Carried out a full check of rear suspension and finally found the fault it turned out to be the propeller shaft U/J's. The gear box end was in the worse condition the grease was black and was showing wear marks from the needles.
Both drive shafts CV's were replaced unfortunately before I looked at the U/J's, the torque rods stripped and checked. I removed the rear seats and checked the differential mountings which were ok, but tightened all bolts a small amount. On checking hubs I found one outer drive shaft nut was stripped which had to be replaced.

Quite a lot of work but I am now happy that everything on the rear is in perfect order and ready for the summer