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Repair Topics > Axles > Broken CV joints

Broken CV joints

Broken CV joints — what goes wrong

If you’ve ignored all the symptoms of a failing CV joint and you’re wondering what happens when you have broken CV joints, read on.

What causes a broken CV joint?

• A broken stabilizer bar end link can move around and contact the spinning CV joint. When that happens, the loose link can tear the CV boot causing it to lose grease and pick up road grit. From that point on, the CV joint will grind itself to death.
• Bottoming out due to weak springs. When your vehicle bottoms out, it forces the CV joint to work at extreme angles. That can cause CV boot failure and even damage the bearings, cage and balls inside the CV joint.
• Missing exhaust heat shield and damaged exhaust hangers can cause the CV joint to run at higher than normal temperatures that degrades the grease, causing rapid wear. Sometimes, the high heat can damage the CV boot, but in other cases, the high heat just cooks the grease and wears out the CV joint much faster.
• Worn wheel bearings worn can cause early CV joint failure by forcing the joint to flex far more than normal

When operating at extreme angles, the axle shaft can extend out far enough from the plunge joint to pulls it completely out of the inner CV joint tulip, leaving you stranded

image of failed inner cv joint
The severe vibration cause the axle to break

broken axlw shaft
The outer CV joint explodes

out cv joint failure
The outer CV joint comes apart and destroys the control arm, stabilizer bar end links and damages the transmission housing

damage to vehicle from failed CV joint
suspension damage caused by failed CV joint
©, 2021 Rick Muscoplat

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Posted on by Rick Muscoplat

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