CV Shaft and Seal Question

[JD8181]

My drivers side CV seal is leaking pretty good. i went to the dealer and bought a new seal and for the oil for it also. i plan on replacing it either tomorrow or Saturday. But my questions is since I'll already have the CV shaft out should i replace it too? the TB has 115k miles on it. The boots are not ripped and i don't really feel any play in it. But i was getting a popping noise from the front drivers side a few months ago. i changed the ball joint, control arm bushings, sway bar end links, and sway bar bushings. It still popped for a week or so after i changed those but ended up stopping. so i wasn't sure if it could had been the CV.

[Rickalicka18]

I heard a popping noise when my cv shaft was slightly torn. Then when the tear got bigger the popping got louder, then when completely torn all the way it just stopped haha... Could of been that. When was the popping noise most prominent though? Acceleration, braking, turning, when hitting bumps, coasting, all the time?

As for replacing the cv shaft you can either rebuild and regrease or just buy a whole new cv shaft for about $50. I and many other people on this site are using detriot axle cv shafts, they seem to last the longest if you have the 3" lift.

[JD8181]

Yes i have a 3" lift. I heard the popping noise the most if i came to a stop and the accelerated and something over bumps.

[JD8181]

I ended up changing the seal and cv shaft today. My shaft didn't feel to bad but it might have had a little play in it. I also changed the front brake pads while I had everything apart. It ended up taking me about 2-2.5 hours. That includes getting everything out and cleaning up. Ended up using a claw hammer to get the old seal out. Didn't take much time at all

But while I was under that I seen the the output shaft/front drive shaft seal is leaking pretty good too. Has anyone changed that seal? I've looked around online and have really found any information. What all do you have to remove to change it and how hard is it?

[KingBird]

A bigass socket and a lot of torque.

You'll probably need to remove the front differential which is a solid party. It won't come out of the bottom, nor will it come out any other way than up. You'll need to remove the A/C compressor, driver's side motor mount, water neck, and computer.

I have only changed that seal with the diff out. Hopefully someone will chime in that they've done it with the diff in the vehicle.

[KingBird]

Btw, I'm pretty sure your popping noise is coming from your swaybar end link bushings. They wear out so often if you don't ever remember servicing them, they probably need replacing.

Most of us have removed the swaybars entirely.

[JD8181]

I called the local GM dealer and they told me under $200 to change the output shaft seal on the front diff. So they are going to do it for me on Wednesday.

Also I change the seaybar end links first and still had the popping noise. Changed all the other items that I had listed and it was still popping. And then all of a sudden one day it was gone.

[v7guy]

That price seems awfully suspect

[JD8181]

Ill find out. They quote the output shaft seal on the front differential where the drive shaft goes in.

I called and got a quote from another dealership and they were with $10.

[KingBird]

Derp, sorry that I didn't read that in your original post. I missed it.