OEM 2004 Buick Rendezvous CV Joint

2004 Buick Rendezvous CV Joint Parts Questions & Experts Answers

• Q: How to replace the front CV Joint inner joint and seal on 2004 Buick Rendezvous?

  A: Before replacing the front wheel drive shaft inner joint and seal start by using side cutters to remove and dispose of the small seal clamp from the wheel drive shaft bar. Cut away the large seal clamp from the tripot joint using side cutters while taking care to avoid damaging the wheel drive shaft tri-lobal tripot bushing. First separate the wheel drive shaft inboard seal from the tri-lobal tripot bushing before moving the seal away along the wheel drive shaft bar. Take the housing units away from both the tripot joint spider and wheel drive shaft bar components. Press a brass drift against the tripot spider face under hammer strikes to compress the wheel drive shaft bar's barrel retaining ring before removing the tripot spider and dumping the barrel retaining ring. Check the wheel drive shaft inboard seal and the tripot joint spider assembly together with housing and tri-lobal tripot bushing for wear or damage after you remove the wheel drive shaft bar joint seal. Push a new small seal clamp onto the small end of the joint seal and place both onto the wheel drive shaft bar with careful alignment of the small end entering the joint seal groove . Use the J 42572 Drive Shaft Seal Clamp Pliers (J 42572) to crimp and tighten the small seal retaining clamp to 136 Nm (100 ft. lbs.). Reinstall the barrel retaining ring onto the wheel drive shaft bar with the tripot spider's beveled edge facing the bar throughout assembly. Install the tripot spider through a barrel retaining ring compression with a flat-bladed tool to check engagement quality by trying to pull the tripot spider off the wheel drive shaft bar. The housing should have a flush installation of the tri-lobal tripot bushing so service approximately half of the grease will fill the wheel drive shaft inboard seal and the rest will fill the housing. The tri-lobal tripot bushing goes into the housing while the large new seal retaining clamp must be placed on the wheel drive shaft inboard seal. Advance the housing toward the wheel drive shaft bar until it envelops the tripot joint spider assembly while simultaneously positioning the large diameter wheel drive shaft inboard seal over the tri-lobal tripot bushing with the large clamp in position to ensure the seal lip sits correctly in its groove. Check the seal shape for proper fit before making any needed adjustments to the housing. Crimp the retaining clamp after you position the joint assembly at its designed vehicle dimension and align the wheel drive shaft inboard seal with the tripot housing and large seal retaining clamp. Tighten the large seal retaining clamp to 136 Nm (100 ft. lbs.) using J 42572 before rotating the inner tripot housing four or five times to spread the grease across all tripot spider bearings.