CV Joints

GKN/Lobro

I spoke with them and they don't sell GKN ones anymore. They had manufacturing issues in terms to dimension errors and supply and so moved away from GKN.

I did find a good price for a set from Design911 using the part number 93033203400 (Porsche 930 part number) and they sell them with the boot kit included but when I phoned them to check they were genuine GKN they mentioned that they couldn't supply a full set and that further deliveries would be in June... The GKN part number they supply is 302299 (CV and boot kit).

I then contacted and phoned Dave Mac. They supply ODM units (I think 14-146062 and 21-990171) which include the boot kit. These are used on their race TVRs and have a 2 year warranty. I decided to go with these. Looking forward to getting rid of another clunk from the rear axle!

So I've come (with the help of Steve Sprint!) to the conclusion that I need to replace all four CV joints.

Outside of the current suppliers, all appearing to have the same thing at a similar price, reading this thread has really helpfully given a few options to look into, but two details I would like a bit of a point of view on:

- A life rule I try to apply is 'it's only cheaper if it's any good', which in this case raises the question on whether Napa CV joints are good enough?

- Some of the kits show a cover plate attached to the rubber boot, but not all (including the GKN version), is this a good feature? One person cited that they prevent the fitting of the locking plates



ukkid - how have/did your CV joints performed?

There's another thread where Steve_D points out that the plunge depth of the joints needs to be 'deep' at '+ - 14', but I really can't find that information

Haha, you're too modest!

All or nothing I reckon.
No point in doing half the job to then have to take it all apart again and do the others...

NAPA are dog st I wouldnt use them for a battery never mind a critical drive-line component the US have the same opinion personally I would stick with GKN/lobro however I've heard good things about Dave Macs stuff

I just called Dave Mac Propshafts, and they no longer do the CV joints.
Apparently the chap called John who did them has retired, so they only make propshafts now.

So we can all cross that one off the list.

GKN kits can be had for £51.45+VAT at the moment from design911.co.uk, which seems to be a sensible idea.
I'm sure mine are original, and if they are GKN, they've managed 87k miles before really showing wear.
Might get another 29 years out of a new set!

I have confirmation from the design911 people that the parts are genuine GKN - they get them directly from GKN.

So I have ordered 4 of them, as a markedly better price than the TVR suppliers.
It's a shame to do that, because we all need our specialist suppliers, but when they are charging around 40% more for a non-branded version of something, I'm afraid that makes the decision for me.

I just need to assess whether the bolts can be re-used, but I'm expecting them to be fine. The play in my car is definitely within the CV joint, you can rotate the drive shaft a little whilst the bolted part of the CV joint remains still on the back of the hub. Interesting that the CV joints on the diff seem to still be tight, but I'm thinking I might as well do all four to save going in twice.

I'll report back on how it all goes

https://www.design911.co.uk/p/cv-joint-kit--consta...

Good point, I hadn't thought about that.
I suspect I might be cleaning it up a bit, and maybe painting the cover plate and spreader plates between the bolts.

Not expecting the GKN kit to come with instructions, but I would have looked at greasing the CV joint from both sides even as a smear. Obviously the bulk of the grease sits behind the boot.

I am
Planning to start this job next week, and have just checked over the four boxes I have, and found that in one, the grease pack has split and a very small amount of grease has squeezed out, which has very slightly diminished the sticky adhesive on a cork gasket - but I think it will still fundamentally stick.
First question: do I need to use the gasket (it’s ordered from a Porsche supplier, and it’s listed as a gasket for that car)?
Second question: if I do use it, where does it go?

I was planning to pay close attention to what is present when I take the old ones off, and use that as my reassembly guide. Not having done that yet.

The ultimate question is whether I need to return the item, or just ignore that gasket and carry on?

Some brands have a recess to accommodate Steve VAG etc but not seen on TVR 🤔