Help Please, CV won't turn after replacing ball joints

Spent the last several hours replacing the upper and lower ball joints on my Taco (2001 DC 4x4). It went well enough but I think I screwed up the axle somehow. With the upper ball joint removed, the spindle/knuckle moved a good bit and I had to push it back towards the middle of the truck to get the ball joint lined up with the upper control arm.

Now the wheel doesn't spin freely. Did the axle shaft not get seated correctly? The other side (which I haven't worked on) spins no problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated on how to get it seated correctly...if that's the problem.

 

Look at the side you have not worked on and see what looks out of place to what you just finished. If the CV popped out of the front dif then you just drive it back in with a long breaker bar. A few medium taps usually does the trick. Look at the side you have not torn town and take some measurements and you will find the problem.

If you are not able to locate the problem snap some pics and post them up and I am sure we can help you out.

 

When you say it doesn’t spin freely, is there just a little resistance when you’re turning it? Or it’s locked up and won’t move at all?
The drivers side CV is always meshed with the ring gear in your front diff, so you will feel a little extra resistance on that side when you spin the wheel by hand because you’re turning all the diff gears at the same time. The passenger side CV only meshes with the diff gears when you are in 4x4, so it free spins much easier.

 

Looked at both sides and they appear the same to me.

The side I worked on won't make a rotation. It turns a couple inches before snagging. Very noticeable, like it is binding somewhere.

 

I've never worked on CVs before. How would you drive it back into place? And what would you be tapping on?

 

Look at the inner joint on the axle, where it goes into the front differential. There should only be about a 1/4” gap between the diff housing and the CV joint. I would be surprised if that was the issue, but if it did slide out that easy, it should slide right back in. If you have to drive it in, line the axle up so it’s pointed straight at the diff and tap on the end of the outer stub shaft (the part that goes through the steering knuckle and hub).

Is the truck in 2wd, with both front tires off the ground?

 

This.

It's pretty normal for the CVs to move in and out a bit. Only if you pulled off a boot would I be too worried if you took it all the way out.

Did it turn freely before? If you're in 4wd with the 3 other tires on the ground, it won't turn.

 

Thanks for the responses. I started to un-do some things to get better access, and the shaft started spinning again freely. I think something just wasn't seated happily, and a couple hammer strikes knocked it back into alignment. All is well

 

So I got the upper and lower ball joints replaced as well as the outer tie rods and got an alignment, but now the suspension feels strange when going over bumps. There's a strange "clunking" sound I hear and feel. Almost feels like something is binding when the suspension flexes. Doesn't feel smooth. I know that's a little vague, but does anybody have any ideas what might have changed? I would say it feels like bad shocks or springs, but I didn't touch those.

The axle not spinning freely I posted earlier seemed to be related to the angle of the joint. It would bind up a little bit with it jacked up, but if I put a jack under the control arm and loaded the suspension some it would spin...like a flex socket too angled. Think the clunking I'm hearing and feeling could be related to that? Can the internal part of the cv axle get misaligned?

 

I am starting to think you have a blown CV, the last time I blew up a CV the outer race and bearing cage let go, and all the pieces floating around in there would cause it to make noises and bind up a bit. It might be worth removing the CV and inspecting it closely, maybe even remove the boot to get a look at it. If you pull the steering knuckle off the CV and rotate the outer end around throughout its range of motion, you should be able to tell if it's blown though.

 

Yeah, I think you're right. The truck has 244k miles. I've owned it for about a year and have been trying to replace parts as I have time. I was hoping to maybe get by with a CV rebuild, but they probably need replacing as the boots are torn. Do OEM CV axles have a maximum angle limit?

 

NAPA has decent CVs for 80 bucks new, with a lifetime warranty. If you're gonna take the truck off road, I'd swap in a new one and take the bad one apart to see if it's worth rebuilding for a trail spare.

 

You'll be able to tell when you take it off, if one of the bearings or the tulip joint are blown up, it will need to be replaced. Otherwise just reboot it and go. All CVs have a maximum angle, the OEM ones generally have a greater operating angle than parts store brands, which are almost all new chinese or rebuilt OEM shafts with chinese bearings. You'd probably be fine with a Napa CV with a lifetime warranty unless you're really pushing your truck off road, in which case I'd stick to OEM.

 

I don't really do any off-roading (yet) so I suppose I'll go with some NAPA axles and re-boot the OEM's if possible. Really appreciate the guidance. I've learned a ton from this forum.

My truck is lifted. How much, I can't say for sure since I bought it that way...maybe 3 inches. I shouldn't have to worry about exceeding the maximum CV angle, should I? Here's a pic...

 

With stock control arm geometry, your suspension can’t articulate enough to exceed the CV operating angle, so you’re good there. It’s mainly the boots that will rub too much and blow out on you if the angles are too much, which is mainly why a max suspension lift of 3” is recommended.