CV tripod joint rotational play

Can anyone with OEM axles let me know if their inner joint socket has any rotational play relative to the shaft while on the ground in 2wd? If so, how much? Mine have a small but visible (and I think slightly audible) amount of play when I twist on the socket.

Any info appreciated, as I need my truck ASAP and don't want to buy temporary cheap axles if mine are in fact normal. If mine are bad like I suspect, I'd also be willing to buy a used OEM set from anyone in new Hampshire with a spare set available as well. Boots can be screwed, I just need good inner joints if these ones are toast. Thanks y'all.

Here's a video with wheels on the ground to keep the outer joints (no perceptible play) stable while I twist the sockets. The spider gears have enough backlash to where the only thing moving in the diff is a couple bearings, so all the movement and noise is purely the axles.
https://youtube.com/shorts/jjveFRIZlns?si=t6t3hbBg42yBboCS

 

I dont think a small amount of play would be out of line? If you need the truck back asap Id run it based on what you describe

I can check mine when I get home later tonight if you'd like

 

If you could get a comparison later is be greatful, thanks. I have a little clip that shows the play, but don't know how to post it here. These axles are 6 months old OEMs and I feel like I would've remembered any play in the joints. I know the outer CV style joint has none, or at least a barely perceptible amount.

Also I completely forgot to include the stem of my concern: I got high angle boots and installed em on the inner joints fresh out of the box from Toyota. I, like a dumbass, assumed the Toyota grease they supplied with the boots would be sufficient as they said it would be, without checking Toyota's actual spec. However, I just recently found out that not only did they supply the thicker outer grease, but they only supplied 200g of it, which is the real issue. Considering the inners with stock boots (that are about half the volume of these) call for 250g of thinner grease that I'd presume is less dense, that means I probably didn't even have half the volume of grease needed to be equivalent to the OEM spec with small boots. Fixed that issue and added a lot more of the correct thinner grease, but I think the damage was already done and the thinner grease just made it more noticable in terms of the noises (like having 6 singing wheel bearings at once with the occasional grinding noise).

 

Are you familiar with the needle bearing issue on the front of these trucks? If not do some research into that. (Test drive in 4Hi on straight section of road. See if the noise goes away.)

Id sooner think that would be your issue than any appreciable wear inside the CV, but could be wrong

 

PS, if you want to share vids upload to YouTube then link here

 

I actually got done on Sunday installing a new ECGS unit front a rear diffs and optioned it with the bushing pre-installed, so definitely not that or any other common lift problem. Pretty confident saying that because I've replaced literally every bearing and major component in the driveline besides the internals of the transfer, tranny, motor and front diff ADD tube that I inspected and cleaned thoroughly. Only thing with a lick of play is the inner joints that I messed with, so if it's not that, then it'll be something waaaay more expensive...

Also, I'll go with the YouTube idea when I've got wifi, don't know how I didn't think of that.

 

I just rebuilt/re-booted mine 2 weeks ago. Yes there is a bit of rotational play. The rollers on the tripod/spider have a little play in the them (spherical bearings), but most of it is from the bell socket. There are channels in it for the rollers to go, and those channels are a bit larger than the rollers.

 

When you rebuilt yours, how easy did the lobes come off the triple race? I changed out my grease to the correct type and amount recently, after realizing my boots came with 200g of outer joint grease, when the OEM spec with small boots is 250g of the thinner grease. Means I had less volume of grease from the density difference (I'm guessing), and the lower amount and way larger volume boot. When I did that, one of my lobes fell off just taking it out of the socket, but I did have to tap it with a mallet to get it back on so it wasn't completely loose. Don't know if that's a sign they're too loose, but they didn't want come off at all when I first got the axles new and pressed off the heads.

Also posted a video to YouTube to show the noises: https://youtube.com/shorts/jjveFRIZlns?si=t6t3hbBg42yBboCS

 

Not very easily. I had to go around them with a hammer and dowel, couldn't be removed by hand. They should never just fall off though cause there is a retaining ring holding them on. You have to tap the spider down a bit to get that ring off then you can pull the spider off.

I have the same noises and play as you are showing in your video though.

 

The whole tri lobe didn't fall off, just one individual bearing. There's the 2 peices held together by two snap rings plus the inner race on the actual splined part that isn't held on by anything but the shape and tolerance s, which is what I'm wondering should be able to fall off so easily. Glad to know yours at least do the same thing play wise though. I'm gonna try replacing my passenger side ball bearing in the diff tube before I get temporary axles, now that I know the CVs aren't too sloppy. Hopefully that'll do it, because the one in there has way more play then the new one ECGS didn't get delivered till today.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated

 

Looks normal to me, even the powersteering leak lol....take her on a drive, if she's noisy around corners you'll know the bearings are shot.

 

Haha, close, that's all my tranny lines since I fixed the PS leak already . Got new ones that hopefully come in this week so that's next plus 6° pinion shims for this weekend. Would be really convenient to do those with my passenger side diff ball bearing, since the ADD tube is in the way. At this point I'm pretty sure that's what doing it instead of my new CV's, or maybe the passenger side twin to the commonly replaced needle bearing if ECGS didn't replace it. Gonna put an ecgs bushing in there too to bulletproof it anyway. In any case, glad my new axles most likely aren't screwed; I was scared I'd have to put OEM boots back on to get the warranty...

 

Oh weird. I can't say I tried to remove any of those but none fell off, that's for sure. And I wasn't exactly gentle with the whole thing lol.

That's a fairly beefy bearing though... And it sitting in diff fluid constantly. I would be shocked if that was what was causing the noise but you never know.

I too hate noises and know the chase all too well! Look up chassis system stethoscopes on Amazon. Kinda awkward to use on a drive but really handy to help nail down where exactly the noise is coming from.

Good luck!

 

update: took it to a nearby dirt road, put it in 4wd, and the noise didn't change a whole lot until I put some actual torque through the axles (not much, just actual acceleration), which I haven't done since right after I installed or about 4-5 months ago. Under load it made a bitch of a rytmic howling noise that matched with the tire's rpms going slower and got pretty nasty going faster. Only did it when I accelerated, then faded back to the whirring on deceleration after a few seconds. Also may have heard a couple little tap tap taps when when I was turning semi tight, but I have a helical LSD now so not sure.

Basically, gonna order that dope stethoscope I never knew I needed with a set of cheap CVs on Amazon and hear the diff case, and hopefully I can return them and it's the diff (would be annoying as hell but cheaper). If my shafts are bad instead, time to buy OEM inner boots and pray for warranty...

 

Little update: the inner joints were in fact toast. If anyone decides to put extended inner boots like these on their CVs, make sure to put in a lot more grease than the factory Toyota specs, otherwise you'll end up with your $700/set OEM axles wearing out in a couple months.

https://youtu.be/zoK_raBboD0?si=hefox46lv39WPBXa