stefan_b said:
Am I missing something? I thought the joint parts (inner/outer races and balls) are matched? If this is so, swapping parts out of both joints would create unmatched sets...
Yup, you are. Like Yuri said, you just swap the entire CV joint. You must match the races together. But the balls are matched as a set.
When I did this, I used a correction pen ('liquid paper' type) to mark the inner and outer. Then disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled.
Usually when an inner joint (or outer, for that matter, but the inner is very easy to remove & replace) is bad, it is a problem on the races of the inner part that is on the axle. Out of the 3 I've seen so far, all 3 have what look like blistered spots on the inner races. Once a ball settles in one, it will create unbalanced loading and unbalanced movement within the joint. This is the source of the power-on shimmy you then feel in the steering wheel.
But like manny said, when you put that same CV joint on the opposite axle, since it is now rotating in the opposite direction, the opposite sides of the races are now receiving the pressure, and it will work well because those opposite sides aren't blistered.
The OP has 3 choices: 1) replace the boot only, clean the joint, and reassemble with the parts (grease, c-clip) that come with a new boot kit, 2) replace the axle 3) swap CV joints side to side.
The boots on the inner don't get torn up on removal, so you'd only need to replace the one that is torn now, and clean and re-grease both joints if you decide to swap them. For the non-torn boot side - hey, you don't even need to replace the c-clip, IMO, because it doesn't really get much stress. If you remove the CV joint that is under the torn boot, you can clean up the joint and take a good look at those races to see if you really need a new joint or if you can just clean it & put it back into its current location.
This is a case where you can delve into the problem to get a good look at the extent of the real damage before you decide what you have to do.
