Front driveshaft CV joint

[Nikal]

I need to replace my front driveshaft cv joint. It looks like the rubber seal has a crack and it’s flinging grease.

My question is has anyone added a second “over boot” that clamps to the driveshaft and on the first step on the outer cv housing flange? This would protect the primary rubber seal from debris, and if it cracked the outer boot would keep the grease in and not fling out.

We used to do something like this on our desert race cars. They were a tougher boot to protect the inner rubber boot.

Here is an example of how we would double boot a CV boot in an off road race car.

Here is where I was thinking the boot could clamp to the H3 driveshaft CV housing.

So has anyone ever done this? If so what boot have you used?

 

[Happy Hummer]

Nope. But try it out and report back.

 

[alrock]

Haven't tried it either but I've had pretty good luck with AC Delco CVs and horrible luck with Dorman. The problem with AC Delco is you have to buy the driveshaft. And the problem with Dorman isn't external influences on the boot; it just cracks and blows out grease.

 

[Nikal]

Yeah the AC Delco replacement driveshaft is around $1000. Ouch!

I was hoping to hear the Dorman or another brand replacement CV was a good alternative. I think the one Napa sells is a Dorman CV?

 

[08H3]

I honestly thought you looked up the price for the wrong part or something. I bought a new GM shaft 3 years ago. I looked at the email and it was $257 delivered. And I thought inflation was cooling off!!!! Still, given the choice I'd gladly pay $1,000 for a GM shaft compared to a cheaper piece of Dorman garbage.

 

[Nikal]

I honestly thought you looked up the price for the wrong part or something. I bought a new GM shaft 3 years ago. I looked at the email and it was $257 delivered. And I thought inflation was cooling off!!!! Still, given the choice I'd gladly pay $1,000 for a GM shaft compared to a cheaper piece of Dorman garbage.

Yeah even on Rock Auto it’s $960 for the GM one.

I looked at my stock driveshaft and it shows this sticker.

I found out that American Axle Manufacturer (AAM) was the driveline supplier to GM/Hummer and this looks to be all original. Btw I have a 2009 Championship Edition with just over 150K miles. I’ll have to call the original owner to confirm if he ever changed any of the driveline out?

Doing some searching I found a place in Indiana called Fort Wayne clutch & driveline sells just the AAM CV joint for $219. Or you can get a complete new drive axle they build in house with the AAM CV, and with a stronger Spicer U-joint for $450.

I’m going to call them on Monday and discuss my options, and ask if they have ever done or thought of adding a second boot to protect the seal from debris or if it ripped from flinging grease. They also build the double cardan u-joint drive shaft which eliminates the CV, but after doing some more searching it looks as if for normal driving they are not as smooth & vibration free as the CV joint. They are more for lifted, extreme off road or SAS swaps.

 

[H3Hummer]

Yep, replaced mine to from AC Delco a moment ago but it was like 300 with shipping to Luxemburg

 

[H3Hummer]

Dude, did the price change that much ?????

 

[08H3]

I am actually from Fort Wayne. They have a good reputation so I would imagine that would be a quality part.

 

[Nikal]

Yep, replaced mine to from AC Delco a moment ago but it was like 300 with shipping to Luxemburg

Where did you find a AC Delco for $300

 

[Nikal]

Dude, did the price change that much ?????

I guess so? I’m sure it’s because it’s got the name Hummer tied to it. On Rock Auto the Colorado GM front drive shaft is less than $300. Silverado CV axles or Driveshafts are a fraction of Hummer driveline parts.

Here’s Rock Auto for a GM shaft. They don’t have the AC Delco.

My local Chevy dealer was over $1100 for a complete unit as they did not have just the CV joint separate. GM Direct.com was $1000 for a complete unit.

If the one from Fort Wayne is what they say it is, and really has AAM cv joint and a Spicer HD u-joint, I’ll probably try their complete driveshaft, if I like it, maybe I’ll go back and buy an extra AAM CV joint and rebuild my original driveshaft as a back up??

 

[Nikal]

I am actually from Fort Wayne. They have a good reputation so I would imagine that would be a quality part.

Good to know. Thanks for letting me know. I plan on calling them in the morning. I’m also going to pick their brain on adding a boot over the seal. This is the desert racer coming out in me! I’m also going to reach out to Chad Hall (desert racer) and see what they might have done if anything when him & his dad raced the H3’s.

For those who might not know? The Championship Edition was created as a tribute to Rod & Chad Hall for winning the 2008 Baja 1000, and Score Championship, plus it was going to be Rods last full time year racing. He continued to race the 1000 each year and the 500 a few times.

 

[Jeepwalker]

You got lucky to find one. Yeah I bought a new ACDelco D/S a couple yrs ago for $275-ish range. Glad I did when they were avail. Yeah, under the AC Delco sticker of mine was an AAM sticker. Same as above. A double-boot is not a bad idea esp for guys who play in sand, water or heavily lifted. Not sure its needed for stock DD use. So depends on how you use it. If you pursue it, show us some pics and share part numbers. Cheers!

 

[Nikal]

Spoke with Steve at Fort Wayne Driveline and coincidentally Steve has a 2007 H3.

They show two “replacement” front driveshaft for the H3, both are the same price? Sku# 25859867 which is the same sku# that American Axle Manufacturer used for the OEM shaft supplied to GM. This Sku is built in-house by Fort Wayne, they make the driveshaft, it uses AAM CV and a HD Spicer u-joint.

Currently they don’t have the AAM CV & stub in stock. He said they would be using the Dana/Spicer CV, which he said was a very good part and they have not had any issues with them, and use them on allot of the other vehicles they build drivelines for. He said the AAM joint is now produced in Mexico where the Dana is either Mexico or US as they build them in two facilities. Both still good parts. The u-joint would still be the spicer as advertised.

The other sku# is 3R94-2350. This driveline assembly is actually built by a 3rd party vendor for Fort Wayne. I’m still not sure why Fort Wayne offers this if they build in house? You do get free shipping on this driveshaft vs if they build it, then you need to cover shipping. So this would save you some money. He said it’s still a really good part or they would not offer it.

I asked about a double slip over boot, to help protect the cv seal. He said they have not done this before, but would look into seeing if they had a boot that might have the right dimensions to fit over the cv flange and driveshaft. He felt it was probably not necessary unless you were into forging lots of water or mud. But if so then maybe going to the double carden u-joint design would be the better option, but it’s not as smooth & road friendly as the CV design is.

So I opted for the in-house driveshaft with the Dana CV & Spicer I-joint on their driveshaft. It’s about a 3 day build then shipping transit time. It be great if I could have it by Friday, so I could install this weekend, but that might tough to California. I’ll let you guys know how it goes?

 

[Jeepwalker]

Wow, that's valuable information! Thanks for sharing

I had been looking to get an AAM CV stub too a couple yrs ago, and they were perennially sold out of that part on their website. I called too, and they couldn't say when it was going to be in stock. I was beginning to think they didn't make it anymore. Did he say if/when they might get it back in stock? It's NOT discontinued though, right? I'll keep my eye open. Anyway, that's what drove me to buy a whole Delco front D/S (AAM-made, in Mexico BTW). Good to know about the AAM D/S being available and option #2 on the Dana Stub and alternate D/S maker. BTW, did he say where to get the Dana CV stub? I would like to rebuild my old D/S.

Also, for whatever reason, I could not get the front U-joint on the new Delco/AAM driveshaft I bought to fit into my front diff's yoke saddle ..for the life of me. It was a full 1.25mm too wide. No, there was no needle bearing laying in the cap, no hydraulic grease pressure (I applied copius C-clamp pressure) ....the space across the trunions were wider too, than the original, as I recall (even across the other side). Eventually I did what I hate to do, which was to hit the caps carefully with a grinder and take an even amount off both sides till it fit snug but not too tight. And I indexed the caps with a paint pen should I take it off and forget in the future.

Yeah, if you know where I could get a Dana CV please forward. Dorman is kind of my vendor of last resort on hard parts.

____

 

[Nikal]

Wow, that's valuable information! Thanks for sharing

I had been looking to get an AAM CV stub too a couple yrs ago, and they were perennially sold out of that part on their website. I called too, and they couldn't say when it was going to be in stock. I was beginning to think they didn't make it anymore. Did he say if/when they might get it back in stock? It's NOT discontinued though, right? I'll keep my eye open. Anyway, that's what drove me to buy a whole Delco front D/S (AAM-made, in Mexico BTW). Good to know about the AAM D/S being available and option #2 on the Dana Stub and alternate D/S maker. BTW, did he say where to get the Dana CV stub? I would like to rebuild my old D/S.

Also, for whatever reason, I could not get the front U-joint on the new Delco/AAM driveshaft I bought to fit into my front diff's yoke saddle ..for the life of me. It was a full 1.25mm too wide. No, there was no needle bearing laying in the cap, no hydraulic grease pressure (I applied copius C-clamp pressure) ....the space across the trunions were wider too, than the original, as I recall. Eventually I did what I hate to do, which was to hit the caps with a grinder and take off an even amt off both sides. And I indexed the caps with a paint pen should I take it off and forget in the future.

Yeah, if you know where I could get a Dana CV please forward. Dorman is kind of my vendor of last resort on hard parts.

____

I have no idea without researching the Dana CV. But I’d bet you could call & buy one from Fort Wayne. Or if they won’t sell them, maybe they would give you the PN# to search with.

As soon as I get the new driveshaft I’ll look it over for PN#’s and post up pictures and what I find for future reference.

If everything turns out good with these guys I’ll go back and get a new cv for my original stock driveline and keep as a spare. Either way I’ll keep the og driveshaft.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Good idea.... Let us know. Yeah I think I will give them a call one of these days.

And for S&G's, you might want to measure the OD between caps of the new D/S in case they're wider like mine were ...before you get it all painted up, or whatever you do. So you can deal with it w/o wasting time, like I did... Thx!

 

[H3Hummer]

Where did you find a AC Delco for $300

In my memories at Rockauto, I got all my spare parts from them but it was a moment ago.... let me check it.....

 

[H3Hummer]

Sorry , my bad , that time Rockauto didn't have AC Delcos entire shaft. Got just the CV Joint and Changed the U Joint with a Dana one.

 

[H3Hummer]

Oh yes, sorry again, and it was a DORMAN ( part 932105 ) , not an AC Delco, but it do his job good till now, it was in 2021

 

[Nikal]

Quick update. I have not heard back from Steve at Fort Wayne regarding if they found a boot that could be added over the cv flange and driveshaft.

But this evening I got a email notice that my driveshaft was built and shipped out today. That’s a 24 hour turnaround. They originally told me 2-3 days. It’s schedule to be delivered on Friday. So far so good!

 

[Nikal]

Another update.
So the driveshaft arrived on Friday and I installed today. Super fast service! I ordered it on Monday, and it’s not a stocking item, so they had to make it.

I compared the new driveshaft to the original stock front driveshaft and it looked the same. I did see the Spicer name on the u-joint but could not find anything on the CV identifying Dana or Spicer. I did see a number on it (1013A0038). I tried to search that number and nothing came up?? So I called Fort Wayne Driveline and asked to confirm what CV was used? They told me it was a Dana joint and he confirmed that it came out of a Dana box, as the guy who built my shaft was in the shop. He said it was also noted by Steve on my order that I wanted the AAM or Dana CV & joints only. He said they would never use a cheaper China or India made part.

Sorry I I did not take a picture of it as I was focused on getting the old shaft out, dropped my from diff cross member and pressed in a new stock replacement bushing. Then put everting back together.

I probably spent 30-40 minutes just cleaning flung CV grease. What a mess and I’m anal & freak out when it comes to grease & oil leaks etc.. it’s like Kryptonite to Superman.

I’ve left all the skid plates off as I’ll drive it 50-100 miles and go back and recheck & torque everything again. Then I’ll mark all the bolts to give a visual confirmation that the bolts don’t come loose.

BTW I found a guy on Youtube H3Humper and he has an online manual that you can get torque specs and information from. Super helpful as I did not know what the torque specs were for anything.

https://h3humper.wordpress.com/hummer-h3-repair-manual/

I’ll give a few 1000 mile update.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Good news on the D/S. I see two d/s CV's on their website, both listed as AAM. I'll have to call them. I see Rock Auto doesn't list AC Delco front hub
/bearing assemblies anymore either. But I did a search and they were avail on a couple other sites. I replaced both mine with Delco's .... but I wonder if a guy should get an extra one while they're available??

 

[Happy Hummer]

I'm unable to find a CV for front prop shaft provide by AAM.
The part # you're providing in the above posting didn't cross to any products.
I'd luv to know the AAM product part # or Dana spicer # for future rebuild when necessary.

 

[Happy Hummer]

The CV not ujoint