David,
Actually it was me, Larry Johnson, who worked it out with a pencil. ... bow,
applause, bow, grin :-)

Another way to reverse the CV joint wear without changing shafts is to remove
and remount the CV joint backwards so that the grooved side is on the 'wrong'
side. As far as I can see, the CV joint is symmetrical and will do no harm
mounted this way. However I have not yet done this myself so I can't say for
sure if it would work.
-Larry

David Beierl wrote:

> At 04:40 PM 1/6/2001, Joe Romas wrote:
> >     I did draw a line on a pencil and flipping it end for end does indeed
> >reverse the rotation therefore putting stress on the opposite surface!
>
> Ah...I didn't explain well enough.   Let's say the pencil is the left-side
> axle, therefore your right hand is the drive and your left hand is the
> wheel.  Use your right hand to torque the shaft forward against your left
> hand, and draw arrows on each end of the pencil opposite to the direction
> of torque  against the shaft (so arrow on right end will be pointing back
> toward you, and on left end will be pointing forward).  Now flip the shaft
> and guess what -- the arrows are pointing the same way.  Now leaving the
> arrows as they are, pretend your left hand is the drive and your right hand
> is the wheel.  Voila -- arrows are now pointing in the same direction as
> the torque you're exerting on the shaft, showing that the shaft (and hence
> joints) are being torqued in the opposite direction.
>
> cheers
> david
> ps -- I myself have flipped shafts end-for-end in my time...and told Larry
> Hamm he was full of it...until I took the Hamm test myself.
>
> David Beierl - dbeierl@attglobal.net