When you speak of swapping axles, are you speaking of just switching
sides, or actually putting a different axle altogether in place. If the
former, that's a lot of work to do without going through the CV's at the
same time.  Just my thoughts on the subject..

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Shawn Wright wrote:

>Thanks John. I will try swapping the axles just in case, and if I encounter
>any loose bolts, then I'll know. But this has been a long standing probably,
>so I imagine loose bolts would have fallen out by now... Sounds like I will
>need to tear them down at some point and find the bad one(s).
>
>On 25 Sep 2005 at 10:04, John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Check the CV mount bolts for security. It any of them back off the CV's
>>can make the vibration.throbbing you speak off. I wnet through that with
>>my 88 GL. I discovered loose bolts on one of the outboard CV's. Torquing
>>the bolts stopped the noise. If they are secure, then it is a guess as
>>to where to look next short of pulling, cleaning and inspecting the
>>CV's. It is a realatively easy job, but does take time. If you haven't
>>had these serviced in a known period of time, now would be the time to
>>do it. When I did mine, I found pitting in the balls and the race both.
>>Though they seemed tight, the pitting was an indication it was time to
>>replace. I installed new Lobros all the way around.
>>
>>Good Luck,
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>John Rodgers
>>88 GL Driver
>>
>>Shawn Wright wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>My '88 Westy has had a steadily increasing throbbing/vibration under load
>>>and acceleration for a few years, which I assumed was engine mounts.
>>>Now that I have replaced the engine, transmission, and mounts, it is still
>>>there. I'm guessing the only remaining culprit could be the CV joints, right?
>>>Is there a reliable way to find the worn joints without removing and
>>>inspecting? Should I try just swapping the drive shafts side to side?
>>>
>>>ps: It was a stock 2.1L with 4speed, now is a 1.6TD with 5 speed.
>>>
>>>Shawn Wright
>>>http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
>>>'85 Jetta D
>>>'88 Westy 1.6TD 5 speed
>>>(see progress at http://members.shaw.ca/vwdiesels)
>>>'82 Diesel Westy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>Shawn Wright
>http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
>'85 Jetta D
>'88 Westy 1.6TD 5 speed
> (see progress at http://members.shaw.ca/vwdiesels)
>'82 Diesel Westy
>
>
>
>