At  2/20/2008 06:18 AM, John Rodgers wrote:
>Yeah, I know it all sounds pretty anal but after being trained as an
>aircraft mechanic, working in the industry as a mechanic, and  flying
>the very machines that I and others have worked on - one tends to become
>anal about the details. Over time, it repeatedly saves ones butt. And of
>course, experience over time develops habits that are hard to break, but
>this is a good habit.

I was trained and worked on aircraft too but I worked on VW's before
that. I will admit that I only spent 20 years working and flying on
aircraft, most of those years were on helicopters. In the Coast Guard
everybody works and everybody flies and when you are the primary
quality assurance you go on the test flight after the work <shrug>.

The point to this is you follow the maintenance instructions and
nowhere in the Bentley did I see anything about keeping the balls in
the groves they came out of. They did caution you not to drop the
balls on the floor, they tell you inspect everything and replace if
it was worn. They also told you how to get them back together after
you had inspected them.

Thinking is important but so is being able to follow the maintenance
instructions.  If you think it's fun to keep the balls exactly were
they came from, great. If you are truly concerned about it being
better why not just replace the joints and start out with all new?
Mind you it's not necessary (IAW the Bentley) but if it makes you
feel better...

To much time on my hands if I'm going to write this much about CV joint balls!

Rob
becida@comcast.net