Craig,
I had 3 loose CV bolts that had backed out of the outer wheel flange but
stayed
in the CV, and 3 that were still in the outer wheel flange when the CV
sheared
off of the hub. So, the 3 bolt ends had to be backed out by using needle
nose
pliers to rotate them, which was done. The CV itself was fine, I just
replaced
the bolts with the triple-square or 12-point (both names seem to be used).
They
are harder and tend not to strip as often as the hex head bolts do. I used a
head
lamp to put that outer CV in ... it's cramped in that trailing arm, ain't
it!! ;-)

In a way, you may be lucky if the CV is what broke rather than shearing
those
bolts off. Easier to not have to go to the trouble of getting those bolt
heads
out of the outer flange.

After you get that on and tightened, drive the van a couple hundred miles
then
retighten the bolts. It's impossible to keep from getting grease between the
CV
face and outer wheel flange face, and that's what tends to keep the bolts
from
tightening and staying tight completely so retorquing is a good idea.

bob

On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:40 PM, craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well,
> Today I managed to break off the Outer (Wheel Side) CV whilst being a
> ridiculous young driver having too much fun in a parking lot....
> Anyway, I had to get it towed away very quickly, and it's about an hour
> away
> from me.....
> So, I'm planning to go work on it in the next few weeks, and have no real
> rush, but I didn't have much of a chance to take a look at the damage.
> I did see that it is infact no longer connected to the wheel, and I can
> move
> it around freely within the control arm. As such, the car could not move
> under it's own power. So my question is this:
>
> What are the common Failure modes here?
> Do the CV's Actually break? Or just the bolts?
> If the bolts sheer off, would they be left flush with the stub axle? If so,
> does this require removing the Big Nut and thus the stub axle?
>
> Any Input would be appreciated.
>
> -Craig
> '85GL turned WESTY
> BOSTIG in the back
>