That joint almost looks like it was defective from day one. That pit looks
like excess force on that one grooves broke through the surface hardening.
All the grooves look to have a rough surface finish. Is there a depression
on the flange one side for a gasket? Hard to see but looks like one. There
are times when the front drive joints (any 100mm 6 bolt set will do) is
boxed for the vanagon application.

As a note, there is wear on both sides of the grooves. This is a Syncro
phenomenon. When turning the front outer wheel travels further than the
inner rear enough that the rear CV joints get back driven. Overly aggressive
viscous couplings add to this.  Bad CV joints can set up some real weird
vibrations and noises. Miss matched tires also add strain here.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Dick Wong
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2015 3:44 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: CV joint raceway opinion

Hello Vanapeeps,

Took off one of the rear axles on my '87 Syncro to replace the inner CV
boot.  Inspected the outer CV joint and found that it has one pit mark on
one of the races.  No other pits.  There is no rotational play that I can
detect, but the ball cage moves freely.  I did not detect any noise when it
was in the vehicle.  All the balls look fine.  I have no idea how many miles
are on the joint.  It is an OEM Lobro joint (VW Audi markings).  Serviceable
joint or should I replace it?

Here are some pics.  The "pit" pictures are of the same "pit", just from
both sides. http://tinyurl.com/ndsz9xr  The other pictures are just to show
the wear marks.

Thanks.

-Dick Wong-
78 Scirocco
Original Owner
87 Vanagon Syncro 2.5 (Blaze)
Third Owner
12 Golf TDI
Original Co-Owner