From: "Stuart MacMillan" <stuart@COBALTGROUP.COM>
> I have found that van CV joints are "lubed for life," unlike CV joints
> on lighter cars.  In my experience since 1974 their life is about 80,000
> to 100,000 miles no matter what you do.  Each time I intended to repack
> mine, there was more than enough wear to warrant replacing all of them,
> especially given the amount of work involved in repacking the old ones.
> Even the dealer warned me the first time I brought it in for that
> service (a long time ago) that they always end up replacing them.  I
> thought it was just dealer overkill, but I was wrong.

i have to disagree here ... with periodic regular maintence, cv joints can
last well over 100,000 miles ... even up to 200,000 miles. the trick is to
pull them down and clean them and regrease them at regular intervals. the
recommended interval is two years or 30,000 miles. i use Valvoline Moly-EP
Wheel Bearing grease, product number 633, i think. it comes in a paper
grease gun tube and i stuff 1/2 tube into each joint and boot. that's way
more than vw says to use, but it allows me to go 70,000 miles between
cleaning and regreasing without any wear on the balls or cages of the cv
joint. i've got 143,000 miles on the original cv joints on my 88 bus, and
there's 177,000 miles on the joints of the 87 camper.
all the other buses i've had have had similar longevity out of the cv joints
.. IF you'll clean them and regrease them periodically, AND check the boots
... a torn boot is a quick way for a cv joint to die: the grease slings out
and the joint runs dry and dirt and slush and crud gets into the joint.

joel