How do you change a CV Joint on a 1998 Dodge Stratus?

Answer 1

First you jack up the front of the car and take the wheel off.Then put another jack stand under the lower tower arm. Next you take the brake caliper off. Next the upper ball joint needs to be pulled out. you have to straighten and pull out the cotter key. Next loosen the castle nut that lines one of the windows up with the hole in the tapered shaft. Then use a crow bar and sledge hammer to pry apart the upper ball joint. Once the ball joint and caliper are off there is room to work.Next use some wire snip to take the clamps off of the old boot and then proceed taking it off and wipe off all grease which there will be a ton of. At this point you will see the ball joint which is held in with a circlip. You can use a flathead screwdriver to now pry that out. The rest of it is really just greased in there after the circlip is out. Use a screwdriver to pop the balls out of the cage. After removing the balls, the cage will drop down. After this you are good to go and put the new boot on. The new boot kit contains the boot, grease and two clamps. Put The new boot and ball cage on the half shaft. Big end of the cage goes up. Line up the cage with the inner race and pop the balls back into place.Squeeze the grease in over each ball until it starts coming out. You will now have a greased up CV joint. Now Line up the balls and cage for insertion back into the CV cup. A jack stand under the hub will hold the spindle up and the CV joint together while you re-install the circlip, this makes things alot easier. Now insert it and you should see the circlip about to slip back into place. The gap in the circlip is not centered over a groove. Now The new clamp and big end of the boot are about to go on. This part is not fun but is self explanitory. The ridge on the half shaft just above the outer boot is the raised sealing portion for the inner boot. After the big end of the boot and clamp are on, cinch the clamp down with a pair of side cutters. Now puting everything back together. Tighten the castle nut to line one of the windows up with the hole in the tapered shaft. Re-insert the cotter key and bend the ends back. Put the caliper back on and tighten those bolts makin sure there is no grease in or on and of the functioning brake parts. Put the tire back on and lower the car and your good to go.

Rather than replace/repair the joint I just go to my discount auto parts store and get the whole halfshaft/axle and replace it. The boot kits are a pain to get on and off and the glues or hose clamps that are used in a repair kit will likely allow the boot to come apart and let dirt into your recently repaired cv joint. It's been my experience that the halfshaft doesn't cost much more if at all.