So my 2002 700 is making a popping sound in the rear when going forward or backwards. It gets louder when I turn. The CV boots are torn but there is still alot of grease in there...

I've been searching around and it looks like it could be the bearings... but how do you really know? I guess my question is what do bad CV joints look like and what do bad bearings look like?

I took off the hub and looked at one of the bearings. It looks ok and turns smooth.

I just don't want to spend the money on new bearings and go through the work of replacing them only to find out that the cv joints are bad and vise versa...

Any help would be Great!!

 

its your cv joints if the boots are torn there may be grease but there im sure is also dirt which if you dont fix the boot fairly quik will kill the joint. you might get by tearing it apart and cleaning the old grease out and put a new boot on but in time your gonna have to replace the joint.

 

if your hearing clicking/popping chances are it's a cv joint going bad from getting water/mud in it. a bearing you should be able to spin your finger in it and feel if it's bad or not. cv joints usually has a ripped boot or a loose one to let water in. there is really no way to just look at a cv to see it being bad.

 

When I took the hub off the bearing felt good. So it must be the CVs. Guess I'll be tearing those apart. Thanks for your input.

 

For future reference keep a roll of duct tape with you. That way if a boot happens to tear you can bandaid it enough to get back and not trash a cv. Big thing is to check them often while riding and if you do find a bad one that should be the end of the day until fixing it or plan on a much more expensive repair. Be nice to have a bulletproof way of protecting them. Aftermarket a-arm guards are ok but they get packed full of stuff especially in the deep mud.

 

the big thing about a ripped or loose cv boot is that is lets water/mud and dirt in and it doesn'r take very long to peel the crome coating off the ball bearing or the cv chanels that they ride in. it doesnt matter what your doing when you ride in deep holes and not knowing whats in them it's always a gamble, but fun.

 

So what is actually causing the popping sound?

 

not sure what your sound would be as clicking to me could be popping to you if you know what i mean. as i bad cv gets worse the sound would get louder as more binding would be happening.

 

Well mine starts off with a loud "sound".. either a pop or click.. Atow speeds it stops when I speed up. If I turn it will come back. I jacked the rear end up and gave it throttle and it does not make the "sound". It only seems to make the sound under weight.

Maybe if I understood mechanically what causes the sound I could determine if it really is the cv. What sound does a bad bearing make?

 

i bad bearing is more a feel then hearing it. mostly it would grind. wear a bearing starts to go you can feel like a roughness while spinning it w/ your hand wear it would be smooth if it was greased and fine. i've had serval cv joints go over time (all becuase water/mud and dirt got ot them)and when i've tried to see the damage it's been mostly as i mentioned earlier, the crome coming off the ball bearing or the grooves they ride in and causing a binding action. best way i describe it to you.