rebuilt CV axles. now they're "locked up"

[rjd2]

Hi folks-so, first time doing a CV axle rebuild on any car, so this may be just general ignorance or inexperience, but.... I rebuilt my CV axles, as the boots had failed. fully disassembled, cleaned, re-assembled, packed grease, seated boots and tied them off. I went to install them in the car today, and found that the cages and bearings appear to be "locked up"-the main casing doesnt pivot on the axle like it did when i removed them. if i stand them on their end, and pull up and down, i have a bit of play, maybe 2mm or so if i'm guessing. the cage/bearing assembly seems to have only one way it could go together, and i got all the bearings in, so it seems unlikely that i assembled them wrong. is there a solution here? do i just need to sit there for 10 minutes and work the axle ends til the grease distributes, and then they pivot around? i don't want to force it. thanks for the help.

[82DMC12]

It's been a long time since I did that job but I believe it's possible to install the cage upside down. I will defer to others who have more recent experience. Seems like that's the only thing that could have gone wrong?

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[WHO1DMC]

Here is a rebuild pdf https://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4071&d=1313673921

For quick reference the end of the axle should look like this.

If it doesn't look like this it will lock up.
The cage can go in either way.



Dave B.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230528/2e9db5c8c600991eb51e6ea96de8c83e.jpg

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[rjd2]

ok, thanks folks. i'll pull the cap and see if I need to undo some of my work. appreciate it.

[rjd2]

welp, popped a cap off one. sure enough, i installed all the races in the wrong channel. sigh...

[82DMC12]

Live and learn, and now you're the expert!

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[rjd2]

Blitzkreig'd it this morning, got it solved and installed. FYI the bearings can be reseated while packed with grease, it's just enormously messy