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Turn of the Wheel: Automotive Parts Rebuilders Association (APRA) CV and Rack Clinic

By Mark Veldhuis

Once again the Automotive Parts Rebuilders Association (APRA) CV and Rack Clinic held May 4-5 in Chicago, was a huge success.Rich Lovely of Powerline, Inc., Roebuck, SC, and chairman of the APRA clinic did a fantastic job recruiting speakers and handling the many program details.

The topic on grinding did not seem as heated as discussions that have been held on this issue during past meetings. It could have been that previous grinding opponents have accepted grinding as a fact of rebuilding life.

Two of us from Fred's Driveshaft had an opportunity to sit in on a task force that was organized to study the grinding issue. The first goal of the task force was to establish hardness depths of six different manufacturers of OEM CV joints. Both new and worn joints will be sent to an independent laboratory for testing. This method will ensure that there is no bias in the study. The task force has no intention of endorsing any method of rebuilding. Its objective is to provide unbiased facts pertaining to case hardening.

In my opinion, this is an idea that will allow everyone to decide for themselves what is allowable and what is not. Most of you who read this column know that Fred's has been grinding successfully for many years. Perhaps after the laboratory data is in, the issue can be put to rest once and for all. Stay tuned to future Turn of the Wheel columns.

During the clinic, a very informative presentation was made by Chris Hayes, a pollution prevention technical assistant with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Her job is to visit companies and inform them how to clean-up their operations according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. Hayes made it very clear that we could all get in a lot of trouble if we don't keep our noses clean with the EPA. Anyone that is building more than 20 axles a day has a considerable liability with the cleaning fluids alone. If you think you are exempt because you use Safety Kleen or a similar service, guess again.

According to Hayes, if you produce the waste, you are liable for the waste forever. It doesn't seem fair that if someone gets paid to haul off your sludge or waste water and later does something illegal with the waste, you are responsible. But those are the facts. I guess it's just another example of our great government in action.

We are considering having a company similar to Hazardous Waste and Research Center visit our plant. We have already experienced the pleasure of an EPA audit. Actually, the EPA was very helpful and just showed us some of the problems we had. We corrected these, and the inspector returned to review his recommendations. Of course, we made him promise to be our friend first and he did help us comply.

We may even go as far as to follow the guy that hauls off the sludge to see that he is not dumping it in the Everglades or a similar unsuitable place. I am scared by the government mainly because I am the JCO (Jailable Corporate Officer, a term that Hayes said that I just had to use here) at Fred's. We are more than happy to comply with the rules and regulations. But in my experience, these can be interpreted by the inspector almost anyway he sees them. Hopefully, you have already started to make sure you are doing the right thing. CV rebuilding has been described to be as the messiest automotive rebuilding process known. After all, each axle has a minimum eight ounces of grease and dirt that must be removed and disposed.

Several other issues were discussed, one of which was cage windows. The window is the most important factor in stopping the clicking noise, and I think most rebuilders can agree on this point.

When there is slop between the ball and the window, the joint clicks. However, when the ball is too tight in the window, the rolling action of the ball becomes a sliding action. When the ball is sliding across the races in the joint, galling may occur, which will dramatically reduce the life of the joint. How can the window be too tight? For us who are grinding, we can simply make the fit too tight. Measurement is the only way to assure correct fit.

I was surprised to hear of builders forcing in balls that were .300 oversize into standard cages to tighten up the fit. When this method is used, the cage will wear out fast. In some cases, the stress on the window will cause the cage to actually crack. Measurement of any rebuilding procedure is the best possible way to insure consistency of the product. There are some gauges available to measure any one of three components.

If you are using the "If-it-feels-good-then-it-is-good" method, you are most likely seeing a large percentage of defect return. Most installers opinions vary as what a good joint is. Some want it so tight that it can't be moved by hand. Others say it should flop around like a limp wrist.

You should know enough about your product to be able to tell the installer confidently that the product in his hand will work without fail. If measuring throughout the entire process is used, the confidence level in your product will increase along with sales.

Skip Rullis, from CV USA, Saratoga Springs, NY, provided an informative and humorous presentation. Rullis provided a number of charts of studies from over the years that basically said CV grinding was OK, but we as a grinding company had a point to make. In his summation, Rullis brought up something that some of us miss when looking at the big picture. When we rebuild a CV axle, no matter what method, what we are really doing is providing the vehicle owner with a choice of product. The rebuilt axle, if rebuilt with any integrity, will last for at least half the life of the original axle at about 1/3 the cost. We are offering value in our product. We are not saying, in most cases, that we expect this unit to outlast the OEM axle. We expect this unit to work long enough to live up to the expectations of the vehicle owner. which is about 30,000-50,000 miles.

When the OEM builds the axle, they are looking for a joint that will last through the warranty period, somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000 miles. If our reman axle lasts for an additional 40, 000, then the vehicle will have around 100,000, which is the point many people start to shop for a newer vehicle. If we build a great product, in many cases it will be able to last as long as OEM and never fail the original owner.

We had seven guys from our shop attend the clinic. After the meetings ended, we discussed what was the most important thing we learned there. The technical information was great. The new products presented to us are going to make our work easier. However, the guys in our group agreed the most important issue we learned is that we are not alone in the CV world. Often, we get to thinking that our problems are special.

Talking to others about problem-solving techniques and ways we address problems was bar far the most important time spent at any seminar. When we are in the company of other CV rebuilders, the feeling is one of cooperation rather than that of competition.

In fact, it is exciting to me to be a part of such a fast-growing segment of the rebuilding industry. We realize that we are involved in a large market. Some even say the automotive and truck parts rebuilding is as big as the steel industry. We supply products that not only provide us with a living, but serve our customers with a money saving alternative to new parts. Not to even mention the environmental issues. This is big stuff, and I'm glad to be around.

Most of the companies represented in Chicago were small-to medium rebuilders doing less than 10,000 axles monthly, although two of the Big Guys were there. Maybe it's time to realize we all have more to learn than we do to hide. There is enough business out there for all of us. Most of the rebuilders are having a hard time keeping up with production.

In fact, during a break in the program, I was among a group of about 10 rebuilders who each said that they could sell everything that they produced. My question is why does the price keep falling? Are we allowing a few large rebuilders to set our profit margins?

During one of the sessions, some numbers were thrown out to the group, and it's estimated that somewhere between eight million and 16 million axles would be on demand annually before the first of the next century. If the big guys produce 200,000 axles monthly collectively, (and I think that number id high) that would leave more than 400,000 units for all of us smaller rebuilders, assuming eight million is the annual number. There are a lot of axles being produced, and more will be on demand in the future. Keep up the quality and the sales will follow.

Following up on the last article, (April, 1996, pages 22-23) I heard from some rebuilders that the largest problem they had by far was the Chrysler axle pulling apart. At Fred's, we attach a paper warning note around each Chrysler axle, informing the installer about the inherent problem. But this doesn't solve the problem. As you know, when it does come apart, it destroys the ?? joint. Those tripod kits are expensive, and we lose big time. In some cases, by installing another manufacturer of the axle - Citroen vs. GKN vs. Saginaw, the apparent problem is correct. Go figure. If we could come up with a sure-fire way to solve the problem, it could save the industry thousands of dollars in repair costs and labor. If you have developed a way to solve this problem and would like to share this idea, let me know. You would be a hero.