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Ashcroft CV Repair - Help !!!


Dave W

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OK, so last year I blew an Ashcroft CV apart and with one thing and another it's taken me this long to get the parts and time to actually do something about it - only to be brought to a halt again !

So, the CV spider and shell exploded into a large number of bits, leaving the outer part of the CV intact albeit with a few minor burrs/scratches. I phoned Ashcroft to see if I could get it to be repaired and was told there was a repair kit and all I needed to do was let them know the size of the ball bearings. This supplied they sent me the repair kit which contained just the central spider thing and not the cage.

Another phone call and I then received a cage (this may be significant). I found the pdf on the Ashcroft site which shows how to take a CV apart but doesn't really cover putting it back together again in a sort of Haynes manual kind of way.

So, the point of all this is... there is no bloody way I am ever going to get the cage to fit into the outer case. I have tried everything I can think of from subtle means to brute force (which has left some marks on the cage !) and it simply won't go in. I'd assumed from the clues in the Ashcroft write up that you put the cage in at 90 degrees and then twist it but there simply doesn't seem to be enough clearance for that.

On the off chance that someone on here might have rebuilt one, is the cage supposed to be that tight a fit ? Am I missing something in technique ? I'm beginning to think that maybe, given that the cage and inner spider were sent separately that I may have been sent the wrong cage. Something doesn't add up somewhere and I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, if anything !

A couple of pics...

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post-2025-0-95181400-1460809288_thumb.jpg

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I have no direct experience rebuilding Ashcroft CV's but I would try the bell in the oven at 60degrees and the spider in the freezer for a couple of hours, then see if it'll just drop in then.

I've had success with this technique on other things before

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Tried the heat and freeze thing and it still won't go in, when the bell cools down enough I'll try and measure everything and see if there's actually enough space for the cage to fit even if I got it past the entrance.

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Thanks, I'd seen that guide already and, although it gives step by step on taking it apart it kind of skips over the whole putting it back together again thing :)

HFH, when you say they are a sod to assemble, is brute force required to get the cage in past the "teeth" in the bell or should it pop in when you get the angles right ?

I've managed to find a part of the old cage that was originally in the CV. It's only a small section but large enough, I think, to give an indication of the diameter of the top of the cage and it seems to match the replacement cage I have. I'm going to give it another go this evening and if I fail again I'll send the lot down to Ashcrofts and let them do it ! :)

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The early CV's had the 17.5mm balls and the later ones were 19mm, if you have recently had new cages then they will be for the later 19mm balls, this would explain why you are struggling to get them together, I don't have any new cages to suit the smaller balls but I may be able to find some good used ones, we will credit the later cages if you send them back,

Dave

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Are Ashcroft CVs the same as normal ones in that there are two sizes of slots in the sides of the cage one set that are longer than the others?

IIRC the long slots go verticaly and the short slots go at each end, to put it another way, hold the cage on its side like a jewelry ring with the small holes top and bottom and the large/long slots slide past the CV outer shell inslde then turn throgh 90 deg once in?

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A, hopefully, final update on this in case it helps someone else...

I got a delivery this morning from Ashcrofts (thanks Dave !) and the replacement one just slots in without much effort other than getting it lined up correctly. It seems it should just drop in, no brute force required !

Although the diameters of the two cages (19mm and 17.5mm versions) are the same, the 19mm cage which I had is much deeper by about 5mm or so and that made it impossible for the cage to fit into the bell.

Within a few minutes of the courier arriving the CV is all back together and ready for fitting :)

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