The dust cover of the drive shaft of the front-wheel drive vehicle is easily broken during the life span. If you find it late, you need to replace it and it is expensive. Therefore, if you are in an older car, please be careful not to pay attention to abnormal sounds and check carefully.

What caused the damage to the dust cover of the drive shaft?

The output of the engine is transmitted from the transmission to the wheels through a rod called the drive shaft. In front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles, the front wheels are driven, but the steering system must be turned off, so the drive shaft will bend sharply. There are rubber boots covering this.

These guards are called drive shaft guards, but because they are made of rubber, they may harden or crack, causing breakage. Discovery later can damage the drive shaft itself, which can be expensive. Before that, we hope to find it early

What is a drive shaft?

Where is the drive shaft? If you don’t know, look under the bumper and observe the bottom of the tire. From the middle of the car, you can see an iron rod extending towards the center of the wheel. This is the drive shaft. But maybe, it is an FF (front wheel drive) car or a 4WD (four wheel drive car).

Nowadays, front-wheel drive vehicles are very common, but in the past they were rare. The practical application of front-wheel drive vehicles seems to be difficult because it is necessary to drive a shaft with a large steering angle when steering the tire.

FR (rear wheel drive vehicle) also has an axle, which is used to drive the differential between the rear wheels to drive the wheels, but this only needs to follow the vertical movement of the suspension, and the angle is not large if the rear suspension is not independent For example, a commercial vehicle is stored in a box and cannot be seen from the outside, but this type does not have the function of bending the shaft itself.

What happens if the dust cover is cracked? Found before the abnormal noise

The curved part of the drive shaft is called a constant velocity joint, but it needs to be lubricated with grease and sealed with a rubber bellows. This is the drive shaft cover. Every time you turn the steering gear, this part will bend. Although the car is a new car, as it ages, the rubber itself will harden and the bellows valley will tear.

If this happens, the grease inside will be scattered due to the centrifugal force of the rotation, making it impossible to lubricate. In addition, if dust or splashes are in operation, they may bite into the joints or cause grease to flow and cause rust.

In this case, the motion of the joints will become very poor, and if you turn the steering wheel while driving, you will start to hear strange sounds. I think unless you have a lot of suggestions, it will not break (it may break in sports sports), but it will be very unpleasant. In addition, if the sound starts to appear, even if grease is added again, it may leave scratches inside and may not be repairable. Therefore, if the boot breaks, what is the life span of the drive shaft dust cover that needs to be repaired as soon as possible?

The expected life of the drive shaft dust jacket will vary depending on the environment and luck, so it is difficult to say, but at least 50,000 kilometers in 5 years? I think it"s fine. If you don"t turn the steering wheel, you will not feel pressure, so driving at high speed will not cause much damage to the distance. On the other hand, if you often drive in a narrow alley or turn the steering device completely left or right when parking, you can say that this is a narrow state.

In addition, recently there are resin dust boots that are not made of rubber, and the possibility of breaking is extremely low.

We sometimes have to look down

However, there is no function to let you know that the dust cover is damaged. The only way to ensure that the constant velocity joint is not damaged is to perform a visual inspection. I think it"s nice to see that the car is new, but if the car is old and the mileage is increasing, if there are signs of rubber cracking, it is best to increase the frequency of inspections.

When the dust boot is completely torn, the grease inside will splash. If there are obvious black spots and dampness on the tire cover, it may be grease that has splashed. This is why sometimes you should check below. You may also find oil leaks around the engine, mission and steering

How to repair the drive shaft? Need to be replaced when damaged

If the rubber of the dust cover is damaged, it can only be replaced with a new one. Because the axle does not break right away, the urgency of repairing outside is very low, but it is better to avoid gravel roads and driving on rainy days. Of course, the sooner the repair, the better.