Inner CV joint reassembly

[sasquartch]

I've stripped down the inner CV joint ready for a replacement boot.

Does it matter which way the tripod goes on the shaft ? I didn't make a note of how it came off but notice there are three dots, like a centre punch mark that might indicate it should be put on the shaft one way or the other.

I guess it won't matter too much but if there is a 'right' way of doing this I might as well do it.

Thanks for any advice - I've followed a few articles on here but I can't see any reference to this.

[insanitybeard]

Greetings!

Can you see any witness marks on the tripod from where the retaining circlip butted up against it to help work out which way round it went? I don't think it really matters, and unless you've marked the tripod relative to the joint casing before dismantling the joint the chances are the rollers won't be running in their original channels in the housing anyway.

[sasquartch]

Can't see any marks despite carefully looking with a magnifying glass.
I'm actually repairing a good driveshaft taken from the offside to replace my failed Q-Drive shaft - so it will spin in the opposite direction to how it has worn - so it probably wont matter much. If I can get another couple of years out of her I'll be happy (20k miles at the most) so hopefully the OE shaft with a new boot will be OK
So I will end up with a car with original driveshafts but on the opposite sides to how it left the factory :-)

(n/s inner boot split, replaced with q-drive shaft, o/s inner boot split so repaired original from n/s and swapped over, now q-drive CV joint failed so will put original o/s shaft on once Ive changed the boot)

[sasquartch]

All assembled OK - no idea whether the tripod has gone back on the same way but it seems OK.