The outer dust cover cups towards the bearing. I believe the inside one cups towards the transmission.

You can see it on this axle.



Watch that sensor head on the ABS sensor. If you bump it by accident they can crack. I clean the head off with dry towel while you are there. I replaced my wheel bearing hardware bolts also as those bolts can be toast and rusty. I had to pull one off with an impact bolt extractor as it was frozen and the head of the bolt rusted and fell apart. life of a car with almost 300K.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-oem-tool.../oem22967~omt/

 

Thank you for the insight. I wonder why mine weren't there. Weird.

 

The axle was replaced before maybe or work was done and it was not replaced, fell off during a wheel bearing repair?

 

ModMini's videos are always helpful:

How to replace MINI Cooper Left and Right CV Axles 2002-2006

 

When he reattaches the passenger side to the hub there is no visual evidence or mention of the dust shield on that side. I do see the dust shield on the transmission side.


And when he installs the driver side I don't see the dust shield on either side of the shaft.

 

I recently did both of my axles on my 04 R53.
I remember the inner dust shield (against the transmission side), on the Right axle but not on the outer wheel side.
I don't recall a dust shield at the end of the axle (wheel side) for the Left axle either.
I think, I remember hearing that, the Left (driver side) axle does not have a cupped dust shield against the transmission but a different type of seal that is installed/tapped into the transmission housing?

Unfortunately, I have not experienced that aspect when I reinstalled my Left axle.
Hopefully someone else can confirm or otherwise shed some light.

 

Basically, ^^This^^
Dust shields against the hubs will depend on the axle mfg. and are built into the back of the cup/housing when there.
Dust shields against the transmission will be on the passenger side only, because the cup rides against the carrier bearing, therefore there's no natural shielding from the cup, like the driver's side, cup being right up against the transmission. (Basically why some mfg don't think they're needed against the hubs either)

 

That's what I thought when looking at my original rusted out axle - that the really rusted out was the dust shield and it just made no sense why an extra part was needed.

Thank you both for confirming.

Just waiting now for the outer spindle kit. I did order a new bearing as well for this (driver) side along with a new wheel speed sensor. I had replaced the passenger side in 2021 and these bolts are looking pretty rusted. Might as well do this side while I'm in here. Although it probably isn't so easy without the strut holding in the top part of the hub. There was a lot of rust on the magnet of the bearing. I imagine this was due to removing the axle but in the pic below I had wiped it off very gingerly with a cloth.

 

Bearing removed. Cleaned up with a wire wheel and wd-40. Will put some antiseize paste on the mating surfaces after I do another round of cleaning. New bearing, wheel speed sensor, and 4 bolts should arrive today. While not super crunchy the old bearing was not smooth. Sensor broke after tapping it loose. Drilled it out no problem. Brushed the hole clean with some wd-40 as well. Those bolts were not long for this life either. I think it was a wise choice to replace the bearing now instead of later.

 

Yep, I wire wheeled the knuckle on mine and painted it. Then installed new bearing with hardware. That rust can be pain.

Also we have lifetime replacement. https://www.ecstuning.com/

 

Can I just say watching MINI repairs narrated by a Scottish accent is frickin' awesome!

 

Got the Meyle outer spindle yesterday. Feels nice and solid, looks great. Perfect fit. No issues. Comes with the dust shield built in. Interestingly enough, the GKN oem manfucture for BMW's version does NOT come with the dust shield so you need to order that separately!!!

Used the boot that came with the Meyle. So now I've got a pair of extra outer boots for my GP.

I used about 3/4 of the 90g pack of grease that came with the spindle. I just pushed it into the hole of the spindle and curled up my index finger to push the grease up below the ball bearings. Wanted to make sure I got full coverage. Gave the joint multiple jiggles every which way and looking forward to installing. It's pouring for the next 3 days so installation will have to wait till Friday.

I bought a knockoff of the Toyota tool used for boot clamps for my Sienna so I decided to use those after my cheap boot clamp pliers just broke. Those things are trash.


Pics from the process.










And here's a video of the recap.

 

Got the passenger side in. I was waiting for new pinch bolts. The old ones were shot. The passenger side spindle was in even worse condition than the driver side.

I need to order new rotors. I was gonna see if the old ones would "freshen" up with silicone grease in the guide pins and on all the metal-to-metal contact points but the right rear was shot. The pad that clips into the piston was completely broken in two and rusted to crap.

Replaced back in 2018. It was time but my wife hardly puts any miles on her car, just drives it 15 minutes back and forth to work. Jesus.

There was just no room to get the tool in to tighten the inner clamp. The tool I'm talking about is the one you ratchet with a 13mm socket. Plus I had a helluva time trying to get the damn clamp over the boot in the first place and then just decided to use the clamp that came from Meyle that had way more adjustment than the fixed oem GKN clamp. Ended up tightening it with a pair of nail removers nice and slowly.




This thing was SHOT.





Front passenger rotor not looking so hot....but look how much pad is left wtf.




Of course in the middle of all this the Optima 34R AGM battery finally died after 8 years so I replaced it with an Interstate MH-47/H5. Which of course came without a vent adapter (it looks like it broke off as there is what appears to be the remainder of the plug inside of the vent on the negative terminal side).



I had to drive back there and they took the vent adapter off of another battery and pried out the plug. I called interstate and they are sending me a replacement plug for the negative side free of charge.



This pothole is 24"+ long and is just to the left of my driveway. This is why my shocks don't last for sh*t here in NY.





Oh and that battery was burning the underside of the foam of the carpet above the battery box. Wtf! I found some water while I was working on the car most likely due to the boot gasket being 18 years old. Replaced that and haven't had water since but a wet underside would explain what you see below.

 

So I bought a GKN CV drive shaft driver side for my R53 ( 2004 ) it did not come with dust shield on bearing\knuckle side., is this normal? Should I return this? Is this dust shield a must?

See GKN did not forget to put in the AXLE nut but left out missing the dust cover., is this done in purpose for me to buy the dust shield? or they left it like ready straight for install? ( without dust cover )

here's Lordoftheflies image.



From Modmini's video., it shows there's a little gap there, now I am wondering if this Dust cover is really doing its job?

 

Revisiting this thread - I was curious enough to go out to my Mini and have another look...

My Left side (factory driver side/ hub side) outer CV axle does indeed have a dust shield.
You may also note from the image above, there is a gap between the said shield and back of the wheel hub.
I am convinced that the gap is normal.

When you pull your original axle to replace with the new GKN; you could try prying/tapping your old one off and fitting it to the new axle (?).
I'm not sure if it is pressed on.

 

that dust shield was there on my stock one and my replacement GSP came with one. I just replaced the trans fluid yesterday and gave her a once over, I too have a slight gap.

 

Problem is my CV seized up with the bearing hub, so I was forced to buy the whole GKN CV shaft driver side and I have another knuckle.

So my question is it okay to install this new GKN CV shaft without the dust covers?

 

Here's mine not sure if this is FACTORY MINI or some aftermarket. The dust shield is there, if you look closer it has a gap of approximately 7-10mm.

Based on this image does the dust shield\cover really proctecting the bearing and the sensor from dusts?


R53 '04 - driver side cv shaft

Dust shield\cover close up - R53 '04

 

IMO - I really can't say how much protection it really serves. But I do think it has merit for being there.
Personally, I'd rather have it than not....For no other reason than "just because" it was there to begin with.
Whether it makes sense or not - That's just me.

 

How did you install the dust cover on your new GKN CV shaft?

 

Sorry to hijack this thread a little, I need to source an axle for my r53. I'm planning on taking a risk on some axles from napa, anyone ever used their axles? I have more trust for napa parts than stuff from autozone or advance. They come with a warranty, so if they're bad I'll just return them.

 

Honestly, for factory (non-performance) axles, there are quite a few options.
As far as parts store options, best warranty is usually best option.

I've actually replaced the GF's axles with these:
​​​​
Went in with no drama, been in since March, no issues either.

 

@BlwnAway - That's good to know.
I'd also bought the pair of DTAs about a year ago. I've yet to install them. They are still sitting in their shipped box.
At the time of having my transmission replaced last year; I'd bought the DTAs' assuming @ 90k mi my original factory axles might need replacing as well.
The mechanic confirmed that my original OEMs were still in very good condition.
I did remove my original axles for cleaning, fresh grease and new inner and outer CV boots and I took the opportunity to measure and made a side by side comparison between the DTAs and my OEM.
I can confirm that the specs (length & splines) were an identical match to my factory ones.

 

Where in Wisconsin? I need a pro closer to home!

​​​And I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that my "quick strut job" can be wrapped in less than three days, but the cursing marathon has already begun.

I got the old one out with minimal issue, but the new one didn't want to seat in the knuckle. By the time I considered pulling it out to start over, it was pretty well jammed (most of the way) into place. Now I'm maybe half an inch from being able to reinstall the pinch bolt, but it seems like a bad idea to keep hammering on the knuckle for fear I'll damage the new strut.

I left some penetrating oil on it and will try again tomorrow. If you've got some pro-tips, is certainly appreciate them.

 

Wow that's a great deal for both axles, appreciate the suggestion

I've always heard to avoid parts store axles because they're mostly refurbished units. A mechanic I watch on youtube alot actually recommends when buying parts store axles to remove the boots and check that they're actually greased. He claims that a lot of the times if they fail its because they forgot to grease them. So I'll be doing that for sure.