So i take my tires off for a normal inspection of my car which i do from time to time.... cv boot is ripped clean in half... not just torn, but ripped all the way around. Soooo, i guess my two options are to buy a new axle or to buy a cv boot repair kit. I'd much rather buy the repair kit... and joint hasn't been popping around turns or anything so i think its still ok, just needs a new boot around it. How easy are the cv boot kits to install and how much do they normally cost? Its just the boot, 2 clamps, and grease? Found one on ebay for under 15 bucks, how's it look?


Edit: Here's a picture...



Modified by munscher at 11:01 PM 6/10/2003

 

that looks fine. the actually job takes alittle bit of work though. your going to need to dissasemble the axle. you take it apart and lube up the bearings..... then put it back together. thats what the grease is for.

 

ill get pictures of the torn boot up when they get uploaded off the digi-cam...
I found this article that explains how to do it.. http://www.diynet.com/DIY/arti....html Seems easy enough, just take a little time. I'm fairly technically inclined and have several mods under my belt (intake, exhaust, suspension work, engine swap, etc) so i think i can pull this one off too.

 

putting these two pieces together was a bitch! and yes it takes a bit of work.

 

what was hard about it? they fit real tight?

 

who whole axle is really tight.

 

yeah it's tight and you gotta align the bearing right to fit. maybe it'll be easier when both parts are off your car, i only had the bearing side off.

 

would it be easier if i changed the whole axle instead of the boot?

 

Dude, axles are really cheap. Just buy a new axle.

 

Whats an axle... $70?
CV boot kit is $12

Plus i'm the type of guy who wouldn't mind a reason to take apart his axle just to see what it looks like

 

I've done it before. You might as well replace both boots while you have the whole thing apart. Drain the tranny, pull the axle, take the inner joint apart, keep track of everything and which place and orientation it was in. Clean up all the parts (this is a pain because grease is everywhere). Take the spider off the axle and the two clip rings. Slide both boots off the shaft. Put the new boots on. Re-assemble and pack with grease. Install in car, refill tranny oil. No biggie.

 

Is the inner joint any easier to take apart than the outer joint? I planned on only replacing the outer joint and therefor taking it apart there.

 

I don't know if they still make them, but a few years back, for the late 80's accords, there was a split boot you could buy, so you didn't have to remove the axle to replace it. It actually had a couple bolts with a seal that you used to replace the boot that was there. The installation was easy, remove the two boot straps from the axle, cut the old boot off, flush the cv-joint to clean it, repack with grease, wrap the new split boot around the cv-joint, put the old straps back on the axle, and close the boot with the provided bolts. Worked great. Like I said, I don't know if they make them anymore, but they were only like $10 back then, and save you a couple hours worth of unecessary work.

Another redneck fix that worked well in a pinch, to keep the dirt and gravel out of the cv-joint was to cut a pair of jeans to fit the cv-joint, and bailing wire it on over the joint to keep it clean. That worked for about 25k miles on my old '77 Accord, and was free!

 

yeah i'm pretty sure they still make 'em but i'd rather have the original OEM type boot on it. It seals better and lasts longer... i dont' mind the extra work so much.

 

I suggest axle repair reason being.....

Unless you replace that boot right after it breaks, dirt and sand and stuff gets in there and begins the whole grinding process. UNless you completely clean that axles from debris, its going to wear out. If you're looking for a cheap quick fix, that boot will work but it won't last.

I did the cheap fix once and later that summer, the axle went out on me while I was backing out of a parking space.

Do it right the first time is my suggestion