CV boot- hard to change?

[campbell]

As above, anybody got a guide and is it difficult?
I bought a GKN CV boot from euro car parts and the boot itself is very hard, more like a plastic, should i get any problems with this? Thought they were more of a rubber?

any tips would be most appreciated

Cheers

 

[arsenal_69r]

ive done a few on my older cars and i even done which was a cone and the boot slipped over it. but i have never done one to my audi but would assume you could do the same?

 

[Audiman99]

Hi, i had my cv boot replaced and like yourself bought the hard plastic type one from eurocarparts. I didn't do it myself but got a friend who works at a local garage to do it and he said it was a pain in the **** to get on. Thank god i didn't attempt to do it myself!!

 

[campbell]

Cheers for that guys, i have a tool which spreads the CV boot rubber to slide over everything but seeing this boot is like a plastic then there is no chance of that!

I have heard GKN are a good brand so quality shouldnt be an issue, but its off putting like its too hard

 

[<tuffty/>]

Don't remove the ball joint by undoing the three nuts on the lower arm... S3 lower arms have slots and removing the ball joint this way will throw the geometry out and you will have to get the front re aligned...

Undo the ball joint from the hub carrier... once you have removed the 2 metal clips holding the boot on, pull it back from the joint and using a large (soft faced) hammer hit the back of the CV joint to force it over the spring clip holding it on... Have a tight hold of the drive shaft (or get someone to help) otherwise you could damage the inboard joint. I have removed the whole drive shaft before and held it in a vice... much easier when off (and not difficult to remove either)

Make a note of how the old plastic retainer and cupped metal washer are fitted to the drive shaft as new ones should come with the kit and remove them (removing the spring clip at the end of the shaft first)

Clean as much old grease out of the joint as you care too and repack with supplied grease... fitting is pretty much the reverse, slide the small gaiter clip on first followed by the gaiter... slide the plastic retainer and metal washer back on (same way as they came off) and fill the gaiter with the rest of the grease... clean the grooves of the shaft and fit the new spring clip to the end of the shaft... slide the larger gaiter clip over the gaiter then refit the CV joint tapping it on over the spring clip until it can go no further... fit the gaiter properly and tighten gaiter clips... refit shaft and have a cup of tea...

<tuffty/>

 

[fingermouse]

and get the boot kit from audi they are only £20 Quid ish and include a new stretch bolt , grease clips etc and are top quality not plastic feeling

 

[campbell]

Spoke to Audi and they are £27 inc VAT so i will pick one up today. I suppose if you fully take the driveshaft out, you will lose gearbox oil?

Thanks guys

 

[arsenal_69r]

you would indeed, but could be a good thing as u can then renew your gearbox oil

 

[<tuffty/>]

Spoke to Audi and they are £27 inc VAT so i will pick one up today. I suppose if you fully take the driveshaft out, you will lose gearbox oil?

Thanks guys

No, drive flanges are sealed... just unbolt the shaft from the drive flange...

You don't have to take the shaft off to change the gaiter but it is easier to work with if you remove the whole thing tbh...

<tuffty/>

 

[arsenal_69r]

oo sorry im new to Audi, previous cars though i have found the gearbox oil spills out

 

[rossbrownlee]

I have done these on vauxhalls, the GM gaiters are quite a stiff plasticky feel about them, certainly the ones I have had anyway.

 

[campbell]

I personally think the plasticky feel CV boots are up to the job and fit for purpose but the rigidity of them puts me off to work with! Anyway, ill be having a crack at it tonight and see how i get on

 

[S3 Nattie]

Let us know how you get on fitting it as I got a fit mine this weekend.

 

[Y83OLK]

How weird.. seems a lot of us have cv boots to fit.
Ill do mine saturday.

PS, its a lot easier to undo the 3 bolts holding the balljoint to the wishbont, just make sure you mark them - as tufty said theyre adjustable.

 

[1animal1]

i had one doen2 months back

 

[campbell]

well i ended up quiting the job cos i could not fathom how the hub came from the driveshaft, i spent two hours on it and pretty frustrated to be honest!

I removed the old cv boot clips and could not see two clips on the driveshaft, i removed the nut which attaches the hub to the wishbone and tried to pry that off with no joy! i tried removing the arb nut, track rod end nut, and still no joy so im leaving mine til it goes into the garage next week.

I dont know where i have gone wrong but nothing seam to go right

 

[<tuffty/>]

Not sure what you mean mate? Did you undo the hub nut holding the drive shaft to the hub?

The wishbone balljoint will be tight on the hub and would need a joint splitter to remove... mine was really tight....

Check this out also...

Part No. 4 and 5 are the retainers (plastic and metal), part 3 is the clip that keeps the CV joint on... rest should be easy to see in the pic..

If its not been off for a while then its a tricky little begger, hope you get it sorted mate...

<tuffty/>

 

[campbell]

Tufty- Am i right in thinking the hub nut (screw, with 17mm allen key head) which can be seen as soon as you remove the centre cap? I removed that and removed the wishbone nut which attaches to the hub, the nut has three nuts underneath it which you said not to undo?

And then does the hub come free (with persuasion- something which i couldnt do tonight lol) with the brake disc and calliper still attached come free and then you can keep the driveshaft held in and then get to the two clips which are shown in pic to remove the driveshaft?

cheers

 

[<tuffty/>]

Pretty much yeah

Once the balljoint has popped out the bottom of the hub, push the driveshaft back towards the gearbox as you don't want to over extend the inboard joint and pull the hub/suspension strut/disc assembly back to get the CV joint out of the hub...

Good luck

<tuffty/>

 

[campbell]

Sounds easy now Tufty lol. I have much more of an idea now, ill give it another go hopefully. Thanks for the great advice, good diagrams Tufty

Cheers

 

[S3 Nattie]

Quick question, you know the metal clips (No. 6 & 8 in the diagram) that holds the cv boot over the joint, most the standard hoses in the engine bay are held on with them. Where to can I get the correct tool to crimp the cv boot tight.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Quick question, you know the metal clips (No. 6 & 8 in the diagram) that holds the cv boot over the joint, most the standard hoses in the engine bay are held on with them. Where to can I get the correct tool to crimp the cv boot tight.

With VAG supplied ones I have used a pair of pinch pliers but if you use the power of google and the immortal words 'cv boot crimp tool' I reckon that should sort you out

<tuffty/>

 

[fingermouse]

seally do a tool as do teng they are £9-£18 and worth every penny

 

[fingermouse]

http://www.ccw-tools.com/product.asp?P_ID=3690&af=1792

just a example cheaper than I remember but I went for Teng ones

 

[S3 Nattie]

What an annoying job. Took everything off fine and the shaft is free. Taken off the old cv boot and clean the joint out, however getting the new one on is so annoying.

I bought one them cones that goes on the joint so you can slide the boot over it. I could not get the boot up to the top of the cone and over the joint so heated it up it bit too long and melted lol so got to wait till tomorrow to get a new one.

Any tips on the best way how to get the boot over the joint.

 

[rossbrownlee]

yes.
remove the joint from the end of the driveshaft first.

 

[S3 Nattie]

Good idea. Then just slide the boot over the shaft and push the joint back on. Was really hoping I didnt have to take the shaft off really.

 

[rossbrownlee]

Ah right sorry, I misunderstood when you said the shaft was free, though you meant free of the car.
So it is still bolted on the car at the inner end?

 

[<tuffty/>]

It should knock off with persuasion from a hammer...

<tuffty/>

 

[rossbrownlee]

You could try to trim the cone you bought so it is just big enough at the fat end to clear the joint and minimise the stretch.
you ould try (enough sniggering at the back!) a good blob and rub with KY jelly. I frequently use KY at work for stiff rings to slip em on.
two phrases I never expected to type on here.

 

[S3 Nattie]

Well the joint is actually bigger than the universal cone I got so was thinking about putting 4 lines at the top of the cone so I can stretch it over the joint itself.

These cone things aint very good. Used loads of grease and still a struggle getting it over there.

The joint is still on the shaft which is still connected to the gearbox. If possible I want to try and not have to take the joint off from the shaft.

Any suggestion on other tool to use.

 

[fingermouse]

just took the joint off when I did mine think it took 40 mins total but I didn`t have the clip tool and the boot slipped off so ended up fitting a new cv joint a few months later

 

[S3 Nattie]

I think taking the joint off is going to be best way from the sounds of it. Do you replace anything when taking it off or can you just slip it back over the clips.

 

[S3 Nattie]

Well got the CV Boot finished today, took 20 min. Very useful tip if anyone has the same problem as I did, cover the cone in MR Sheen 3 in 1 polish. The boot then glided over the CV joint with no fuse what so ever.

Also changed my lower arm ball joint bush as it was knocking pretty bad.

Thanks for the tips guys.

 

[Y83OLK]

I did mine in my lunch break today.
A bit weary of the solid plastic VAG boot however, if the previous one lasted 10 years it should be fine.

Took me 40 mins, which included removing the shaft.

A tip for anyone struggling to get a genuine boot over the first ridge of the shaft, cover it in electrical tape, then some grease.

 

[S3 Jock]

If you are doing this job on your own, without an extra pair of hands or garage lift I'd allow at least a couple of hours to do this.

My best advice is to take the driveshaft off the car alltogether and hold it in a vice so you can tap off the outer CV joint, remove old boot/install new boot, and get the joint back on and the new boot fastened up.

For the sake of 6 bolts at the gearbox drive flange, it really is worth taking the driveshaft away from the car alltogether.

ALso - you can remove the balljoint by unscrewing the nut. If the joint wants to turn there is a torx insert in the thread so you can hold that against the nut while you unscrew it. A fimr tap around the housing with downward pressure on the arm should be enought to free the BJ - no need to risk damaging the boots with a pickle forl or splitter and this way you wont upset the alignment.

One other point - when reinstalling the inner joint to the drive flange - make sure the threads of the bolts are very clean of crud (you dropped them on the garage floor when remobed them, didn't you) so spray a paper cloth in WD40 and give them a good wipe and oil. Install one partialy, then the one opposite and so on, then progressively work them in a bit at a time. This will help avoid cross threading.

 

[Y83OLK]

Also, put the bolt in the end of the cv joint before you tap it back onto the shaft.
Otherwise you'll get Cv grease shoot out the hole