CV Boot Replacement Questions
 

It’s recently come to my attention that I have a tear in one of my rear outer CV boots. I plan to change out the boot this weekend but was wondering what else should be replaced in the process? I’m not hearing any ticking sounds from the joint, how can I tell if it needs to be replaced? Can the CV joints be cleaned with brake cleaner and re-packed? Should the bolts be replaced with new ones?

Any advice would be appreciated.

In the spirit of "while you're in there", I would clean and re-pack the CV joints. If the joints are like mine, there are two gaskets that should be replaced also. You can re-use the bolts, but replacing them isn't a bad idea either.

As for replacement, if after you remove, disassemble and clean all of the parts, if you don't see any discoloration (dark blue signs of extreme heat) or pitting on the balls or the "races" they ride in (or anything else that looks amiss) I would simply re-assemble and repack them. They are pretty robust, really.

Brake parts cleaner works great too. Just be prepared for a nasty job.

Mike

The joints can (and should) be cleaned and re-packed (use a CV-joint grease). The bolts are "supposedly" one time use, but many (including me) have re-used them with no ill effects, just torque them to the proper spec's.

Jerry M
'78 SC

When one of my boots tore, I used the opportunity to clean and repack all four CV's and then swap axle sides. Mike's description about what you are looking for is very good. Do a search on "early_s_man" and "cv" for other good information and pics of the inside of the CV joints. Also, remember not to mix parts from different joints. In a perfect world the balls and races go in the exact same spot, but at the very least don't intermix balls and parts - one joint at a time.

Pelican sells a nice rebuild kit which includes the Lobo boots, clamps and a measured amount of CV grease.

My recommendations: Nitrile gloves, lots of shop rags/paper towels, a big trash bag, a comfortable stool, newspapers and good music.

A search is a good idea. Early_S_Man was kind enough to post pics from an old Bentley VW manual many months ago. Do yourself a favor and find and print that. My advice is to remove both axles, and disassemble and clean and repack all four. Reinstall them on the opposite sides of the car. Left outer becomes right outer, etc. This makes them wear on new surfaces.

Don't believe the stories you hear about one tube of CV grease being sufficient. In the real world that's not enough. Get a couple of LARGE tubes of that special CV grease and FILL the joints and boots.

Not a bad idea to replace all the boots, and all the hardware. Be SURE to use the fancy corrugated washers that were stock on most of these CV fasteners. They help keep the bolts from backing out. A bench vise is a nice tool to have for this project. Good luck. It's not hard, but it's VERY messy.

Thanks guys... great information! I think I’ll take the advice of doing all four and play it safe. Sounds like a fun weekend project. :D

While you can reuse the bolts, be sure to use new washers. If not the bolts may back out on the their own. The other posts covered the how to portion.