Anyone replaced the inner RH CV boot?

[burbel]

Just trying to see if anyone has had any luck replacing their inner RH side CV boot? When I was out in Phoenix I had Mark Basch replace the CV boots on my car, but after the first oil change I noticed that the CV boot has sprayed it's grease everywhere down there, even though I can't find any defect on the boot itself.

The new boot kit just came in the mail; I was hoping to get this accomplished this weekend so I could drive to work on Monday.

Has anyone done this job by themselves (or with the help of a friend)? I have a compressor, and should be able to borrow an air impact wrench - is the bolt really that hard to get off? Do I need to bring this this to an independent shop to do? Or is it a dealer item?

I've done a number of other things myself (exhaust work, suspension work, brakes, etc.) - is this over my head?

 

[sjs]

You can probably do it. I had the same issue with the right inner spraying grease and never did find a reason. The boot was fine so I figured that the band clamp at one end was not tight. I loosened the large end thinking I’d repack it in place but then decided to pull it out for closer inspection in case the joint was bad and running hot, melting the grease. By then it was too late to tell if a loose clamp may have been the cause. I installed a new one anyway while it was off. Still not sure what the deal was and that car hasn't seen a lot of miles since then so I really can't swear it's fixed.

Part of the rear suspension needs to come off (which means rear alignment time unless you mark the camber eccentric carefully for reassembly) and you need a large screwdriver or pry bar to pop the axle out of the intermediate shaft. The retaining rings on the axel shaft can be very tough to get off and even harder to get the new ones back on without special tools or prior experience. Perhaps Larry Bastanza or someone else has a trick for that?

I can't recall exactly which parts need to come off because I was doing a wheel bearing and other stuff at the same time, but the book will tell you that.

 

[Eddy]

boot bands

Other than tightening the boot bands, check that the mating surface between the boot and the joint itself is clean (grease free) and that as little air is trapped in the boot as possible. It doesn't seem to seal well if it's contaminated with grease already. Considering how fast it spins when going at say 100mph, the grease will be under pressure to get out. The joint also gets hot so air trapped inside will tend to create a pressurized boot that will want to get out with the grease. This is typical in race cars so we usually device something to be able to bleed the air while trapping the grease when it gets hot.

Eddy

 

[PorknBeanz]

I did my right outer about a month ago. It was a hellish job, but probably my own fault. After you remove the driveshaft assembly from the car you need to pull out the driveshaft from the joint housing. This thing is is filled with very slippery grease. You'll need to disassemble the CV joint itself, and this is where it all went to hell on me. Make sure you mark everything with a permanent marker to define the relationships. Each of the three rollers must go back into the housing in the exact relationship that you pulled them out.

Don't do this: I marked the rollers to show the surface that faced out of the joint. When I pulled it a little farther out (there's a spring that's inside the outer joint) it all popped out all over the garage floor. I found that I didn't clean the rollers of all the grease and the marking I made rubbed off. In addition, each roller rotates on a base that also has to be aligned (which I didn't mark), and each roller assembly must go back into the same slot in the housing that is was removed from (also not marked).

For a normal person this is probably a two hour job. For me, I had to put the rollers in and out in each possible combination and orientation while fighting the spring. It took two full days to find the right combination. I ran out of my normal tapestry of foul language and invented new ones.

You probably don't want me anywhere near your car, but if you need help, I'll come over.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

burbel,

Removing the right axle shaft from the intermediate shaft is easy as long as you use TWO pry bars (or big screwdrivers) at 180 degrees apart. It must pop off straight. Some are real easy (worn circlips) and some are a real PITA (never been apart before)

HTH,
LarryB