1 reply to this topic

[cooperdan]

hi there guys and girls

yeh im going to be replacing my outer cv boot and just would like bit of general advice to help me out..

[Brigbeale]

hi there guys and girls

yeh im going to be replacing my outer cv boot and just would like bit of general advice to help me out..

First thing to do is undo the driveshaft hut the centre of the wheel. With the car on the ground, get an assistant to firmly hold the brake pedal and put the car in gear. You will need a breaker bar and a good quality socket as the nut is very tight.

Jack it up and remove the wheel.
Undo the top swivel joint nut and separate the joint from the top arm. You may need to do the bottom one as well.
The driveshaft/cv joint should then slide out of the hub assembly. If it doesn't move it may need 'persuading' with a copper mallet or similar. Dont hit the end with a normal hammer as it will damage the end of the shaft and make it harder to get the nut back on. A block of wood placed on the end would be better.

Once you've got that clear, cut off the old gaiter securing clips and the old gaiter. Give the joint a wipe to remove as much of the old grease as you can. Best to use an old rag as you'll end up throwing it away because the CV grease is vile stuff and stains anything cloth-wise.

Now you will need to remove the joint itself. This is done by hitting the inner part of the joint that is fixed on the shaft. It is held in place by a circlip which is designed to contract when a certain amount of pressure causes to do so. In situ, this is easier said than done as you may find the hole driveshaft moves and the inner end of the driveshaft may want to come free first. If that's the case, you may want to drain the gearbox and remove the whole shaft and put it in a vice to make it easier to work on.

Once off, clean everything as best you can. Slide the new gaiter onto the shaft (small end first - dont worry if it turns inside out as you can push it down the driveshaft further and then pull it back.

Refit the cv joint with a similar method to removing it - make sure the circlip is still on the shaft before you put the joint back on or it will just slide off again. It is best to replace the circlip with a new one to make sure everything is ok - but that's up to you!

Once the joint is in position and you've checked it's not going to slide off again, you need to cut a small corner of the sachet of grease and squirt it into the back of the joint. You will not get all of it in so squirt the rest into the awaiting cv gaiter. Pull the gaiter towards the joint and secure the sealing ring of the gaiter the groove around the joint.

Now the fun part - depending on what type of securing clips you've been supplied with.
Most suppliers give you metal clips which can be a nightmare to do if you've got basic tools.
Personally, I throw them away and secure the gaiter with good quality plastic ties (cable or zip tie).
Wipe any excess grease away and reassemle the whole lot to the car.

Tighten all nuts to the specified torques. Hub nut 60 ft/lbs for drum brakes - 150 ft/lbs for disc brakes (as quoted by Haynes manual) Top and bottom swivel joint to suspension arms 40 ft/lbs. If the holes in the nut do not line up with the hole in the driveshaft tighten it further until it does. Do not loosen it to get it to line up!!

There is a kit such as the one's sold on ebay as item number 170291367908. There's a video to show you how it works.

The idea of these mean you don't need to remove the joint from the shaft making the job quicker and easier. i've not used one of thest yet so cannnot vouch for how long they last but next time I need one, I'll give one a try. Garages use a similar type of system to cut down on hastle.

Have fun!!!

Edited by Brigbeale, 28 January 2009 - 09:00 AM.