Max Power

I searched and found a few topics on this but haven't found much info. Maybe by now some of you have had some more experience with this.

Anyone replaced them themselves? Taken it in? What was the cost?

What's easier to do? Replace the whole axle?

How long will an axle last with a decent split in the boot?

My split is at the inner end.

Max Power

Alright, so verdict is:

I brought it in to my mechanic and he replaced the boot and re-greased for 220$ total, in Canadian dollars.

acidfire52

It is a rear wheel driven car, there is no CV boot as there is no CV.

nthach

There are CV joints in the back. Our cars are independent rear suspension. It's a decently doable but a very messy job to do. I did mine last year with NOS aftermarket Beck-Arnley boots and Red Line CV-2 grease instead of the included grease.
In a nutshell:
Raise car
Loosen the M8 or M10 Allen bolts holding the axles onto the diff. Use a breaker bar and lots of penetrating oil.
Remove ALL wheel end/brake components off the axle carrier, use a BFH to pop the upper control arm off. Pop off the lower control arm, stabilizer bar link, and the trailing arm. Take off the axle carrier.
Remove the right muffler
Remove the axles
Reassembly is the reverse of the above
Once you have the axles off, the messy part begins -
Cut off the old clamps
Pry off the cover plate on the diff end of the axle
Using a pair of snap ring pliers, take off the old snap ring. Mark the splined shaft and the CV joint with a center punch. Using a hammer and a punch/drift(preferably brass), CAREFULLY take off the CV joint. Use the axle hardware that secures the axles to the diff to keep the CV joint together.
Take off the wheel end boot. Unless you know what you're doing, DO NOT DISASSEMBLE THE WHEEL END JOINT, there is a circlip that holds it on and it looks hard to reassemble.
Clean up the CV joints with solvent, with the final cleaning with a residue-free solvent such as electrical parts cleaner or brake cleaner. I find it easier to disassemble the drive end joint and soak them in solvent. - to disassemble the drive end joint, simply tilt the inner race up and the ***** will be free of their cage and outer race. PAY ATTENTION TO HOW THE JOINT IS ASSEMBLED, the fat spokes of the inner race line up with the skinny spokes of the outer race. Reassemble by placing the ***** back into the cage, then drop the inner race in at an angle. The wheel end will need multiple fill, swish and dumps to clean out.

After cleaning the joints, pack the wheel end joint with grease and fill the new boot as well with a little bit. Swish the shaft around a few times to spread the grease, repack if need be. Slip the new boots with clamps on. Pack the drive end joint with grease, then slip it back on the splined shaft in respect to the punch marks. slip the new boot on the drive end. Before fastening the clamps on, "burp" the boots with a small screwdriver or pick. Make sure they are not distorted. Here's the tricky part - fastening the clamps on. There are 2 types: Oetiker ear type and the OEM strap type. If your kit uses the strap type clamps, you'll need a Band-It tool but a pair of pliers might work as well. Loosen up the clamps, BUT YOU MUST LEAVE TWO WRAPS OF BAND ON THE LOOP! Using the Band-It tool or your pliers, pull on the loose end of the clamp band until it's taut. Using a punch or drift, fold down the ears and/or drive the "buckle" close.

acidfire52

oh yeah, without a solid rear axel you would have a VC joint in the back. Nice. Thanks for correcting.

valex

I have tiny hole in driver side outer (wheel end) CV joint boot and it throws grease at high speed. Would you replace the boot OR the whole axle with a remanufactured?

Thanks,
Val

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

I would swap the whole axle, too easy for damage to be done to the CV joint when it loses grease.

Schnitz

iTrader: (5)

I have to do the same thing this winter when the car goes away. There really should be a better solution than flimsy rubber on the underside of the car at the mercy of the road.
Some sort of shield or stronger rubber should be utilized.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

Thick rubber on a joint like that would tear itself apart since it's hard to keep it thick and flexible enough for a CV joint.

The stock rubber holds up pretty well, usually it's road hazards more than age that causes them to tear.

valex

I finally got around to change my driver side axle. Anyone has tips on loosening the rear upper control arm?

valex

Hello,
I am in the process of changing my driver side axle. The one I bought used in on the right, the one I just pulled out is on the leftt. Does the shaft part on the diff. end come off? How do I do it?
It is a 1999 LS

tcr101

iTrader: (2)

There should be 6 hex bolts that you can remove. On my 01 the cv axle came right off once i removed those 6 bolts and pulled on it.

The inner retard in me says to put the old cv axle into place and yank on the cv axle til it comes off, but no idea if that would break anything.

valex

I took the 6 bolts off, then pulled and it came out with that inner shaft that goes into the diff. The part I got is without that shaft, I don't know what to do. The 6 bolts seem to hold the axle to that shaft and nothing else, I hope I didn't break something.

valex

A piece of advice, anyone?

LScowboyLS

hey! we agree!