CV Boot DIY (pictures)

[killcrap]

do it anyway you want to

[amacman]

sorry i wasted my time asking you anything
you suggested a proceedure that does not really make complete sense to me
i`m sure the axle shaft can not be hammered out unless the hub is moved from it`s fixed position so i`m curious to know if turning the steering will allow enough flexibility in the cv joints to remove the axle shaft or do you leave steering in the straight position and still have enough movement in cv joints to remove shaft
you obviously know the procceedure so why can`t you explain it in more detail .
i`m sure there will be a few people reading this will want the answers .

[killcrap]

its pretty obvious to me you seem to only take your own advise. remember the whole water pump. and brake caliper deal? why do i have to explain myself to someone who knows everything already.

[amacman]

you told me something i did not know about the water pump , as in bmw stopped using plastic impellors otherwise i would have replaced it but as it`s metal then i`ll leave it .
i don`t recall anything on brake caliper so i can`t respond to that
i still can`t figure how the axle shaft is going to release because i`ve never done one but reading all other info on the subject tells me that it needs some space to remove it so can you stop wasting time and tell us then i can go to sleep in a good mood .

[generx]

Thanks for your input, I only posted this DIY because it was supposedly the shortcut and indeed it worked for me. If you were able to find a better way, it would be great if you can post some details instead of a vague DIY which doesn't really help anybody.

You can also start your own post.

Originally Posted by killcrap

excellent? not really, this is too much un necessary work.

1)remove wheel

2)remove 36mm nut (easier than it souunds --good luck not damaging the seals)

3)remove lower control arm bolt and let the arm hang

4)use air hammer to push axle shaft out of hub (you assume everyone has air tools)

5)using a razor blade, cut boot in half (if not already completly torn) ***There is no way in hell you'll be able to clean the joints thoroughly this way and will end up needing to repeat the job later)

6)using a small sledge hammer, hit cv joint out of splines

7)replace cv boot

takes 15 minutes! (I highly doubt that)

[Ambrosius]

Love the pics.

[StartX5]

Killcrap +10: I totally agree with you. Generx removed alot of things and that's un necessry. I didn't remove caliper, rotor etc away from my truck.

I only removed 3 OUTER control arms and ball joint - and pushing, prying the rotor to take off the axle.

[btmed]

I tried the shortcut method but when i got to the point of trying to get the cv joint to come off the spline had no luck. I turned the wheel all the way to the left, (working on front left), and didnt have enough room to beat on the star area to make it come off. I tried using socket extension with hammer to no avail. May try again with bigger hammer...just doesnt seem right beating on an area that gets screwed up by a little dirt and grime.

[Rutly]

Let me preface by saying that everything I do on this car is the first time I've ever done it. I'm by no means a pro.

The 'shortcut' advocated by killcrap absolutely does work. It had some difficulties of it's own, but kept me from having to remove the entire knuckle to replace the axle. I didn't remove the brakes or rotor. The only things I unscrewed were the control arm at the subframe and the axle nut (okay, I removed the wheel too).

It seems like it would be hard to use an air hammer to drive out the axle from the hub with this method, because the axle is still inserted into the differential. I'm sure the pro's have a simple trick to make that work. I used a simple axle puller/pusher (the type you bolt to the hub) and it removed the axle no problem).

My only two cents would be to have a BIG friend pull the knuckle/hub away from the car while you pry the outer cv joint out of the depression in the knuckle from the back with a pry bar.

[TriX5]

I did this four times by now, twice on each side of the 4.4. Each time I opened the locking bead on the nut first with a small screw driver. Then used an airwrench to undo the nut. For US based posters, rental centers have these for a 30 or 40 bucks a weekend incuding a small compressor.

The first time (to replace both outer boots) I took the hubs off the strut but found that a back breaking exercise. I bougth the puller that attaches to the wheel bolts and found it makes it much easier to get the CV joint out of the hub. I also found that I had to make a clamp for the shaft so that I could put pre-tension on the circlip using a crow-bar, to pop the shaft out of the CV-joint with a hammer.

Upon going for number three six months later (one of the new boots had developed a mysterious cut on one ridge) I decided to leave the hub on the strut but undid the control arms from the sub-frame. With the wheel turned to full lock the CV-joints can be released from the hub and then the CV joint has to be removed from the shaft.

Final session number four occured about two years later when one CV-joint started to make some horrible noises when turning. Again left the hub on the strut and found the whole thing amazingly quick. My inner boots still look in good shape and I re-used the outer boot on the last one.

I am sure either method works, this works for me. Good luck to those who are going to attemmpt this, I would say difficulty is 8 of 10 on the first one and 6 or 7 for the second try, after that it is a 4 or a 5.