CV BOOT REPLACED IN 30 MINUTES

[powers1]

I am a bit late to this thread but I must say Amacman is spot on!If you only need to replace cv joint boot ,there is no better method and more efficient and time saving ,than what Amacman describes in his first post!
At the dealer we dont replace cv boots ,we just replace the comple axle but if you doing it yourself or have an indy do it for you ,then do the methodn described in post #1.Like Amacman said ,you only need to remove the wheel and the bolt/nut from lower arm.Done it loads of times and works best.Even did one X5 today at home
If you are careful and pry off the old clamps ,you can even reuse them !

[PCH BMW]

DISCLAIMER. I’m an amateur, not a pro. The description below is what I did and my thoughts and process; it may be helpful to you and it may be inaccurate, misleading and terrible. It is not a statement of how to do anything. Working on my X5 and Mini is a relaxing hobbie compared to my day job and I only tackle tasks after a lot of reading and leaning. If a task appears to be outside of my skill set, tool inventory, or just too darn hard, then I rely on an indie and dealer pros and I think that they are worth every penny in those circumstances.

Summary of a very long and interesting thread.
3 options you have.
Option 1. Full-By the Book Hub removal.
Option 2. Partial shortcut hub removal and outer CV joint separation.
Option 3. Inside Job super short cut – you replace both boots to save time, hassle, and reduce potential roadblocks.

MY Choice – Inside Job Super Short Cut. Result – Wunderbar!
At a relaxed pace with numerous interruptions from my wife and my buddy's wife and sometimes even my buddy, I completed the driver’s side job in 2 hours not including 45 minutes to clean up my tools. My buddy helped me hold things at 3 points in the process. Next time I’ll shoot for under an hour. I encountered no roadblocks (e.g., No hub nut from hell, axel removal from hell, inner bearing removal from hell, etc.).

START of Inside Job Super Short Cut.
1) Put front wheels on Ramps (optional and fast), break free lugs and control arm at engine connection (only break free, do not loosen lugs or nut).

2) Jack up front of car (jack stands), remove ramps, remove wheel lugs and wheel.

3) Unbolt the straight control arm at the engine side (only 1 side). Tape control arm to the skinny link arm just to keep it out of the way.

4) Remove inner and outer boot CLAMPS (not the boots), then hold the break rotor and pull outwards to slide the INNER 3-head Bearing out of the cup that it sits in located at the engine side of the axle. Once the bearing is out of the cup, keep holding the rotor and pull it until the bearing clears the steering arms and drops down toward the ground (this position will make things much easier).

5) Remove both inner and outer CV BOOTS (you much REUSE the INNER boot adapter so do not damage it). Clean as much grease up as you can from both the outer and inner CV joints. Inspect the outer joint for damage and bad stuff – for example, rotate the rotor and joint to look for dirt, scratches, or foamy grease due to water; if you find bad stuff, you may want to consider a new axle or switching procedures to completely dismantle the outer CV joint to clean and inspect it.

6) If inspection reveals no “bad stuff”, then Remove the C-clip from the INNER 3-head bearing.

7) Pull off the INNER 3-head bearing using a 3-prong gear puller (cheap and easy). Make sure to note which side of the bearing faced toward the engine. Now clean the entire axle to prep for sliding on new CV boots.

8) Slide the Outer CV boot over the axle until the small opening reaches the notch in the axel (I coated the small end of the boot with very slippery and easy to clean up glycerin skin protectant from Right Aid – it does not damage gaskets or rubber). Now slide on the INNER CV Boot and boot adapter. Place 4 clamps loosely around both boots (Do not tighten the clamps yet).

9) Install INNER 3-head bearing by gently taping it on (make sure you have oriented the bearing in the right direction). I used a 23 mm box open-end wrench (nice long handle) and hit it with a normal hammer. Once in place, install the C clip to hold the bearing in place (I bought cheap C-clip pliers – continuing my easy theme).

10) ADD OUTER CV grease to the OUTER joint and INNER CV joint grease to the INNER 3-head bearing joint (see notes below regarding the 2 different types of grease and different amounts of grease to use).

11) Pull back on the rotor until you can swing the inner end of the axle up and fit the INNER 3-head bearing back into the cup. Now fit both Boots into their final position.

12) Burp both Boots (lift lip of boot with flathead screwdriver and gently squeeze boot to remove any pressure) and tighten both CV clamps on each Boot. (Source: Bently Publishers).

13) Reinstall control arm, but only tighten it by hand using a socket wrench. Do not fully tighten the bolt until you have the front wheels on the ground due to the torque required. Remember – safety third. To make the control arm nut easier to reach, I installed the nut facing toward the front of the car (instead of back facing as I found it).

11) Put the wheel back on, partially tighten lug bolts, lower the car to the ground, then fully tighten lug bolts to proper torque.

12) With the car on the ground, now fully tighten the Control Arm nut to (per the specs I followed: 100 nm / 74 foot pounds – once reached, ADD 90 degree turn).

DONE

NOTES.

N.1 My Car. 2004 X5 3.0i. At 50K miles, BMW dealer replaced both outer boots under warranty. At 110K miles, I’m replacing the driver’s side boots and expect passenger side job soon after. Dealer-installed “BMW” outer boots were exactly the same as the GKN boots that I purchased (markings and all). Original inner boot felt more flexible than the GNK inner boot that I purchased.

Job-specific tools to make life simple. C-clip pliers, heavy duty American made CV clamp pliers from Pep Boys (excellent), cordless impact gun from Sears (excellent), 1 roll of paper towels, 3-prong bearing puller from Pep Boys (excellent and cheap).

N.2 Wheel Lug Nuts – Torque to 140 Nm/ 101 foot pounds. (Source: Bentley Publishers).

N.2 Control Arm bolt to sub-frame - Torque to 100 Nm/ 74 foot pounds and ADD 90 degree turn. (Source: Bentley Publishers).

N.3 Outer and Inner CV Joint grease capacity = 80 grams/2.8 oz. (Source: Bentley Publishers). However, some folks say 100 grams of grease for the Inner 3-head bearing joint.

N.4 2 Types of CV Joint Grease? All Evidence points to YES, but I am not aware of an official source. I did a ton of reading – summary of what I found.

A. Bentley Publishers notes that a “special lubricant” comes with both Inner and Outer boot kits (not specific or helpful).

B. The 2 CV joints are made up of very different internal parts and it makes sense to me that the Inner 3-head bearing joint uses a thinner grease, but this is an educated guess.

C. My January 2014 purchase - GKN OEM Inner and Outer CV Boot Kits contain the exact same grease packets from GKN (confusing). Outer kit contains 1, 80 gram bag of grease. Inner kit contains 3, 80 gram bags of grease.

D. I have No confirmation of the grease in the BMW Outer and Inner CV Boot Kits. Quantity of grease? Types of grease? Could not find data or pictures.

E. Honda CV joints also have a similar design – one for Outer joint and a 3-head bearing on the Inner joint. Honda dealer sells 2 different tubes of grease – One for the outer joint and one for the Inbound/Inner joint (the inner grease is bright yellow, 140 gram tube is $28 bucks in SoCal, ouch).

F. Per member comments, the INNER joint grease is lithium based. Potential alternatives include:
(1) Coastal brand uniplex high temp lithium grease

(2) Honda Inbound/Inner CV joint grease (yellow)

(3) Valvoline Durablend Synthetic for CV Joints – lithium based grease (AutoZone 400 gram tube is $5.50). I USED THIS ONE ON THE INNER JOINT – fingers crossed.

(4) Inner - tripod joint - 200g of grease needed - Pegasus - GKN Tripod Joint Grease, 275 Gram Tube
Outer - CV (lobro) joint - 120g of grease needed - Pegasus - GKN CV Joint Grease, 275 Gram Tube

PER Pegasus website: This grease is designed specifically for use in tripod joints. Use of the wrong grease can lead to premature failure.The needle bearings in tripod joints can overheat easily because the rollers slide along the length of the needles in addition to spinning around them. The very tight tolerances in tripod joints also do not tolerate solid additives, which can jam and cause the bearings to seize. This special grease from GKN has high scuffing resistance, but without the solid additives typically found in CV grease. 275 gram (9.7 oz) tube fits standard caulking guns. Includes nozzle.
Not for use in CV joints. We offer a different GKN Motorsport Grade CV Joint Grease (Part No. 1476-082), which is specifically formulated for use in 6-ball CV joints in racing applications.

[Ricky Bobby]

Nice writeup. My inner boots looked fine at 70k miles when I did the front bearings and outer boots 1.5 years ago, no damage whatsoever. I left the inner joint connected and just disconnected the strut and did the outer boots and cleaned/reassembled the joint while the outer end was off, used GKN boot kits for $13 apiece which looked OE to me.

Just cleaned and dressed the inner boot rubber to nourish it a bit, still looks great. It is a shortcut to not take the axle out of the hub, but its also a shortcut not to clean all old grease and disassemble the outer joint and be sure to repack with all fresh grease on a clean joint, which is what I did, and would do it again the exact same way.

[StephenVA]

PCH BMW,
Thanks for the write up and restarting this CV posting. I too did the quick and easy method some months ago with great results and no issues.
As new posters come on line, this issue will be the number one they will encounter in their maintenance catch up process.

Thanks again for the detailed write up.

[admranger]

PCH, nice write up! I have a question though, related to another job I'm doing (motor mounts on the N62).

4) Remove inner and outer boot CLAMPS (not the boots), then hold the break rotor and pull outwards to slide the INNER 3-head Bearing out of the cup that it sits in located at the engine side of the axle. Once the bearing is out of the cup, keep holding the rotor and pull it until the bearing clears the steering arms and drops down toward the ground (this position will make things much easier).

If I do everything up to this step, with the exeption of removing the boot clamps, will I need anything to put the inner joint back together? It appears that if I remove the driver side axle from the inner point, I can get the engine rotated enough and get access to R&R the driver side motor mount. I just am a bit fuzzy on how to remove the driver side inner portion of the axle w/o making a ton of extra work for myself.

Thanks for any clarification you can add.

[PCH BMW]

I like your thinking. Best case in your fact pattern, I would cut both of the INNER CV boot clamps, so you will need 2 new clamps. Grease will fall out of the cup so I would also have INNER joint grease on hand. That's it.


Things that could go wrong.
Outer CV boot could tear from sharp angle bending.


INNER boot could be damaged when you cut off the bands (unlikely if you are careful).


Best of luck.

[squidzilla]

Thanks for this. I am new a DIY guy so these informed short cuts are super helpful.

[admranger]

PCH -- Your fast method for replacing the boot on the inner joint really paid off for me today! Thanks!

[Eric Le Baron]

Just replaced the front axle driver side as the outer boot was split in 2.
What's the torque value for the collar nut on the shaft?
It's part #9

[Ricky Bobby]

Axle Nut (12 pt 36mm)? 331 ft lbs