CV BOOT REPLACED IN 30 MINUTES

[jdudjak]

I just did this job this weekend and it was a hard one. I went to an Auto Hobby shop on a military base where I have access to a lift, air impact wrench, large impact sockets, a puller for the hub, etc. At first I tried the method to remove the shaft from the cv joint while it was still installed in the hub. That was a no go. The c-clip would just not release. Then I realized I had to remove the shaft from the hub to get at the outer CV joint and replace the boot. The good news is that I did not have to take the caliper, ABS sensor, wheel, or strut apart. All I had to do was disconnect one end of the control arm from the body of the car. I have copied a picture from tspeed and I drew a box around which control arm to remove to create enough room to remove the shaft from the wheel.

Removing the shaft was tough, and it requires a lot of torque to remove the indents on the nut. You can either do this with an impact wrench, or a long breaker bar with a pipe. The nut comes off relatively easy. Once the nut is off, then the hard part begins. Removing the shaft from the wheel can be done by using a puller. The puller will bolt into the rotor using lug nuts, and then push on the center of the hub pushing the shaft out of the wheel. Even with this puller, it took a lot of hammering on the CV joint at the same time to jar the shaft loose from the hub. Eventually with a LOT of force, the shaft was pushed out of the wheel. Then you can rotate the wheel assembly out of the way to expose the shaft and CV joint. Then just put a vice grip on the shaft, and hammer the exposed edge of the CV joint away from the middle of the shaft and the c-clip will release with relative ease. Then you pack the CV joint with new grease, and put the CV joint back together. Put the new boot on the shaft, but do not install it on the CV joint yet. When you put the CV joint back together, put the shaft with the C-clip into the cv joint by hand and push it as far as you can. Then use a hammer with a small blow to the outer shaft and the C-clip will seat and you won't be able to take the shaft and CV joint apart again. Then you can install the CV joint back into the wheel (this is the splined shaft on the outer edge of the CV joint that enters the wheel). Hammer softly on the exposed edge of the CV joint to get it to seat into ths splines of the hub. Once it is seated enough so you have threads that the axle nut can grab on to, then you can install the boot all the way onto the CV joint. Use special pliers to install the new clamps on the rubber boot.

Put your impact wrench or breaker bar and socket on the new axle nut that came with the kit and seat the CV joint all the way into the wheel. Torque it to BMW specs and then detent the nut. Install the control arm back into the body of the car, clean the brakes, install the tire and you are done! You don't even have to get an alignment when you are done because all you did was unbolt one end of a control arm that was not adjustable. This job took me 4 hours with the help of a buddy and I was done. I could probably do it again in 2 hours.