wpoll,

- Appreciate the trick for undoing the OUTER CV Joint. But my experience in Volvo is that the OUTER has a hidden C-clip inside the OUTER CV Joint,
which can be difficult to spread apart to pull the joint apart.


oldskewel,

- The INNER Tripod, no need to use slide hammer, a simple puller, even 2-prong puller, will do just fine.

- Below is the trick from Volvo S60 forum, same idea as X5 as the CV Joint is made by the same GKN company.


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On the outer joint, yes, it has what I would call a c-ring in the splined shaft. It has a circular cross section, is pretty much circular in shape, is a little bigger than the shaft diameter, and sits in a rectangular circumferential groove in the splined shaft.

So to put the splined axle shaft back in to the outer joint, you need to press the ring so it sits in the groove and can be inserted. Rotating the wheel to get it around the circumference is the trick to get it back in. To get it out, I think it relies more on force and luck, which yes, makes it not the sort of thing you want to have on your only solution path. Similar to insertion, I expect that rotating the wheel while pulling might help it settle into the groove.

When I used the slide hammer on the inner end, I knew it was overkill and did not expect to need to pull very hard. But that inner 3-wheel thing was really stuck on there as it turns out, and the c-ring holding the outer end in place popped right out.

Yes, next time, I would get a simple puller on the inner end (not sure if I have one of these that would work right now). But still, seeing how easily the outer end popped out for me, I'd at least try that. This is mainly guided by the fact that the inner boots last forever, and the outer ones last about as long as tires do. So if the inner one can be left completely untouched, I think that would be my first approach.

Well, I thought I would report back, its been a few months and the Outer CV boot needed cleaning up and inspected (as I feared the worst from using a 'Sticky boot') and after a good clean up, I am happy to report, Sticky Boots are really quite handy if you are careful to install. I will be using them again as they don't require any disassembly other than a wheel removed and if I had a ramp, then I would even question whether I needed to do that.

I will say that I have tried other boots before, and every 12 months, something happened, to either of the sides, splitting, clip loose and slicing the boot etc. I will buy another Balicast one and have it in stock for when I need to do this again. It's also simpler for the not so mechanically minded.

http://creativelamb.co.uk/Images%20BMW/IMG_0192.JPG

It’s that time again
 

Found out my cv boots leaked right before heading out of town. The last set of boots lasted 5 years, was replaced by the dealership. I’m reading this thread, I know it will take more than 30 mins. Now, I’m contemplating wether to try the slid boot or not. I need to replace the brake rotors and pads too.

Not sure if it was this thread somewhere (!) but there are two piece cv boots which can be glued around the joint. And they’re very cheap. Couple of guys on this forum, or might have been the uk site, xdrivers, have used with success.

Job done
 

This is definitely not a thirty minutes job. I thought I would take 3 hours, but the reality is more like 13 hours. Now, if I redo it again, it will be likely take 3 hours. This is an 2005 x5 3.0. I had the hardest challenge push back on the first axel from the drive hub. I went to Autozone rented me a puller and slide hammer, but they didn’t help that much. I went out bought me a bigger hammer with no advancement. So, I ended up sprayed bunch of WD40 multiple time during the Cowboys/charger game on both axles and have it sit overnight. I was able to hammer it off with ease this morning. Prying off from the transmission was easy, putting the driver side back took me an hour, I think the angle was the problem pushing the axel in. I used my lift to hold the axel on the same height and used hammer to smack the darn thing in.

A few differences for people who will do this job. I didn’t remove the swing arms. All I have done is remove the two 22mm bolts holding the hub the the struct. I turned the steering wheel to the max left or right to help me angle the axel out.


Have fun!

Yeah, thats me as well with the Balicast Stickyboot, its still on the car now, no splits either. And... my x5 loves to eat CV boots so I don't see the point in spending ages doing the axle pull method, even with a stretchy boot, its still time consuming. The key with the Glued boot, its take your time, cut off the old boot and CLEAN everything out, then pack in the grease, then wrap some clingfilm/shrinkwrap around the hub joint and axle, then when you glue the boot no grease or dirt can get on the boot. Then, about 2cm at a time, glue the boot together. 1st time took me an hour, I have it down to 40 mins now but that is with cleaning and wirebrushing, brake clean the area ready for new boot install. Of course, once you are glued, remove the clingfilm and install boot in place and fit the CV boot clips.

So is there no need to remove the c-ring before providing a hit with the hammer?

Also how do you get the c-ring back on?

You cannot remove the c-ring before removing the axle from the outer CV - it's INSIDE the outer CV.

Which the right technique, the c-ring is compressed by you adding the correct tension/forces and the axle slides out. Putting back in is easy - slightly compress the c-ring and slide the axle back into the outer CV.

Thanks, that makes sense.