CV Boot replacement

[SeanF]

let me just say, after searching on audiworld, i was nervous about doing this myself...

I took care of this this morning by myself, i had previously read the audiworld writeup ()

i started at about noon, and finished about an hour later.

I had no stubborn bolts, the hub bolt came off relatively easy, and the pinch bolt was relatively new, so it was fine as well..

i had to jack up the passenger side and let it down every once in a while to be able to turn the wheels...

the clamps were relatively easy to get off the old boot.. sliding the new boot on was tough because i was trying to be careful not to tear the boot... (by tough i still mean easy, i was just being extra precautious)

in my searches on audiworld, i was expecting this to take 5-6 hours...

also, i rented a 3 jaw puller to pull the CV joint off the axle, but didnt need it... screwed the hub bolt into the CV joint and it popped it off for me.

so if you tear your boot, do NOT pay 300+$ to a mechanic to fix it... the boot kit was $16 from advanced auto parts (didnt come with new hub bolt) and about an hour of labor...

i was expecting to be working all day, so now i have alot of free time...

Sean

[SeanF]

ill tell you what, dawn saved my life cutting the grease off my hand, make sure you have a whole bottle of something to get yourself clean...

[IKE20VA4]

haha surgical or nitrile gloves work wonders, the nitrile gloves don't tear as easy as the latex ones. saved my hands many times. i keep a box in the car and a box in the shop.

cool to hear it shouldn't take that long on the CV boot though.

[SeanF]

i should get box of latex gloves from work, i bet id get it for like 1/4 of the price through work...

although, i hope to not have to do that again for a while

[SoFresh]

^^^ hey Sean, that cluster you have for sale, is it all red, or does it light up red and white? Im looking for one with red and white, not all red.

Anyways, back on topic, Im going to have to replace my boots as well, thanks for the info Sean.

[SeanF]

its stock 99, im assuming its all red... i have no way to test it, i bought it in hopes it would work in my car but it didnt...

[Euro Avant]

I tried to do my last sunday. The bolt couldn't come off, so I sent to the shop. It took them good three hours and broken some ABS sensors... *sigh*

[neilechols]

Yeah, my wife and I did this same job this weekend....That's right my wife and I. Just like you said the only subborn thing was getting the new boot on without damaging it. I actually inserted the cv joint into the hub, this held it still while I was able to pull the boot on and clamp it. Saved me 300 bucks!!

[ActiveMonkey]

I was lazy and had a shop do mine. But they were installing a new transmission and a new clutch at the same time so i figured why not.

[dukez]

You guys make me want to do this now. Ive been putting it off since 2004.

[bOOOOstedAudi]

you should have taken pics of the install
i need to do mine

[SeanF]

my hands were too dirty to go anywhere near a camera..

[TheDude]

How much do shops normally charge to do this for both sides? I need to get mine done. Isn't it cheaper just to wait till the axle goes out and replace the whole axle?

[Euro-Tuner]

How much do shops normally charge to do this for both sides? I need to get mine done. Isn't it cheaper just to wait till the axle goes out and replace the whole axle?

you'll probably have to do the wheel bearing before doing the whole axle, I would prevent that at all costs, its not that hard, but it much more expensive than just a CV boot

[Wholsea]

Make sure to get a picture of the spline on the end of the axle and the clip that holds it on...

I'd also replace the entire outer CV joint. Esp if your boot has been broken for some time, who knows how much damage has been caused by dirt and whatnot...

I have a writeup here --> http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127348 for CV joint and axle replacement if anyone is interested.

I've never taken pictures, so if someone is in there, I'd like a picture of a "Clean" CV Joint kit, the outer axle spline, and the inner CVJoint/Diff coupler bolts (the 12pt kind)

[HPAudiA4]

when my cv boots busted both front sides i took off the axels had a buddy drive me over to audi and put them on 1hr labor =like100 to do both not to baqd saved me a whole lot of money

[Ado]

You guys make me want to do this now. Ive been putting it off since 2004.

ahh nice. i been doing the same thing. just puting it off.

[dukez]

Whoa thread bump eh. Just to let you know. I've got this thing taken care of. $200 for both front outer sides at a shop.

[Wholsea]

Does that include parts or just labor?

If you do the labor yourself you can get new outer joints for maybe 120 to 160 total for both sides....

[SeanF]

parts are like 15bucks per side for just the boot...

i love seeing my own threads being brought back from the dead...

[ibew5audi]

[QUOTE=dukez;1246632]You guys make me want to do this now. Ive been putting it off since 2004.

Be careful. I tried the laxidazical(sp?) approach and found out why not to. I was going 85 and my wheel jerked to the right pretty hard. This was only days after I found it was ripped. I had to ride the shoulder all the way home. Every 5-10 revolutions the wheel jerked at the guardrail. The cv had no grease left in it and froze in a bent position every so often. Also-couldn't get pinch bolt out. If you're careful and turn your wheel to the left(i think), the driver's side axle can be removed w/o taking any suspension apart. Raxles ftw. Better grease/boot and customer service w/ new axle bolt.

[TheDude]

So I got a quote for replacement of Boots. $400.00 bucks. About right? hour and a half per side.

[ibew5audi]

3hrs labor + $40 in parts=$400??? Guess you gotta pay if you don't want to do it.

[bloodstar57]

Hey i need to do mine just found it it was broke will in the middle of the clutch change sigh