CV Boot Repair Kit

[BikerBill]

While replacing my front brake rotors I noticed I have a torn outer CV joint boot on the driver’s side of my B5 A4 Quattro. I suspect it’s been like that for a while based on the amount of brake dust/grease that’s accumulated on the inside of the wheel. But there’s no clicking or other signs to indicate that the joint is damaged. I’ve done some searching to get an idea of what is involved in replacing the boot. I have a few questions.

There’s a video on You Tube where the guy claims he removed the whole drive axle without removing any suspension components, pinch bolts, etc. Did the stars align for this guy or have others been able to do this? Any tricks involved?

I also see you can buy split boot repair kits. The one I’ve found for my car uses a number of small nuts and bolts to bind the boot together. Man, that sure seems like a lot less work. This car has 209K miles. If the split boot kit lasted for 2 years/20,000 miles I’d be quite happy with it. What kind of experience have people had with these kits? Are the glue-together ones better than the nut-and-bolt types? Any reason I shouldn’t try one of these? It doesn’t seem like I could make anything worse.

[seanf86]

buy the right cv boot kit, don't use a split boot, or replace the whole axle, you can remove the axle without undoing the pinchbolt but you have to undo it from the trans, if its just an outer cv boot it might be easier to leave it in the car and undo the pinch bolt just to get the outer end out to do the cv boot

[Koldham]

When I rebuilt my axle I had no problem pulling the pinch bolt and removing the entire axle. Made it a lot easier having the axle on the work bench

[AudiB5owner]

I have tried to replace my front driver side boot using the split boot kit. Let's just say, first of all, it is a PITA to get the screws to thread and connect to the nut. Once bolted along the boot's split, you are supposed to apply a glue bond to seal it, but the CV grease tended to leak and get everywhere while assembling. The screws assembling the split boot would hit the sway arm and other suspension parts making a loud click when the axle spun, so it didn't really fix anything. I wouldn't recommend taking this route, go ahead and replace the axle. They aren't that expensive and whether you DIY or go to a shop it probably will be worth it either way over the split boot.

[skemems]

Buy a cv boot kit.. like this one http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_A4-...Kit/ES2627354/
You dont have to remove pinch bolts or suspension bolts to remove axle... Drivers side is fairly easy to remove without taking off pinch bolts.
I just did this a couple weeks ago..

[Seerlah]

You can do this with the axle still on the car, if you choose. You remove the rear lower CA from the spindle, turn the wheel opposite direction side you are working on, and the axle should come out the hub. To get the cv joint off, simply thread the axle bolt back onto the axle and the cv joint will come off. Replace the boot, regrease, use a rubber mallet to tap the cv joint back on, reinstall in reverse. I've never done this personally but I know this to be the process. When my cv joint went, I opted to replace the whole axle.

[malanca]

Just leave the axle on the car. You can easily press of the outer CV joint; once removed out of the wheelbearing, turn in the used axle bolt and there it will jump off. Install a new boot (and a new CV joint if necessary) and mount it back together using a new axle bolt. Just make sure you tie this bolt while no carweight-pressure is on the wheels or otherwise the wheelbearing will be destroyed.

Although you might be needing this tool to remove one swivel joint; but this is fairly the most efficient way for the CV boot job: