skeetsmax

Are cv boots hard to replace? Is there a difference btween 5spd/auto and Abs/non abs? I found out that my actual boot is cracked, I have no Idea how long it has been cracked, but could not have been long so I am thinking I could get 25k more miles out of the cv joint if I hurry and get a boot on there... Tell me what you guys think... btw I have 86k and 5spd w/abs

minsbang

my dad's '95 GLE had the cv boots ripped too.
He paid $170 (i think) at pepboys to have the whole axle replaced.
I don't think it's an easy task to replace the cj boot.
You'll also have to re-grease it.
I do know that the cv boot costs about $15 at pep boys.
good luck.
I would just replace the whole axle, I rather be safe than sorry.. get what i'm sayin?

Bags

iTrader: (3)

Yes there is a difference between auto-5spd AND abs-NO abs

Easier to replace the WHOLE axle in my opinon.

Axles can be had for $100 at auto zone, pep boys, etc..

If your modding your car seriously, go with www.raxles.com

skeetsmax

why is it so much easier to replace the hole joint even if you have the split boot kit from advance auto?

Jatan

iTrader: (3)

It's the same amount of labor... Since you don't know how long it's been ripped, you might just be covering up a bad joint

pezking4

I would go with some reman axles from Taylor Automotive. You should be able to get both for under $150, and they do free shipping when you make a purchase over $75.

With the right tools and some help from friends you should be able to get the job done. I had to borrow the axle socket from the local auto parts store; other than that I had all the tools needed. (hope you have a good breaker bar!)

And yes, axles vary based on 5 speed/auto, ABS/non ABS, and LSD/non LSD.

skeetsmax

thanks for the info everyone, I am a student at Miss State, and like most college kids I am poor, so I am just gonna have to go for the boots and hope that it is only newly busted?...

does anyone know of a right up on the net, or a how to? I have a haynes manual so I can look in there i guess....

Thanks for the info

JeEvE

iTrader: (10)

http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/401

minsbang

Good luck with the job.
the boot will cost around $15
and it's important that you grease up the "parts" that's inside the boot

kchida

If you're just replacing the boots, get a CV boot kit. I got mine from Courtesty Nissan (not the BEST price but decent, thanks Kaleb!) came with proper amount of grease in tube, all retaining rings, metal bands that don't require CV band tool. You should get a Haynes manual at your local auto store. And yes, like everyone advises, have a real breaker bar handy or better yet impact wrench for the 36mm hub nut. If you use a ratchet with a cheater bar, prepare to make a run to your local tool store for a replacement ratchet and a "real" breaker bar. If you dont know how long you've been riding with a torn boot, I would just get an axle from raxles.com (shiny new joints, new retaining rings, Amsoil grease, free return shipping for core plus box for it, even a new cotter pin, great communication. Perfect! Also priced right!) raxle.com will even give you new support bearings for your passenger side. I was really satisfied and suprised by the ease in doing business with www.raxles.com. You don't really come across businesses like this these days. (This is not a plug and/or spam, I'm just a very satisfied customer!) I've hear mixed things about the reman. from autozone, pepboys, etc. However, if you're still determined to recondition the joint/boot, then be prepared to do a very thorough job. get every last bit of dirt, grime, old grease out of there and scrap the effort if you see signs of heavy wear. Putting new boots on is a lost cause if you're already hearing clicking noises from the joint or there's excessive play. also use proper amount of grease (it's quite a bit)

Believe me I know what you're going through. I'm a starving student too and my Max is my daily driver for school and work. Since I can't afford the down-time I just spent a little more and got raxle.com driverside axles to save the headache a couple months down the road. My passenger side boots were still intact so I chose to recondition it instead. It's not difficult but it requires quite a bit of labor especially if you've never done it before. I actually did mine just last Sunday. Took a couple hours.

Hope this helps!

Bags

iTrader: (3)

Like someone else said same amount of labor.

And to put a new boot on, you need to remove all old grease and throughly inspect to ensure that there are not gouges in the joint.

I am not saying it can't be done. It's more beneifcal (sp) to change the whole axle.

And I hate to say this.. but have you checked your other axle?

Check both inner and outer boots.

They like to go in pairs

skeetsmax

cv boots are hard as heck to get off... I am gonna pay someone to do this...

Shift_my vq

any body know how much those good axels above are. the r axles or whatever. 5spd non abs

UTIMaxima

iTrader: (2)

whatever you do, don't use one of those split boot jobs from the auto parts store, they're a real POS.

skeetsmax

alright... seriously here is my situation... your opinion, should I get total new shaft for 60 or should I put on new boot for 10... now my situation... I have my 97 max with 86k on it, i get new tires yesterday and the man is like your cv boot is torn, so that makes me think well how long has it been torn... well i noticed some grease on my wheel no more than two weeks ago, so i assume that my boot split about 3 weeks ago when i changed my oil (i just turn the wheels to the right and do it like that so maybe the extreme turn caused a little tear) well i figure my boot has been busted for about 3 weeks at the most, but probably like 2 weeks, so should i go all out or should i do just the boot...

UTIMaxima

iTrader: (2)

If you can do the work yourself, do the boot. If you have to take it to a shop, it might be cheaper to do the half shaft.

gabex

iTrader: (2)

Well the moral of the story is fix it ASAP and do not wait until it is totally about to go on you.

I just got picked up from the side of the road after having to push my car out of an intersection where it died. I was driving with 2 bad cv boots, and the recent winter ice, salt, sand killed them. I think that the axels actually snapped. I was pressing the gas, rpms were rising, but I was not moving and I was in drive. Well I am now going to have to have my car toed somewhere. I have the RAXLES in the mail too

UTIMaxima

iTrader: (2)

That sux dude. How long did you drive with the clicking noise in the turns?

kchida

It's really hard to say how long your joint's gonna last with a torn boot. The only way is to take it apart and inspect it. Obviously, your torn boot is gonna be a bigger problem if you do a lot of city driving and/or winter driving. I'd pretty much kiss the joint goodbye if you live in an area that snows heavily. Once the road salt and gravel chunks get in there its over. I would take my chances any day with a reman. instead of just changing a torn boot. Unless of course it just tore a couple days ago. If you can pick up reman.'s for around $60 each, I'd give it a shot. but anything closer to $90ish and I'd definitely invest extra for a new raxle.com axle. You're pretty much buying ~100k miles of headache-free performance and easy installation. As a suggestion, you might also want to think about replacing your differential output seals while you're at it (as long as you feel confident that you won't botch it up cause it's pretty easy to install a new seal but its equally easy to mess up).

gabex

iTrader: (2)

I am not sure how long I drove on it with the cracked boots..I usually listen to my music loud so I would not hear it anyways. I live in Indiana, and in the past week, we have gotten like 8-10 inches of snow/ice. The roads are heavily salted..I think that is what did its damage.

On a side note, are there any other effects of driving a car til the axle complete goes out? Could it damage anything else?

cyjad

I just replaced my cv boot.

If I were you, I'd remove the axle with the bad cv boot, since you have to anyways. Cut the bad boot off, clean the cv joint and inspect it thoroughly for wear, looseness, etc. If the cv joint is bad, then replace the axle, if not, replace the boot.

The two hardest part of changing the boot was removing the axle nut, and seperating the cv joint, that is if you don't have the proper tools such as an impact wrench or slide hammer puller, like me.

For the axle nut, I took off the wheel, remove the cotter pin and nut shield. Took the center cap off the wheel, put the wheel back on, drove to the closest service station (< 1/2 mile), and ask the mechanic to crack the axle nut loose and tighten to about 100 ftlbs. This took literally about 10 sec for the mechanic to do and $2.

I limped home SLOWLY and CAREFULLY. The nut came right off. No need to break tools that are not designed to do the job like ratchets. No frustration, just time consuming.

As for seperating the cv joint, take it to a shop to seperate it.....uh, I mean if you have another way to get there cuz your car will not be driveable at this time. If not, it is possible to hammer it off. That's what I did. It was not pretty.

Also, I did not drain the tranny fliud prior to removing the axle. I just put a large drain pan underneath where the axle meets the tranny so that when I pulled the axle out whatever fliud came out ended up there. You still have to open the filler plug to replace whatever tranny fluid you lost or if is time for a tranny fluid change anyways, then drain it all out and replace with fresh fluild.

Also, mark/scribe where the bolts and nuts are when you remove the bolts for the strut. This comes it handy when you have to put them back on. You may still need an alignment, but at least you'll get it close to where it was before.

Sorry for the long post, just trying to pass on what I learned.

sryth

Think about what would happen if the joint were to break.

If the inner joint broke, you'd have a driveaxle that is only connected at the wheel. If you're moving when this happens, that drive axle will bounce around and bash into everything it can reach until the outer joint breaks, or you stop.

If the outer joint broke, the same thing would happen (bouncing around, breaking ****), but it would continue as long as you were in gear. Oh, and you wouldn't be in gear long, as you wouldn't be able to drive the car, unless you have a VLSD tranny.

So, if either the inner or outer joints break, you could do some damage to the surrounding components...mainly steering and suspension stuff. And you'd get stranded (unless you have VLSD) and require a tow.

These are worst case scenarios. There's a chance that the axle will stay inside the boot and just spin happily until you notice the loss of power to the wheels.

95GreekMaxSE

I snt it possible to blow the tranny from driving on broken axles???

sryth

Well, if you have an open diff, you can't actually drive on a broken axle. The broken axle will spin, the working one won't.

If you have a VLSD, you could probably drive on it, but I can't imagine it's good for the differential.

I don't think either case is good for the differential, but the rest of the tranny should be fine.

astil

iTrader: (1)

I think that chances to snap an axle due to ripped boot is very minimal...It would have to be open for a very long time ,collect a lot of dirt and wear badly...However , is not that hard to do a boot replacement, but is very dirty...Make sure that you have plenty of rags and parts cleaner...If you don t have an impact tool ,loose the axle nut while the car is still on the ground. Make sure that you get a boot kit from Nissan...
Cleaning the assembly is probably most important...It would be a lot easier if the boot was not open (just cracked). It may be a good time to check the boot on the other side ,and replace it if cracked. That would avoid an unnecessary mess on your wheels and wheel well.

sryth

I remember hearing/reading somewhere that it was bad to use an impact wrench on drive axles. It was because of the stress it puts on the tranny (bearings? splines?). It made sense...I was just wondering if anyone else has heard this.

skeetsmax

I want everyone to know that the cv joint is not an easy job. I finally took care of everything and got back to MSU. I did not just replace the boot, I went to oreilly auto and bought a reman for only 60. I will say though that will the new cv joint my car is much smoother on the interstate. From 70 - 90 my car just begs for more. The final verdict is dont bother with the cv boot, just get a new axle. Much easier to do, just pull out old put in new. No cleaning and inspecting the old one, just give it the middle finger and put it in the core box. If anyone has questions email me asr31@msstate.edu

gabex

iTrader: (2)

Well I think my axel actually snapped, broke, gave out, whatever. I was driving, and I could hear it grinding, I was losing steering, and I was 2 miles away from home trying to make it there ASAP. My car was struggling over 35mph, and then finally it wouldn't move. As I accelerated, my revs would go up, but the wheels would not spin.