CV boots (a coalescence of thoughts)

[cn90]

Home Depot sells the crimper. It is used by the people that install landscape sprinkler system.
Check their sprinkler dept. It is about $9.

If not, then buy "cutting pliers" then use a file to blunt the edge and turn that into an Oetiker pliers.

[burnout8488]

More specifically, search for "End Nippers." Sears has at least two pairs they keep in stock in stores I believe.

[Raycharles90]

Thanks,

I also see Sears has an 1/2 inch drive 18" breaker bar on sale right now. That way if I bust it off I can easily return.

[xHeart]

Replacing a torn boot is your best option.
I has similar situation. All things considered, I took the rebuild route since it already had 120K miles on it.
It was cost efficient and I wanted another 100K miles to go with it.
How torn is the boot, a picture?

[Raycharles90]

It is a pretty good 1.5-2 inch tear in it. So much so that there was a little glob of grease on the pavement where I did my work. I must have let the hub drop too low when I was installing the new struts. Been driving it for a month or so. Was under the car the other day to put in a new O2 sensor and realized how big the tear was. Still a lot of grease in there and didn't appear to have any road debris inside. I have 140,000 mi on the car and hope to drive it until I decide to get a new car (I dislike car payments with a passion). For the two boots and the axle seal its is about $50. Hopefully I will have many more miles before I hear any clicking. I will be frustrated if in a years time or so I have to replace the axle but, at least then I can tick off "cv boot" on my shade tree mechanics list.

I will let you all know if I have any updates.

[cn90]

If you have a tear in the boot, then during replacement, the basic minimum is to give the CV joint a good cleaning job.

You can use gasoline/mineral spirit to clean the CV Joint, then dry them.
Apply proper amount of grease during install.