first time fixing outer cv boot

[ogatrulle]

Progress! The oppressive rains finally paused long enough for me to get the driveshaft off. VIDA's procedure was to disconnect the lower strut bolts, but that means carefully measuring strut position and/or messing up camber, so I just undid the ball joint at the bottom and used a big ratchet strap to pull the LCA away. Tie rod & sway bar remained connected. That was last weekend.

Yesterday I had some quality time at the workbench with the driveshaft. Here's the "before" photo showing the grease leak:

cv-before.jpg (88.43 KiB) Viewed 1504 times

I cut the old boot off and wiped as much grease away as I could before beginning disassembly:

cv-wiped.jpg (89.5 KiB) Viewed 1504 times

VIDA says to measure the distance from the inner edge of the spider to the groove in the driveshaft where the inner boot clamp goes. The purpose of this measurement is to ensure the spider is later pressed back onto the shaft the correct distance to engage the spring clip. I could not get my caliper in there, but I was able to get a small ruler and measure 2.5 32nds of an inch from the edge of the spider to the inner extent of the splines on the shaft. You can see that tiny distance in the photo above.

VIDA suggests using an electric engraver to scribe a mark lining up the shaft, the spider, the cage, and the cup. My hand scribe did not leave a mark on the steel, but I did have a dremel and was able to make some tiny marks with that. In addition to keeping those parts lined up, VIDA also says to keep track of the positions of the individual bearing balls, so I had six numbered containers and a drawing where each one went in relation to my reference marks.

Then I clamped the driveshaft and went at the spider with a brass drift (1/2-inch diameter, 7 inches long). My initial hammer hits were not enough, but I switched to the 3-pound sledge and finally disengaged the spring clip. Here is a photo of the shaft showing the groove where the spring clip fits. There is a corresponding groove in the inside of the spider splines.

cv-shaft.jpg (56.89 KiB) Viewed 1504 times

The steel is pretty hard. The end of the brass drift was pretty banged up by the time I got the spider off. That's OK!

Once the shaft is disconnected from the spider, the internals of the cv joint are able to move to a steeper angle and I was able to swing each cage position out and pluck the steel ball. To remove the cage and spider, the cage has to be rotated to the correct orientation with respect to the cup in three axes. 1. Perpendicular to the normal plane of operation; 2. correct spot along the circumference of the cup; 3. correct spot along the cage to intersect the diameter of the cup. Minimal force required, fingers only.

Wiped, cleaned with brakleen, then reassembled, using my index marks so everything goes back the same way. I noted that my cup communicated with the outside via the threaded hole of the axle bolt. Upside: burping the CV boot is probably not necessary. Downside: when packing grease, try not to shove any into the hole. Hole visible in the center of cup in this photo:

cv-assemble-1.jpg (61.88 KiB) Viewed 1504 times

Balls in:

cv-assemble-2.jpg (61.29 KiB) Viewed 1504 times

I cleaned the driveshaft all the way to the inner grooves where the inner end of the boot is clamped. VIDA says no grease at boot clamp points. I put the inner clamp on the driveshaft and then the boot, and clamped the inner end of the boot. Put new spring clip (in boot kit) onto the end of the shaft.

I packed the assembled joint with the first 80g grease packet (2 came with the boot kit). Now the fun begins. First, I followed my scribed index mark on the shaft to the outer end of the corresponding spline and marked it. Then lined up my spider mark on the correct spline and got the spider slid on. At about the 1/2 inch point, the spider hits the clip. The whole operation is somewhat complicated by the boot which gets in the way. I slid fingers to the clip location and tried to ease it into the groove a little all the way around while still pressing the joint onto the shaft with other hand. Then a hand switch to grab rubber mallet.

With rubber mallet, smack the outer end of the shaft of the cup to get the spider all the way onto the driveshaft. You have to overcome the spring clip and make it compress into its groove. At some point I hit it just right and the joint slid on further. It has to go until the spring clip also seats in the groove in the spider. At that point the amount of splines showing inboard of the spider will be the same as measured before disassembly.

Second grease packet onto the shaft under the boot.

The last part is to get the sealing area of the outboard end of the boot clean. This is not easy. I did my best to clean the outer part of the cup and the inner edge of the boot, then I installed the outer clamp.

In operation, I think the spinning of the shaft/joint tends to force the grease toward outboard along the boot and toward the bearing balls (away from the center hole) in the cup.

Driveshaft reassembled:

cv-after.jpg (60.25 KiB) Viewed 1504 times

[cn90]

Question for the gurus...

On the average, when (how many miles) does OUTER CV Boot starts to crack, leaking grease?

[abscate]

I’m on my originals on all three , so they don’t crack on time, >20 years.

My T5 just hit 230k.

The OEM ones seem very long lived

[JacobMorris]

Looks as a real hard work.

[MoVolvos]

Looks as a real hard work.

Yes and No. A long funnel can be a substitute if you don't have to disassemble using the Stretch A Boot Method
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[XC70Rider]

VIDA says to measure the distance from the inner edge of the spider to the groove in the driveshaft where the inner boot clamp goes. The purpose of this measurement is to ensure the spider is later pressed back onto the shaft the correct distance to engage the spring clip. I could not get my caliper in there, but I was able to get a small ruler and measure 2.5 32nds of an inch from the edge of the spider to the inner extent of the splines on the shaft. You can see that tiny distance in the photo above.

VIDA suggests using an electric engraver to scribe a mark lining up the shaft, the spider, the cage, and the cup. My hand scribe did not leave a mark on the steel, but I did have a dremel and was able to make some tiny marks with that. In addition to keeping those parts lined up, VIDA also says to keep track of the positions of the individual bearing balls, so I had six numbered containers and a drawing where each one went in relation to my reference marks.
.....

To get these instructions on how to rebuild the CV joints onto the shaft type 'velocity' on the repair tab in VIDA..

[cn90]

ogatrulle,

Still curious how many miles on your car when the CV Boot leaked?

[abscate]

Remember s/he damaged it doing another job, from first post