Small cut on inner CV boot

takane2 · Post by **takane2** » 10 Oct 2010, 08:52

The inner CV boot on one of my new axles has a little cut in it. I was wondering if anyone has tried to do anything similar to patching a hole in a inner tube on a CV boot? Since the slit is so tiny, less than a centimeter long there wouldn't be any substantial loss of grease or contamination. I don't really see a need to take the whole axle off to replace and repack the boot.

pablotar · Post by **pablotar** » 10 Oct 2010, 10:17

I could be wrong, but I would imagine that if you patch it, you'd need to patch on the opposite side to balance it, as the patch itself might be enough to throw things off once you get the car going fast enough.

Post by **JDS60R** » 10 Oct 2010, 10:57

Replace boot.
Centrifugal/centripetal force will sling the grease out any hole. Temp change and daily heat/cool cycle will draw moisture in and create rust/wear

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 10 Oct 2010, 13:34

+1 = Just replace it now and be done with it.

A CV boot is a miraculous thing, as long as it's whole!
You've got a slit? You've got a hosed boot...Sorry.

takane2 · Post by **takane2** » 10 Oct 2010, 16:40

Oh well, I suspected as much. It will be one of the first things on my todo list once I am un-unemployed

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 10 Oct 2010, 17:10

Temp fix: You could probably roughen the area with sandpaper and then go several coatings of superglue or epoxy.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 10 Oct 2010, 19:12

ecbsykes wrote:Temp fix: You could probably roughen the area with sandpaper and then go several coatings of superglue or epoxy.

IMHO, I don't think that would even start to work.
Finding an adhesive that would even bond to a boot
would be pretty impressive, and that adhesive would
also need to be very flexible. Sometimes broke is just broke...

Post by **Red-Arrow** » 11 Oct 2010, 04:16

There are band aid fixes but nothing better than a new boot. The hardest part of this job is opening the hub nut. You need like a 5 foot bar and some will power to bounce on it. The CV clip can also be a pain as well as removing the ball joint. I would replace it personally even though its a horrible job. I noticed that the CV boot on the driver side looks like its perishing. I will probably have to do the same thing as you sooner rather than later. Yes I'm out of a job as well

Post by **cn90** » 11 Oct 2010, 06:19

I wrote a DIY here, HTH. You may as well do both sides while you are there.
About $30 per set of boot for EACH side. Follow this instruction!

Axle CV Boots Replace Tips/Tricks

takane2 · Post by **takane2** » 11 Oct 2010, 07:01

I will inspect the other boots but they shouldn't need replacing, this is a brand new EMPI installed less than a month ago!