CV Boot to the Axle

[1995HondaCivic]

my CV boot from the axle is throwing all kinds of oil/grease on my passenger side rim. my uncle said i may need new axles. anyone know the problem?

[drift]

your cv boot is torn. you can replace the boot without having to replace the axle, unless it's lost all the grease, has become contaminated, or clicks.

the cheap way is to buy a slit boot, remove the old one, clamp the new one on... but it wont last long.

the best way is to drop the axle, remove the old boot, separate the cv joint, install a new boot, and put it back on the car.

[1995HondaCivic]

what's up drift? its been a long time.

thanks for the help. how hard is it to drop the axle, and how much does a new boot cost?

[jaxle]

im getting my axles, and cv joints and boots replaced for 320 dollars at my favorite mechanics shop they said just replacing the boots is 220, i opted for the axle/joint replacement too cos they are real old.

[clatescivicr]

1995Hondacivic- I have the same problem. My dad told me that I'd have to change the axle. But I have clicking, I'm not sures if your is or not. New axle installed for me is under $300 installed. And the CV boot is closer to $150. And I live in NY

You must have over 100k miles, because in both of my civics after 100k miles I started hearing it.

Oh yeah, my dad said replacing the axle yourself isn't a HARD job, but its not easy. He said it would be easier than doing a swap hehehe(at the time my dad and I were talking about doing swaps)

[drift]

Originally posted by 1995HondaCivic
what's up drift? its been a long time.

thanks for the help. how hard is it to drop the axle, and how much does a new boot cost?

a new boot with straps is about $15 at your local honda dealership.

dropping the axle isn't hard by any means if you have some sense of what you're trying to accomplish.

get a helms manual so you dont get stuck on the way, but here's the skinny...

remove wheel of the offending side
use a small chisel to tap out indent on your hub nut
break hub nut
disconnect steering arm from knuckle
disconnect TC bar from front of knuckle
disconnect upper wishbone mounting yoke from knuckle
disconnect sway bar (if you have one)
remove lower strut bolts or remove strut if necessary... the reason is you'll be pulling on the bottom of your brake disc to swing the whole knuckle assembly towards you so the cv axle drops down out of the hub and differential.
get a crowbar and wedge it between the axle and diff to try and "pop it out"

once popped, pull the bottom of the brake disc and it should have enough clearance to fall out of the differential side. once that's done, just pull it out of the hub side... if it doesnt budge, get a brass punch and a hammer, and tap it out.

[Rice-Rocketeer]

Take his advise and do it yourself. It took me an afternoon and $80 to change my passneger side axle. Would you pay $300 for that?

[1995HondaCivic]

thanks for the help drift and rice

yep, my unlce is going to help me tackle it, lol

[CarbonFiber1]

Ya, do it yourself. If you are even moderately mechanically inclined, you can do it in an afternoon. Hardest part is reassembling the suspension components after they've been relaxed and also engaging the axle back in the tranny can be frustrating. You have to align the spline teeth and also make sure the snap ring goes back in the slot. Make sure you have positive engagement into the tranny or you'll soon have one wheel drive and boogered spline teeth in your tranny. I hope I'm not discouraging you, just giving precautions. I'm no mechanic and I did it right.

[jaxle]

so u guys are saying ( considering i have no car mechanics experience xcept for simple tuneup stuff) i could pull this off, and is the haynes manuals instructions addequate or should i get a helms for this job..?

[Phr0st]

my brother and I replaced the rear axle on my old Jeep in about 3 hours. it saved ALOT of cash and we got to sit around and shoot the shit all afternoon, alot more fun and less expensive than dealing with a mechanic. But that was on a jeep, which are notoriously easy to work on, but then again, Hondas don't exactly scream complexity

Oh yeah, and we just used a haynes manual to do it, 13.95 at autozone

[Darkwing]

well sure, you can do it yourself. You just got to have the tools and equipment. That's my problem, I stay at my folks place, and they have nothing but a socket set and a screwdriver. I can hardly do anything myself. I wish I had a friend with a garage, you would think with me being in the Mechanical Engineering dept. at my University that I would have access to one, but noooooooo........

*pouts*

So my advice is, if you have the stuff to do it with, go right ahead, it shouldn't be hard. They do it at Honda in about 30 min.

[igo4bmx]

Originally posted by Darkwing

So my advice is, if you have the stuff to do it with, go right ahead, it shouldn't be hard. They do it at Honda in about 30 min.

to work on a car you need knowledge. as long as you know what to do and how to do it, you should always succeed.

but if you strip a bolt, start crying..

[clatescivicr]

30 mins? Then why do they charge over 300 for that and the parts alone are less than $150.

Originally posted by Darkwing

So my advice is, if you have the stuff to do it with, go right ahead, it shouldn't be hard. They do it at Honda in about 30 min.

[jaxle]

hey do new driveaxles come with the cv boots pre installed? that'd be tight cos then all i'd have to do is pop the baby in