CV gaitor replacement

[dan23]

ok my o/s (driver side for them who dont know the side i mean)CV gaitor has split and i need to get it sorted out for its mot, my mate who is a mechanic for vw said he will come do it for me, but hes not very well, so looks like i may have to do it myself, what i wanna know is does any1 know how to do it, like give me a step by step guid or if there is already a step by step guid on the site i cant find

[dabill]

righty-o...

while the wheel is on and the car is on the ground, undo the wheel hub nut, its a 30mm nut. you need a good big scaffold pole me thinks...

then you need to take off the wheel. i suggest you get some penetrating lube from halfords aswell, as wd40 probs wont cut the next bit...

the two bolts on the suspension leg need to be undone, its a 19mm socket and spanner jobby... wedge the spanner between the wheel arch while its on the nut, and put the socket on the bolt, attatch scaffold bar, and undo. repeat for second one.

then the track rod end, which is the steering bit towards the back of the car in relation to the hub, that will need the nut un doing (19mm i think again) and then you will need a track rod splitter, again halfords sell these.

once thats done, the ball joint needs doing. i find the 3 small nuts under the wish bone easier to undo genrally so pleanty of penetrant lube on these and undo, only need a socket on the underside, as the top plate is solid so no spanner needed.

once its all undone, use the hub puller (also a purchase from halfords) and pop the hub off.

right then, now the easy bit. the cv joint.

get a nice lump hammer or any nice hammer you can find. make sure there is a wheel under the car, and its on axle stands or something very solid to avoid death.

position yourself so that you are able to give the cv joint a good belt with the hammer from behind. belt it, and it will just fly off and hit something undoubtedly important. then get the new CV joint and using the greece supplied, fill the metal bearings by forcing the greece into them, and plop pleanty of the greece down the center of the cv joint. dont be afraid of the greece, get it slapped in!

now on with the new cv boot, and then replace the small circlip on the end of the drive shaft, thats tricky and will take some patience, i used a small flat head screw driver and prised it off.

then put the new cv joint on, and give it a few gentle taps(and eventually a few hard belts if your me) until its all sitting nice, and get some decent tie wraps and fix the boot in place and then do everything back up in reverse... making sure every nut is as tight as humanly possible, especially the hub nut...


tip: tighten the hub nut when its all put together and the wheel is back on and the car is on the ground, and if possible, get some one to sit int eh car and apply the foot brake, i cant stress enough how tight this nut needs to be.

give yourself half a day or so for this...

hope thats comprehensive enough...

rob

[rombonie]

Not bad Rob, just a little overbroad on the splits and pulls  I just use me hammer

Worth noting that if you remove the lower ball joint via the 3 nuts and bolts, you need the refit it in the exact same place, u can do it without do this bit

Have a fun day

[dan23]

i think you miss understood what i ment mate, its the rubber gaitor that goes over the front wheel bearing thats attached to the front os drive shaft, its just the rubber part i need to replace not the hole CV joint

[rombonie]

U or me Rob?

[dan23]

nope i stand corrected, you are right with your explination, and there was me thinking it was gonna be an easy job, right i think im gonan drag my mate out to do it cos it will take me about a week to do it myself

[richard s]

when i did mine i removed the nut from end of driveshaft  then the spline bolts from gearbox end then undid the two bolts holding hub to shocker then removed driveshaft with a bit of jiggling about
as for the cv boot i always fit the clamps that come in the kit thay can be a pain to tighten but you can buy a tool to do this or carefully nip up with side cutters
it is a fairly easy job give it a try and if you balls it up then drag your mate out 

[Diamond Hell]

Is it inner or outer that's gone?

I did a write-up here a while back, which might be useful.

Get the hub nut undone with the wheel on the floor - it ain't gonna happen any other how!

the two bolts on the suspension leg need to be undone, its a 19mm socket and spanner jobby... wedge the spanner between the wheel arch while its on the nut, and put the socket on the bolt, attatch scaffold bar, and undo. repeat for second one.

Don't do it!

The two bolts there control a large part of the front suspension set up! (one of the heads is 18mm, too - just to confuse you).

i find the 3 small nuts under the wish bone easier to undo genrally so pleanty of penetrant lube on these and undo, only need a socket on the underside, as the top plate is solid so no spanner needed.

As has already been discussed on here undoing these 3 bolts also shags the front wheel alignment, however I challenge most people to get the single bolt undone that keeps the lower ball joint in - it's a right biatch!

The outer one can be done by releasing the lower ball-joint only - in situ, but make sure you put the car on axle stands!

The hub doesn't need to come off the upright - loosen the nut a bit if you're worried about shagging the threads on the end of the shaft and wallop it in the hub - once it's moving it'll come out pretty easily.

[dan23]

lol i am so confused now lol

think ill just try and dragg my mate up to help me

[nealey]

You dont need to undo half the stuff mentioned

Personally i take the 30mm nut off, whack the driveshaft so its loose in the hub, take the wheel off, undo the 19mm nut on the front of the wishbone, turn the wheel on a lock, pull the wishbone out the bracket slightly and you can pull the cv joint out of the hub

Cut the old boot off, hit the joint off with a copper hammer, clean everything up, fit the new bits and refit everything, doing it this way i can do it in about 30mins and it doesnt effect any suspension settings