Autozone Split-Type Axle CV boot - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

tobybul · #1 05-31-2007, 11:13 AM

Has anyone tried using the Autozone Split-Type Axle CV boot? Seems to be designed so the axle does not have to be taken off the car.

pawoSD · #2 05-31-2007, 11:15 AM

If it works well I'd also be interested....anyone?

You could always try it and be the guniea pig.

junqueyardjim · #3 05-31-2007, 11:22 AM

Hey Tobybul: That is a good question now that you and I have just changed our half shafts. I have a friend here who is a great mechanic. Basically Ned is a WWII trained aircraft engine mechanic. His thinking on all these split boot type repairs is that it is less then a well done job. I guess to do it right you have to work like a three handed paper hanger. You must glue the joint, do the clamps and keep the lube inside and away from the glue strip. He says he would never use it - period! And I don't think it makes much difference who makes them or sells them. They are pretty much all the same.

Fimum Fit · #4 05-31-2007, 03:42 PM

Working under ideal circumstances, I have successfully installed two of these on front drivers (Merc Villager and Subaru) and they lasted very well, but a third attempt on a VW turned out to be a disaster, because just the slightest bit of "foreign substance" got into the groove where the glue goes and left an incurable leak. It's one of those things where you have to follow the instructions perfectly, and that is not always possible, perhaps not even in a majority of cases. If you have an emergency away from home, though, I'd rather have you attempt to install the split boot rather than drive with a ripped open factory boot rapped in duct tape, like I did on a '66 Porsche 911 back in 1972 -- all the way from Gracier Park to Minnesota (I did clean and repack the joint every morning).

uberwgn · #5 05-31-2007, 03:49 PM

the split boots are a temporary repair only.

vstech · #6 05-31-2007, 03:50 PM

hey, don't mess around with jim...
anyway, properly done a split boot can work ok, but on the MB axles they take so much grease, it's hard to do it correctly with a split boot.
good luck.
John

Cervan · #7 05-31-2007, 04:01 PM

i seriously suggest Dieselgiants solution. Astoria flexx boots.

tobybul · #8 05-31-2007, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cervan

i seriously suggest Dieselgiants solution. Astoria flexx boots.

DG's recommendation is a good one.... but I believe you gotta have the flexx gun plus u still have to take the axle off to do it. I don't have a problem with that but it makes me consider whether to just get new axles or get remans rather than fiddle with the old ones.

I am expecting the GSP axles tomorrow from Advance and I'll see how they look. It'll be 2 more weeks b4 I can work on the axles. Too many things going on.

Another thought on extending the life of the boots is to spray them with the rubberized undercoating spray. My boots aren't leaking - yet - but are cracked. It seems that coating them with the spray will help prolong their integrity.