Im going to be doing this soon. I have annular axels and nee dto replace both outer boots (or at least one of them, the other may only need a new clamp on the small end and a refill of grease.)
Ill post more info an perhaps pics if I remember and have my camera handy at the time.

if you discover how the can comes off, please take pictures. I've rebooted the annular style, but I just used the flexx gun, I did not disassemble the axle.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Well, this was much simpler than I expected. Here are some pics and details of the process disassembling annular style axles to replace the boots. I only wish I found out about this before purchasing a transmission fluid funnel. Oh well Im sure it will come in handy for other things.

First step: removing allen bolts. I had to use a 5/16th allen socket as I had no metric that size, but i believe the nearest metric equivalent would be a 8mm. The 5/16th I used had a pretty snug fit. i wouldnt have known the difference.

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Remove all bolts and the spacers I kept track of where the spacers/brackets were originally.

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The end section is ready to pop off. It needed only a light tap to separate the two sections.

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Remove the gasket for reassembly. Mine looked fine. Im not sure where you would even get a new one if it wasnt.

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Theres a simple "C"clip holding onto the axle shaft. Removing it with a pair of clip pliers.

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And Voila! you can slide the whole joint assembly off and access both boots.

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I discovered that the Febi boots did not fit properly onto this axle. The starps were much too big and wouldn't hold even when tightened all the way. They have hose clamp style straps. I ended up using some regular hose clamps as its all I had and couldnt wait any longer. They seem to be holding up fine.

The boot itself was also too big on the larger (outer edge) and I couldn't by all means get the thing on properly without it constantly slipping off before it was fully tightened.

I cut off a piece of the old boot that did fit snug, and I slipped it on the same area it was originally. simply a skinny strip as it was already formed to the groove on the inner edge of the can. this gave a snug sealed spacing between the new boot and the inner edge of the can (large end of the axle boot) and strapped it on snugly without it slipping off. Ill be keeping an eye on it.

I was ahppy to see there was still lots of grease in both sides even though one boot was torn and the other had broken its seal on the smaller axle end. I squeezed in more axle grease before sealing them up again.
Happy to have that off the list.... for now...

Thanks for this....

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

No kidding. Perfect thread for your W116 axle project.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Hoping to get it installed soon. I could use 2-3 mpg driving 1,000+ miles a week!!!!

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

That's going to save you a lot of money.

A 3 mpg increase is an improvement of about 10%.

That's cash right in your pocket.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Only issue I see with above method is you would be hard pressed to get grease down into the outer can....

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

The large clamps in the Febri kit are too big to tighten down. The tightening screw goes through a fold in the clamp metal, and then into a square nut. I made a second fold to take up some slack, and drilled a clearance hole through the two layers of clamp metal. Seems OK.

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1984 300D Turbo 350K 50K WVO (two tank) "Maeby"