CV Boots Torn - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

tomm9298 · #1 10-24-2004, 11:01 AM

I was crawling under the rear of my car the other day, wanted to change the diff fluid. My right CV boot is in 2 pieces, the left is dry rotted but intact. I have no clicking noises coming from either side, so the joints are not destroyed...yet. I have seen replacment boots for sale for under $15.00, as opposed to new shafts for around $375.00. Now, how can I tell if I have Annular or Homokinetic shafts? Does it matter if I am replacing boots only? I have read the DIY page for rebuild of the joints, I would rather not undertake that job!! No, 12 ton press available at my house. Has anyone ever replaced boots only, and what is the process, will I need the monster press for a boot only replacment? Sorry, I come from the old school, rear wheel drive with solid axles. I have never done any type of CV work. As always all help is appreciated!!!

d.delano · #2 10-24-2004, 11:28 AM

Replacing the CV boots is a band-aid from my understanding. You will be doing more rear axle work in the near future unless you rebuild the whole axle per the instructions on the Boostnbenz page, or buy some new or rebuilds. You have been driving with the boots torn so you would probably be better off with a more permanent fix. All the factory oil is probably gone by now. Don't drive it anywhere until you fix it if you choose the band-aid. If any dirt gets in the joint that's all she wrote.

JamesStein · #3 10-24-2004, 03:17 PM

Unless you happen to find a split boot that will fit the axle (I'm not going to comment on the use of them since I was going to try that route myself.) you will have to tear the axle apart to put a factory boot on it.

Homokenetic vs Annular

Annular is all 1 piece.
Homokenetic the differential side is bolted to the shaft.

I'd load a picture of it but I've already loaded the picture elsewhere on the forum and the software won't allow me to load it again.

Carquest has the axles for a 300D for like $200 with a $120 core charge. My wifes 300D now has 1 homokenetic and 1 annular axle from them.

I will note that personally I prefer the annular axle. I've put 2 homokenetics on my wifes car. Within 2 months the first axle came apart. Aparently the bolts were loose and they worked themselves out. Fortunately I was leaving a stop light when it failed and therefore didn't cause any damage to the rest of the car. Regardless, I check the bolts on the 'new' axle every week or so.

tomm9298 · #4 10-24-2004, 05:43 PM

So, you can mix and match them? homokinetic is much cheaper than annular. Did you have to modify anything, or was it plug and play?

lietuviai · #5 10-24-2004, 07:55 PM

Autozone has axles for $79.95 each plus core. That includes a lifetime warranty. The only thing is I'm still waiting for them to come in and I oredered them over a week ago. They're supposed to be in on around Weds this week.

#6 10-24-2004, 08:29 PM

What everyone else said, replace the whole axle, and as soon as possilbe, you don't want it to snap on you. One of the local auto parts stores here was offering axles for $54.99, and there are several places online that have them for that price or less...

JamesStein · #7 10-24-2004, 08:41 PM

You can mix and match them. The only differece was there was a spacer that was included on the axles that I had to remove in order to get the homokenetic on. (spacer was a very thin washer that slipped over the end of the differential side shaft).

From what I understand you can actually replace the boots on a homokenetic axle easier. (ie. no 12 ton press to get the cap off). However, since having a 'new' one come apart. I would personally get the annular one if you had the choice.

I actually looked at autozone for one. At the time I was told yeah we can order it but they couldn't give me a delivery date. And since I had a failed joint I needed one on the spot. Carquest actually had one in there warehouse in town. Which sort of shocked the heck out of me, since they don't seem to stock brake pads for the same car.

Hatterasguy · #8 10-24-2004, 08:48 PM

Replaceing the boot is a waste of time once it is ripped and the dirt gets in their it is all over. Now if you replaced them as a preventive measure before they ripped thats not a bad idea. I did cv joints on my Camry they don't look much different then the ones in my SDL. I would get the Autozone ones for under $100; $375 what are they smoking? I ran 14k miles on cheap Autozone rebuilds on a fwd car with no problems. Now they probably have close to 25k miles on them and my Aunt hasn't reported any problems. CV joints on rwd cars live a much less stressful life then their fwd conterparts.

lrg · #9 10-25-2004, 02:16 AM

If your torn boot is still leaking oil then you may be able to coax some more life out of it. I did the split boot replacement three years ago and it is still completely tight and my axle shafts are fine. My old boot was torn but still slinging oil and hadn't injested any dirt so the shaft and CV joint were still in good shape. Given the low cost of the split boot and the relative ease of replacing them I'd definitely recommend trying the boot replacement first. The split boots work fine but you've got to be REALLY careful to keep everything clean and the seam oil free when you glue it. For more info do a seach using LRG and axle and you'll find my post from about three years ago. Rebuilt shafts may be cheap but I'd rather keep the originals in place if they're still sound. In general my luck with rebuilts has been spotty at best.

tomm9298 · #10 10-25-2004, 05:15 AM

I have had this car only a short while. By the looks of the boots I would guess it has been torn/dry rotted for more than 1 year. Thanks for the AutoZone lead.....

lietuviai · #11 10-25-2004, 10:59 AM

Good luck. With Autozone you may have to wait 10 days for the parts to arrive. I think they have free shipping if you order online but I don't know how they handle the cores in that case. The online axles are $10 more than the ones you can order at their stores. They are a different brand too.

lrg · #12 10-25-2004, 07:25 PM

Tomm9298,
Posting this here in case others need this info:

Here is the outfit that sold the split boots:

Cosmos International
218-685-4473
Part# CQB-951 (fits my 1985 300TDT)
$19.95 when ordered in July '01

The Cosmos people were very helpful and seemed to know all about MBZ CV joints. They don't recommend the split boots be used on the inside joint but in a conversation with them they allowed as how it would probably be OK to do, just not "recommended". Mine was installed on the outside and has been great. Wrap the old boot in plastic wrap before you remove it and throughly hose all dirt etc. off the area. Let dry and remove the old boot. I glued the new boot together around the axle and let it harden before pulling it into place. I also wrapped some thin wire around the outside of the boot in a couple of places to hold it firmly together while the glue cured. Be really sure you don't get any oil on the seam before gluing. This is easier than it sounds but critical. I had to stop a couple of times to wash the boot and/or my hands to get oil off of them. It was worth the effort. I think a lot of the "failures" of these split boots is really because they aren't installed right. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck.

flash123 · #13 10-26-2004, 06:53 AM

I have heard that the axle halves run around $300 at the MB dealer. Lifetime warranty axles from a local parts store that carries a lot of front wheel drive axles were less than $60.

When I ordered a pair, I got one of each. I'm not sure it mattered but I sent one back (the one that looked like what came off) and got another one of the one that looked cool.

I'm told that the bearing races on the MB axles are hardened and the cheap replacements are not. These cheap replacements seem do do fine for the rice burners and American cars for 10 years or 100k miles. OK so I have to change them twice as often. I'm not going to be upset if I have to deal with this again in 10 years. The boots rot out before the axle wears out anyway.

It's suprisingly easy, there is a thread on this site somewhere. It helped me through mine a few months ago. The trick was the c clip inside. Pushing from the back with two screwdrivers did the trick, but they got lost in the diff. Don't worry they show up when you turn the gears and remove the axle halves. Getting the clip back in was a little tricky, but a good pair of needle nose did the trick. C-clip pliers were a waste of money.

I'm afraid replacing the boots now is sort of like putting a condom on after the fluid has leaked out. It may make you feel like you did something about the problem, but it isn't going to changing the outcome.

tomm9298 · #14 10-26-2004, 07:35 AM

This forum is the best. I will go the replacement route from AutoZone or Advance Auto. Advance is about $20.00 less. None in stock though.

Eric Eliel · #15 10-26-2004, 12:37 PM

The axle replacement is a PIA, I've done it a few times and its just messy. I replaced mine with rebooted axles from CVJ in Denver. They find good axles and reboot them, they don't reweld, they don't reheat. They are more money about $145 plus shipping but I haven't had any problems. For the money saved per axle, I wouldn't use the cheap rebuilds. I don't want to do it again.