CV Boot Replacement Show & Tell?

Perfect. Thanks....

Aero Boots for the inners & Porsche 930 boots for the outers have been ordered.

 

Interesting... were they 1979 Porsche 930 boots? Too small? Too big?

 

I tool my L/H axle shaft out. Rubber boot a mess. Everything a mess!

Cleaned up the CV joint and noticed there is a ring on one side. Is there a direction to these? That ring face the differential or the wheel when reinstalled on the axle shaft??

Picture:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Got it. Ridge is toward the differential side. So says the dealer that quoted me $3000 to do the job <gulp>

 

"Bearing basket" ??

EDIT: Wait. You took the CV joint apart to clean it right? I did not. I just dumped the whole thing in a parts cleaner pail and carefully kept it all as one assy.

Is that what you meant by "bearing basket" (or inner section) of the CV joint?

 

I am all done. Why do I feel REALLY bad about tossing all the old, greasy, split boots & components in the trash bin?

 

Things I learned along the way with this.

Fchat is a fantastic tool. Between posts, PM's, e-mails & the search engine I received a ton of support. Thanks to all of you!

Lets start with the homework. Here are a series of threads I found helpful (thanks to Marioz and others).

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/490730-355-inner-cv-boot-deterioration-swelling-deformation-cracking-problem-nope.html

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q-sponsored-algar-ferrari/80955-need-advice-cv-boot-replacement-355-a.html

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/340378-355-cv-inner-boot-replacement.html

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/428794-cv-joint-keeps-coming-loose-aghhh.html

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/438578-cv-boot-replacement-355-a.html

http://www.***********.com/forums/pre-99-v8s-gt4/9287-355-half-shaft-cv.html

At McJoe's suggestion I read through the 360 manual as well as the 355 one. Between the two you should be all set.

 

This method is for a CV boot exchange with the engine in the car.

Remove the engine side panels & airboxes. You may not need to do this, but the visibility is priceless. Remove the CV heat shields (you can leave the mounting brackets in the car)

Jack the car up and support on jack stands with the center hub 18” – 19” in the air. If you have a lift great! Just set the car so the center of the hubs are 18” – 19” (I’ll explain later).

Drop the aero panels. Pull the rear tires. Remove the inner fenders. Next remove the calipers and hang from the rear cross bar that holds the inner fender on (see photo below) Some 110 volt household wire works perfect.

Remove the ABS sensor. It is located on the forward section of the hub, behind the rotor. 10mm nut removes the cage. Remove the 10mm clip that is on the top of the hub. Once those are removed, hang the ABS sensor with the calipers in the back.

If you aren’t sure how to accomplish any of what I just described.…stop and call a mechanic to do your CV boots.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Remove the center hub nut.

Tools:
A hammer. Not a dead blow, but a damn claw hammer (I hate hammers when working on cars, but honest, you need it this time)
Punch (you can get a cheap punch set at Harbor Freight. Nice to have around).
DO NOT USER A SCREWDRIVER. It wont work…I assure you.
36mm - 6 point socket
Impact wrench (Impact wrench’s can cause a lot of damage in the wrong hands. I rarely use mine…it is needed here)

Place the punch in the groove of the axle shaft and pound out the tabs of the axle nut. It may take a few different style punches from round to pointy to make the tab bend away properly. If you are looking for pretty you came to the wrong place. Just make sure you avoid hitting the threads on the axle shaft.

Set the e-brake. Attach the 36mm socket / impact and spin the nut off. Throw the nut away. DO NOT REUSE IT

 

Remove the CV Bolts:

Tools:
½” breaker / ratchet.
30” worth of ½ extensions
13mm, 12 point, socket

The tricky part:

I was told many many years ago that if you can use an extension to get the ratchet outside the engine bay, do it. It has saved me a ton of time, a ton of busted knuckles and a lot of agony over the years. Others disagree so I’ll leave that debate for another thread. Suffice it to say that I did this with extensions.

With the rotors still on the car (yes, the picture is with them off as I forgot to get the image before hand and too dirty & lazy to refit it), rotate the rotor so you can see the first of 6 CV bolts through the A-arm assy. Slide the 13mm socket on your ½ extension through the a-arm assy and set it on the CV bolt. (picture below). Rotate the rotor to maximize seating of the socket on the bolt. (I did not need wobble ends on my socket.).

With the rotors still on the car Go and set the e-brake as hard as you can (or drop into 1st gear if you have a 6 speed). Seriously. If you set the e-brake with the rotors off, the shoe retaining bolts will break. They are $94 each...there are four of them.

Come back and attach your ratchet and break the bolt free. You can look over the fender and see the socket seat on the bolt. Keep it on there tight. They are set pretty hard and a solid pop is necessary to break the bolt free.

Rinse & repeat 5 more times. The bolts do not need to come out of the car. Just make sure they are free from the flange. In fact the CV boot holds them in place to keep things nice and neat &#9786;
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Remove the axle shaft

Tools:
17MM wrench (thin 17mm wrench or needle nose vice grip)
19MM wrench & socket
24mm wrench & socket (7/8&#8221; work here as well)
2 x 6&#8217;s cut into 24&#8221; lengths (6 &#8211; 8 of them)

I found it easier to just pull the whole hub off than start disconnecting the exhaust & headers.

First, set a small stack (6 - 8 pieces) of the 2 x6&#8217;s to catch the hub assy after it is loose.

(1) Loosen the tie rod using the 17mm wrench. The nut is behind the anti-sway bar. The bolt will spin unless you capture it on the opposite side of the anti-sway bar in the flats provide for on the link. Set the nut & washer aside.

(2) Loosen the shock bolt. 19mm on both sides. Using your punch and a small plastic hammer knock the bolt out. Remove the two washers on either side of the shock. Set aside

(3)Loosen the upper a-arm bolt. 19mm on both sides. Remove the bolt and set the parts aside.

(4) Loosen the 24mm nut on the lower arm and set parts aside again.

** clean the heads of bolts and marvel at the embossed Ferrari horse (errrr Stallion!) molded into the end of it&#8230;.and remember not to use a hammer when putting them back in.

Make sure the tie rod is free and folded toward the shock.
Pull the top of the hub free from the upper a-arm and lower toward you watching tension on the e&#8211;brake cable.

Pull the bottom of the hub free from the lower a-arm and set the hub on your stack of 2x6&#8217;s.

Push the lower a-arm out of the way and catch the cool little silver bushing heat shield bands before you lose them.

Lift the hub assy up and remove all but 2 of the 2 x 6&#8217;s and set the hub down. (Why the car needs to be 18&#8221; or so above the ground.)

Pull the axle shaft out of the hub. Manipulate the axle shaft and remove from the car.

With the car already in the air and ready, the entire process, starting with the calipers, took me 45 minutes to have the axle shaft on my bench.

Happy days!
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I do not have any images of the actual rebuild process. It was too damn messy.

That process is well explained in the other thread links posted above. Straight forward without problems.

I can offer up three tips however:

1. Go to amazon and get the proper crimp tool. This one worked perfectly on the clamps:
Amazon.com: Lisle 30800 CV Boot Clamp Pliers: Automotive

2. As mentioned I hate using hammers on cars. To that end whenever I have an old broom or mop ready for the trash heap, I cut the handle into 12" sections. The hard wood is great for absorbing shock. I used that against the end caps and tapped them off without any damage to the CV joint.

3. That little yellow plastic hammer I posted above is perfect to tap the caps back in place.

OH! and I picked up one more from the posts...wrap the axle shaft threads with several layers of electrical tape. Makes sliding the boots on MUCH easier.

 

Which boots to use???

I did buy a set of Porsche boots and the &#8220;aero&#8221; boots. After some consideration and research, I also bought a set of Ferrari boots from Ricambi.

In the end I used the Ferrari boots all around (I did all 4).

The Porsche boots are simply wrong for the car.

As mentioned by johnk, and so clearly posted above, the seat is in correct. In addition the axle shaft diameter is smaller. (Porsche boots on the left below)

The aero boots would have worked (last picture), but the rubber part was somewhat shorter. I don&#8217;t race the car and it wasn&#8217;t a matter of trying to save some money&#8230;so my car has all Ferrari OEM parts on it.

If someone has an interest in the Porsche or aero boots PM me. I have no need any longer.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

All cleaned up and ready to go back in.

Reinstall was straight forward.

Slide axle shaft back in the car.
Position the axle shaft into the hub
Add back your 2x6's to raise the hub up to the lower a-arm.
position the hub and a-arm in place and slide the bolt back in.
Repeat for the upper a-arm, shock and tie-rod.

Then install the CV bolts. The first one is the hardest.

First spray the flange threads & bolts with brake or carb cleaner and make sure everything is clean.

Add a small dab of Molykote (per the WSM) to each bolt.

Push the CV joint against the flange and spin the bolt into the flange threads. Do this by hand to make damn sure you do not cross thread that flange!

Once started, tighten carefully to bring the CV joint flush with the flange.

Hand start the other five and then bring to tight.

Install the rotor.

re-insert the 13MM socket on your 1/2 extensions (30" worth) and reach in and secure on the first CV bolt by rotating the rotor.

Set the e-brake and torque down. Lots of debate on that setting. I used 100 ft/lbs. Kinda like a small lug nut I guess. Make sure you hit all 6 at 100 ft/lbs.

Spin on the axle nut and torque to 250 ft/lbs. I used my 700 ft/lb impact wrench set at it's lowest setting...which is probably closer to 300.

Mark everything with yellow paint and you are all done!
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

One last update. I went and got a 250 lb torque wrench. Glad I did. Needed another 1/4 turn on the axle shaft nuts to achieve that number.

Moral of the story is "use the right tools please"

 

Sadly, not mine.

I could not get the axle shaft out without pulling the hub off the lower a-arm...at least the L/H side. I didn't even waste my time trying it on the R/H side. It takes moments to just pull the whole hub off and makes life much easier for re-install.