What should the cost of a CV boot repair be?

[Racer Doc]

Do I have to have the whole shaft replaced or just the boot? Mechanic said I might as well do the whle shaft, not just the boot.

btw new rotors are going on at the same time.

[2ndEngineS4]

You can get away with just replacing the boot if you catch it before any dirt gets in the bearings. How long have they been cracked? I would replace both boots while you're at it.

[Jsmooth65]

Do I have to have the whole shaft replaced or just the boot? Mechanic said I might as well do the whle shaft, not just the boot.

btw new rotors are going on at the same time.

Depends on what he's charging you for those parts.

[Rajan147]

boots are cheap but your going to get reamed on labor, if you get someone else to do it, it would probably be easier to get new/reman axles, raxles.com

[volks88]

several places sell reman ones for under $150 iirc. purems.com i know does. i know a local place that rebuilds them for $95.00. ive seen $30 or so for the cv boot kit alone. as stated above, labor i think is 2 hours for an axle. if you have some tools id recommend doing this and brakes yourself to save some cash.

[Racer Doc]

Thanks for the info.

It always boils down to time and money......... I would like to do it on my own, I enjoy it.... but time is not on my side.....

[The_Jerbel]

^^LOL at 2 hours/axle. I had both axles out of the car, rebuilt with new outer boots, and reinstalled in less than that.

[Racer Doc]

Volks,

Thanks for the sight, prices look great. Is this a reliable vendor?

Racer

[Jsmooth65]

Volks,

Thanks for the sight, prices look great. Is this a reliable vendor?

Racer

I have one side from PureMS. I've posted pics of it a bunch.

[Racer Doc]

Not clear on what you mean. You did one of your CVs with their parts/fast delivery and good quality?

[Jsmooth65]

I replaced my passenger's side CV half shaft with the one from PureMS for $93 and no core charge. Everything worked fine. No problems.

[volks88]

^^LOL at 2 hours/axle. I had both axles out of the car, rebuilt with new outer boots, and reinstalled in less than that.

oh yeah! well i fucked around with my driver side axle for about 2 hours and busted a knuckle open haha

[volks88]

Is this a reliable vendor?

yes

[YMJ]

Do I have to have the whole shaft replaced or just the boot? Mechanic said I might as well do the whle shaft, not just the boot.

btw new rotors are going on at the same time.

it cost me 400, for the rotors and cv boot..

just the labor though..

another 288 for the cv boots and pads..

im not sure how much it should cost , but i thought the time it would take would be the ACTUAL time it took.. cause my mechanic was finished in THREE hours.. but charged SIXX...

so i feel JIPPEDDDD...

[DefiantS4]

I would say no more than $200 in labor. I would also strongly recommend learning to do this yourself. It's not that hard, parts are cheap, and you will do it more than once. I've replaced 5 (yes, five) boots on my black car alone within the past year. It's like every time I look under the car there's another torn boot, sometimes the same one. Depressing.

[YMJ]

I would say no more than $200 in labor. I would also strongly recommend learning to do this yourself. It's not that hard, parts are cheap, and you will do it more than once. I've replaced 5 (yes, five) boots on my black car alone within the past year. It's like every time I look under the car there's another torn boot, sometimes the same one. Depressing.

sooo, did i get jipped???

[AudiSportB5S4]

why hasnt anyone said just replace the whole axle ? or did ya and i didnt catch it? why put a bandaid on it just fix the whole thing. i brought my car to Mavis Tire and they did both axles for 400 installed. lol

[The_Jerbel]

Because you don't need to replace the axle every time a boot blows open. I paid $40 for both outer boots and had it done in under 2 hours...

[2ndEngineS4]

sooo, did i get jipped???

You got jipped.

CV Boots $40 for the pair. Unless the pads you got were worth $248, you got jipped.

On the labor, I would say $300 sounds fair (not really sure what all was done with the rotors).

[Racer Doc]

OK, maybe I will do it myself.... anyone have a step by step to change the boots, and out on new rotors and pads?

[The_Jerbel]

Ok, here's the deal:
Crack the 27mm axle bolts with the car on the ground (or on jackstands with somebody pressing hard as hell on the brake pedal with a wheel bolt in the rotor), jack the car up. Take the front wheels off. Using a pair of pliers or a screwdriver, unclip the brake pad cage. Take off the 2 biggest bolts on the back of the brake caliper. Wiggle the caliper off and use some twine to tie the caliper to the suspension spring perch. Undo the screw holding the rotor to the hub if your screw is still there. Take off the rotor. Undo the 6 bolts holding the axle to the tranny flange. Take out the 27mm axle to hub bolt. Jack up the ball joint on the hub so that the wheel is at normal ride height. Have someone crank the steering wheel at full lock. Work axle stub out of the hub and slide it down and out from the car. With the axle out of the car, cut the clamps off of the old boot. Use one of the axle bolt (the big 27mm) and screw it into the axle until it's bottomed out. Use an impact gun to make it easier. Then remove the bolt. Using a rubber mallet, bang the outer joint off the rest of the way. Remove the boot completely. If the boot had been torn for a while and you can see specs of crap in the join, use brake cleaner to clean out the joint thoroughly, working the joint in different positions to get all the junk out. Otherwise, skip that step. Remove the c ring from the shaft and replace it with the new one. Slide the small clamp onto the shaft, slide the new boot on the shaft. Put the spring washer on the shaft, with the flared rim facing toward the outer joint. Put on the new collar (thick looking plastic washer), if you cleaned it out, fill the joint with grease and work it in. Fill the boot half-full or so with grease. Put the joint on the shaft and bang it on so that it's partially seated (doesn't have to be all the way on yet). Put the boot onto the outer joint and tighten down the clamps.

Put the shaft back in the car, put the new rotor on the car. Apply anti-squeal to the back of the brake pads (let it dry while doing the following steps). Open the brake reservoir cap, using a c-clamp or similar, compress the piston in the caliper all the way. Slide the caliper over the rotor and insert the brake pads in the same orientation they were before. Make sure the are solidly against the carrier. Bolt the caliper back in and re-seat the brake pad cage. Torque down the axle-tranny bolts to 55nm, the outer axle bolt to 140nm plus half a turn (180 degrees), the big freakin caliper bolts to 200nm (148 ft-lbs), install wheels with wheel bolts to 90ft-lbs. Repeat on other side.

[Jsmooth65]

Ok, here's the deal:
Crack the 27mm axle bolts with the car on the ground (or on jackstands with somebody pressing hard as hell on the brake pedal with a wheel bolt in the rotor), jack the car up. Take the front wheels off. Using a pair of pliers or a screwdriver, unclip the brake pad cage. Take off the 2 biggest bolts on the back of the brake caliper. Wiggle the caliper off and use some twine to tie the caliper to the suspension spring perch. Undo the screw holding the rotor to the hub if your screw is still there. Take off the rotor. Undo the 6 bolts holding the axle to the tranny flange. Take out the 27mm axle to hub bolt. Jack up the ball joint on the hub so that the wheel is at normal ride height. Have someone crank the steering wheel at full lock. Work axle stub out of the hub and slide it down and out from the car. With the axle out of the car, cut the clamps off of the old boot. Use one of the axle bolt (the big 27mm) and screw it into the axle until it's bottomed out. Use an impact gun to make it easier. Then remove the bolt. Using a rubber mallet, bang the outer joint off the rest of the way. Remove the boot completely. If the boot had been torn for a while and you can see specs of crap in the join, use brake cleaner to clean out the joint thoroughly, working the joint in different positions to get all the junk out. Otherwise, skip that step. Remove the c ring from the shaft and replace it with the new one. Slide the small clamp onto the shaft, slide the new boot on the shaft. Put the spring washer on the shaft, with the flared rim facing toward the outer joint. Put on the new collar (thick looking plastic washer), if you cleaned it out, fill the joint with grease and work it in. Fill the boot half-full or so with grease. Put the joint on the shaft and bang it on so that it's partially seated (doesn't have to be all the way on yet). Put the boot onto the outer joint and tighten down the clamps.

Put the shaft back in the car, put the new rotor on the car. Apply anti-squeal to the back of the brake pads (let it dry while doing the following steps). Open the brake reservoir cap, using a c-clamp or similar, compress the piston in the caliper all the way. Slide the caliper over the rotor and insert the brake pads in the same orientation they were before. Make sure the are solidly against the carrier. Bolt the caliper back in and re-seat the brake pad cage. Torque down the axle-tranny bolts to 55nm, the outer axle bolt to 140nm plus half a turn (180 degrees), the big freakin caliper bolts to 200nm (148 ft-lbs), install wheels with wheel bolts to 90ft-lbs. Repeat on other side.

Hey didn't you say in a previous post that you didnt have to take off the brakes or the rotor?

[The_Jerbel]

You don't have to. He said that he wants to replace the pads and rotors at the same time.

[oleh007]

Just sell that piece of shit.

[Racer Doc]

Easy killer

[AWDriver]

Remember that most shops will follow a labor guide regardless of the time it actually takes. That's how they make money and stay in business. Your local guy will be cheaper because he doesn't have "overhead costs"

[lilsoccerstar]

just go to the junkyard and buy a whole axle... used with a boot... i did that 70 bucks... I installed it for 100 at the mechancics... everything is great now

[leftlaneLIFE]

just replaced both CV boots about 3 weeks ago took me 5 hours but shopkey(dot)com says it takes about 4 which ,and at the shop I work at thats usually how we base our prices at. And I bought two brand new CV boots from a dealer for 82 bucks. shouldn't be more that 300 for the whole thing

[rob]

I just did my half shafts this weekend. I did not remove any parts beyond loosening the caliper on the driver's side. The driver's side is very tight, but will come out and go in without loosening/removing anything. It does take a lot of coaxing to get the axle out. The passenger side is amazingly easy. It just dropped out.

[bps4]

I just did my half shafts this weekend. I did not remove any parts beyond loosening the caliper on the driver's side. The driver's side is very tight, but will come out and go in without loosening/removing anything. It does take a lot of coaxing to get the axle out. The passenger side is amazingly easy. It just dropped out.

did you torque the axle bolt fully with the car on jacks or on the ground?

[audiluxary]

I just did my half shafts this weekend. I did not remove any parts beyond loosening the caliper on the driver's side. The driver's side is very tight, but will come out and go in without loosening/removing anything. It does take a lot of coaxing to get the axle out. The passenger side is amazingly easy. It just dropped out.

I just did mine the other day. I removed my pinch bolts and uppers and then the axles where easy to get out and the new ones in. I changed my control arms recently so my pinch bolt was no problem and made things easy. I don't know how you did it without removing anything must have been a complete pain in the ass.

[DESPOT D S4]

JHM sell complete solid shaft for 139 iirc

[bps4]

JHM sell complete solid shaft for 139 iirc

i'm going to do a reman from purems for $75, the boot will tear in 6 months anyway :)