I'm very frustrated with these damn front outer cv boots.... anyone else ?

[beerock]

Anyone else having constant issues(torn outer cv boots)?

When I replaced my oem axles I bought upgraded DSS axles with porsche 930 chromoly inner cv joint and outer s4 upgraded to chromoly outer cv joints.

my old axles had issues blowing outer cv joints as well, and because they blew at least 3-4 times the axles were trashed prematurely due to the grease always blowing out.

the new dss axles, its the same story, except this time I check my outer cv boots way more and the outer cv's blew after about 5k miles. I took it to a shop because i didnt have time to do it and dss sent me free cv boots. I also installed a panzer plate on the car, because people on the forums said that was why... I didnt think so but I was clsoe to my wits end so I bought one just for the fact that it protects my oil pan and other parts much better then the plastic one. So panzer plate installed, new cv boots installed GREAT! Not even 5k miles later and they are torn AGAIN.

people started pointing at my ride height. My upper and lower control arms are new, my outer tie rods have around 30k miles, my wheel bearings have 50k miles on them I run stasis tracksports with 800/950 springs my ride height from center hub to top of fender is 13 1/4" front, 12 3/4" rear. Im not that low there are others that have lower ride heights and no outer cv boot issues.

I do not understand what the problem is. I know there are plenty of other vehicles with cv boots and are trucks and you can take them offroading all day every day and you would not tear a cv boot. So I am at my wits end with this outer cv boot problem.

I spoke with Tad at dss and he feels the same way they shoudlnt be blowing out. He said to check for something that my be hitting the boots but there is nothing in that area that is dangling at all. Tad also said the cv boots they used ar enot chinese they are mad ein cali and they are tougher then the thin oem cv boots. regardless I had issues with oem cv boots as well.

Has anyone had this same situation, does anyone know what the problem could possibly be? Please help or point me in a direction to try and solve this.

thanks in advanced

[RPMtech147]

The outer joint is fixed so it does not move in and out like the inner joint, just some info while Im brain storming....so the outer boot should in theory be 'shorter'. There's almost an art to building a CV joint...You need just the right amount of 'air' and grease in it so it doesn't balloon up or stay sucked in while going through it's motions. Do you go over any giant speed bumps daily that could be putting the suspension in a bizarre angle? Excessive Lock to lock usage like constant Parallel parking? Are you short cutting the install and tweaking the sh*t out of the boot when trying to get it to drop into the knuckle? Bad motor mounts tear up CV boots as well, check those. Im-proper Subframe mounting/angle will do similar....Tape an old smart phone under the car and record the boot doing some road testing...

[airjawed]

You also want to make sure that the engine is centered in the body correctly. I think you can undo them on both sides and check for equal amount of play. If the engine sits to one side it will constantly stretch the boots.

Do you have the heat shields on?

[beerock]

I do parallel park a fair amount of time(nights in NYC) I have heat shields on. there is a turn by my house that is close to full lock its at around 15-25 mph. I still am frustrated how so many cars don't have issues with cv boots but mine does. Also if i have to worry about lock to lock and parallel parking because of the car that's really lame. I do have the wooden boat clunk noise.. is that usually the subframe bushings worn out? I know the bolts are tight. maybe the bushings are worn? how do i check that? I had a new set of heads installed on my car about a year ago(7kmiles ago) so its not like things havent been loosened and tighten for a long time.

[james 408]

hate to say it, but i've had like 2 tears in 10 years, never lost an axle. car's abused regularly (canyoning, e-braking & donuts, racing).

are you driving on gravel a lot?

I might suggest trying a different shop or different part. the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, well done sir.

[beerock]

On my laser avant I did them once, then when we did my 2nd stage 3 job we did them, axles were replaced with dss then a different shop did them. before the laser avant my imola avant had them done 3-4 times through audi waranty.

once i got the new dss axles I added heat shields as they were not there. when the dss axles cv boots blew i added the panzer plate. there is nothing more to add, now its just a matter of figuring out why its doing it. Im leaning towards the subframe bushings. motor mounts are new tranny mounts are new, have a asp dts

[landfill]

Are the fronts that dss assembles popping or the rears that you have to assemble yourself?
If it's ones assembled by dss then it's definitely not an assembly problem because
they've built these axles a million times. If it's ones that you assembled RPMtech might
be right as in you might have either too much air or grease in your boots?
That's all I can think of.

[beerock]

the first time i installed them dss assembled them and I installed them, then rsw worx put the new boots on and installed them along with the panzer plate. and they are blown again

[landfill]

Damn I'm stumped? The only other thing I can
think of is something hitting them.

[Timtheguru]

When we are talking about heat shields, we are talking about the half moon axle ones right? Not the downpipe heatshields.

Also, there are differences between the type of boot material, GKN have been good to me.

[airjawed]

I do parallel park a fair amount of time(nights in NYC) I have heat shields on. there is a turn by my house that is close to full lock its at around 15-25 mph. I still am frustrated how so many cars don't have issues with cv boots but mine does. Also if i have to worry about lock to lock and parallel parking because of the car that's really lame. I do have the wooden boat clunk noise.. is that usually the subframe bushings worn out? I know the bolts are tight. maybe the bushings are worn? how do i check that? I had a new set of heads installed on my car about a year ago(7kmiles ago) so its not like things havent been loosened and tighten for a long time.

What kind of mad man does a full lock turn at anything around 15-25?..... I hope this is not the truth.

Also, trying to get the car out of NY spot with snow means you are full turn with one wheel spinning at times...also horrible for boots.

Does your traction control /EDL work?

[beerock]

What kind of mad man does a full lock turn at anything around 15-25?..... I hope this is not the truth.

Also, trying to get the car out of NY spot with snow means you are full turn with one wheel spinning at times...also horrible for boots.

Does your traction control /EDL work?

i said close to full lock, think of the street I turn on is close to a Y and I'm turning from the top of the Y on the right to the top of the Y on the left. The snow is a non issue as the last time they blew the cv boots saw no snow.

I'm very aware of full lock turning and if i ever have to turn the wheel full lock to get out of a parking spot i always back off the turn a little bit. regardless though the same question comes up tons of other vehicles have cv boots that have no issues.

I just looked up the cv boot part # BT-368 in question (which Is on my car) and came across a PDF http://www.autodemarreur.com/CV%20Ca...10%20KOTEK.pdf this pdf shows that boot that tore is for a 95-99 bmw m3 outer cv and for a bmw 91-97 840ci- 850i 98-99 M roadster 00-01 Z3

I scrolled through the list and got to audi and the specified cv boot 01 front m/t inner bt-036 outer bt 372

the bt 368 dimensions are #253 on the pdf bt 368 top id 1.032 bottom 3.787 height 3.228 neoprene

the bt 372 dimensions are # 257 on the pdf bt 372 top id .937 bottom 3.512 height 3.402 neoprene

the RIBBING however is completely different and the audi cv boot looks like it can have much mroe of an angle then the bmw boot. GRRR

So the height is a little lower ont he one installed on my car which could be why it is tearing.

Who has DSS axles in their B5S4 and can you please check the boot model # the number is right next to the larger clamp. Ill post another thread to check this out but if you have them please check out the part # and post the part number of your outer cv boot in here please. all help is appreciated.

heres the boot on my car and pictures of the differences between the bt 368(bmw boots) and the bt 372(B5s4 boot) looks like the angle of turn is limited much more on the bt 368. I may have found my problem. Ive spent $350 to have the first torn set instaleld only to have them tear due to improper cv boot from the start. I definately need other members to let me know what outer cv boot is on their dss axles, pictures will help ALOT.

[2stroke]

Anyone else having constant issues (torn outer cv boots) ?
When I replaced my oem axles I bought upgraded DSS axles with porsche 930 chromoly inner cv joint and outer s4 upgraded to chromoly outer cv joints.
my old axles had issues blowing outer cv joints as well, and because they blew at least 3-4 times the axles were trashed prematurely due to the grease always blowing out.
the new dss axles, its the same story, except this time I check my outer cv boots way more and the outer cv's blew after about 5k miles. I took it to a shop because i didnt have time to do it and dss sent me free cv boots.

I spoke with Tad at DSS and he feels the same way they should not be blowing out.
He said to check for something that my be hitting the boots but there is nothing in that area that is dangling at all.
Tad also said the cv boots they used are not chinese they are made in cali and they are tougher then the thin oem cv boots.

I would like to know more about the CV-boots DSS use.
I also have problems with my CV-boots but it is due to extreme cold temperatures where I live.
Can you tell me more about them ?


BT-372 is the way they should look like for the front outer CV-joints.

[rdcyclist]

I've never seen a boot like the BT368 used as a front outer boot on an Audi or even a VAG car. The 368 style boot is usually an outer rear type boot. I don't think it would give you enough flexibility for an outer. The BT372 is much more like what I would expect to see as a front outer boot. I would suggest giving a pair a try and let us know how it works out...

[beerock]

thing is the dss CAME WITH the bt 368 boots. even in their pic on their site it shows that boot. when the cv boots tore the first time they were an exact match with the boots dss sent for free. so they use the bt368 on them. Im pretty annoyed by this the mroe I think about it because I spent $350 to install the new boots and that is two times my boots blew hence wearing the components and I paid $999 and I also sent them two sets of OEM axles to give me a deeper discount only to have them say one of the sets of axles were no good at all. So now I have no set of spare axles to install. this car is my DD. GRRR

Im hoping dss does the right thing when I talk to them on monday. I pretty much want my labor money paid back to me and the labor for the next install paid for.. Honestly I want a new set of axles because these boots blew because of the wrong cv boots being on them and I dont want a set of axles that are prematurely worn due to the cv boots blowing.

we will see what they do on monday

[beerock]

I would like to know more about the CV-boots DSS use.
I also have problems with my CV-boots but it is due to extreme cold temperatures where I live.
Can you tell me more about them ?

do you have dss axles? if you do PLEASE get under your car and take pictures of the outer cv boots part #

[2stroke]

Do you have DSS axles ?

No, I have stock Audi/VW axle.


Take a look att the below links:

* http://www.rockfordcv.com/rcvboot.htm

* http://www.rockfordcv.com/pdfstore/Boot_Assemblies.PDF

[beerock]

No, I have stock Audi/VW axle.


Take a look att the below links:

* http://www.rockfordcv.com/rcvboot.htm

* http://www.rockfordcv.com/pdfstore/Boot_Assemblies.PDF

WOW thanks that is the first time someone came up with a better solution then the OEm boots. however this issue im having is directly related to DSS having the wrong boot on the axles form the start. I hope they do me proud and I work this out with them.

I will definately look into the boots you posted a link for. as they seem like a upgrade because they are mroe durable..

funny thing is it brings up MONSANTO plastics HA the gmo king..

[beerock]

shit, it doesnt look like they make them for the b5 s4? ill have to call

[beerock]

any one have a chance to check thier dss axles for the boot part #?