Replacing left side inner cv axle boot

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duderz7

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I Decided to replace just the boot instead of the entire axle since it's the left side and doesn't wear like the other side with the intermediate shaft.
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once I removed the axle from the jeep I used an angle grinder to cut the metal bands of the boot without scarring the parts you'll be keeping. A dremel with a small cut off wheel would be better, but I don't have one. Then use a utility knife to cut off the boot itself.
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next I used a pick and a flat blade screwdriver to fiddle around with the inner snap ring on the outer housing. There's not a lot of tension on it so it was pretty easy.
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used a magnet to pluck the balls out, sorry no pictures it was messy. With the balls removed I rotated the outer cage half a balls width and slide it down the shaft.
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check out this funky little snap ring, good ol snap ring pliers to spread those tongs while pulling it off the end of the shaft. There's not a lot of tension on this one either, it was also pretty easy.
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here's all the peices. I ran out of cleaner and daylight. I'll get it back together tomorrow with more pictures. Feel free to critique or question, I welcome the inquiries.
 

KJowner

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Is that CV grease in there, it looks like the wrong colour?
Good article, this needs to be a sticky, lots of people will want to see it.
 

duderz7

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Is that CV grease in there, it looks like the wrong colour?
Good article, this needs to be a sticky, lots of people will want to see it.
That's the grease that was in there? I assume it's original. When looking for replacement boots I did see some that come with a light green grease.
 

duderz7

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this is the boot I got.
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put all the bits in in this order. Slide boot all the way down the shaft. Make sure narrower side of outer cage is towards the boot.
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smear grease all over every surface of anything that contacts a balls and the balls. Put the cages together then put a few balls in place. Then insert that into just the very end of the outer housing. Holding the inner cages at an angle to the housing and you can slip the last few balls in. Then put the snap ring in the housing. Sorry I have no pictures of this as I also was covered in grease. I wondered what the black u shaped thing was that came in the boot kit, but actually came in handy a few times, more on that later.
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push the shaft cv joint all the way into the housing. And put the rest of the grease in there. I didn't feel like this was enough so I got more and pretty much filled the rest of the housing.
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getting the boot onto the housing was the hardest part of the entire process. I used that little yellow trim lever to get the last bit of the boot on. Once over the lip I used the black u thing slipped over just behind the largest rib and pushed it the rest of the way on. I think it would have been much easier had it been above freezing, the rubber was very stiff.
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the next hardest part was getting this clamp on. I ended up separating it and used the screwdriver you see here to get it reconnected before squeezing the clamp tight.
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I used the pex pinch clamp pliers (red handles) because they have more leverage and I'm a wus. Most folks I think use the type with the yellow handles. I then pushed the small end of the boot in position on the shaft. Then I again used the black u thing to compress the middle 4 ribs of the boot to push excess air out before clamping the small clamp.
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and done. Sorry about missing pictures, I was covered in grease for much of this process and didn't want to touch mu phone or keep changing gloves.
 
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duderz7

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well, less than a day later and this is what I find. I got refunded for this one, but considering the time and effort this took I'm buying an axle. If the boot was softer and more flexible it would have been much easier and probably still be in one peice.
 

CarlosHRNYC

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Awesome step by step guide! Appreciate you sharing and sorry it didn't end well after all that work.

How the hell is your front suspension free of rust crust?? Did you do an entire rebuild?
 

duderz7

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Awesome step by step guide! Appreciate you sharing and sorry it didn't end well after all that work.

How the hell is your front suspension free of rust crust?? Did you do an entire rebuild?
I did this job shortly after having my entire front suspension out during differential rebuild and gear swap. I did some painting and rust removal at that time. I've got another thread on here about that if you're interested.
 

CarlosHRNYC

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I did this job shortly after having my entire front suspension out during differential rebuild and gear swap. I did some painting and rust removal at that time. I've got another thread on here about that if you're interested.
I'll definitely look that up!
 
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