CV joint clicking epilogue

[Robin Henderson]

Thanks to all who offered tips on replacing my front half axle. I bought a
lifetime warranty reman and replaced it today. I took my time and it took
four hours. I bet I can do it in two next time. I will need to replace the
boot on the other side soon.

I have one problem, the inner boot on the new axle is sucked in. I notice
in the manual it says to lift the seal on the boot to equalize the pressure
but since it is factory sealed I am not sure what to do. Just to clarify,
instead of having three nice ribs on the boot one of them is dimpled inward.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Once again thanks for all the help! It really was a big advantage listening
to everyone's advice.

Thanks
Robin

 

[Bill Putney]

...I have one problem, the inner boot on the new axle is sucked in. I notice
in the manual it says to lift the seal on the boot to equalize the pressure
but since it is factory sealed I am not sure what to do. Just to clarify,
instead of having three nice ribs on the boot one of them is dimpled inward.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Once again thanks for all the help! It really was a big advantage listening
to everyone's advice.

Thanks
Robin

All it means is that it was assembled in a high altitude (low air
pressure) facility and you are in a relatively low altitude (higher air
pressure) location. Take a thin flat blade (a thin feeler gage for
example) of some type with no sharp edges and gently work it underneath
the boot seal (under the rubber at one of the clamps) so the that the
end is beyond the innermost part of the seal. The gap at the edges of
the blade will hopefully be enough to let the air pressure equalize. If
the pucker doesn't disappear in a few minutes (you may have to help it
along by trying to squeeze it into shape), you may need a slightly
thicker object to give that gap for air exchange. You might try a round
rod instead of a flat blade which would allow you to go slightly bigger
(probably no bigger than 1/32" (0.8 mm) - grind the tip of the rod round
so it doesn't cut or tear the rubber as it is inserted, and lubricate it
before inserting it.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

[Robin Henderson]

All it means is that it was assembled in a high altitude (low air
pressure) facility and you are in a relatively low altitude (higher air
pressure) location. Take a thin flat blade (a thin feeler gage for
example) of some type with no sharp edges and gently work it underneath
the boot seal (under the rubber at one of the clamps) so the that the
end is beyond the innermost part of the seal. The gap at the edges of
the blade will hopefully be enough to let the air pressure equalize. If
the pucker doesn't disappear in a few minutes (you may have to help it
along by trying to squeeze it into shape), you may need a slightly
thicker object to give that gap for air exchange. You might try a round
rod instead of a flat blade which would allow you to go slightly bigger
(probably no bigger than 1/32" (0.8 mm) - grind the tip of the rod round
so it doesn't cut or tear the rubber as it is inserted, and lubricate it
before inserting it.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

Thanks Bill,

I started to try that with a small flat blade screwdriver but I was worried
I was going to puncture the boot. I will look around to see what I have
that may work...

Robin