Hi all.
Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, I notice that the nearside driveshaft CV joint boot had given up the ghost. The engine bay was covered by that horrible grease and I could actually see the opening on the boot.
I wanted to try something different from the original boot (that came with the kit), so I went for Hoffman's offering. It was quite expensive, however going by various testimonies, it was worth a try.
The work
I aimed to get the work done in about couple of hours, so reversed the car into the garage and jacked up both sides, removed the undertray, and I was all set.
Wheel removed...
Before removing the hub nut, knock out the little safety nodule. I used a screw driver and a couple of good whacks with the hammer.
Using a 32mm socket, remove the central hub nut. I really struggled with this as I didn't have long enough bar. With perseverance, the bolt finally cracked and turn. I am still recovering from that one activity! :-)
Once the nut was out of the way, I removed the two bolts holding the hub to the top wishbone and giggled the driveshaft out...
From under the car, I used a small crow bar to jimmy out the driveshaft from the gearbox and with little effort, it came free.
The offending hole...
Looking at it damage, I now think that this was caused by pressure build-up in the boot rather than wear and tear.
The retaining clip has to be removed to allow the tripod to be removed and slide the old boot out...
I must say, the grease stuff is pretty nasty. It took me a good 20 minutes of cleaning with newspapers, de-greaser and brake cleaners, to get to a point where all the old grease was gone.
It is important that all the grease is cleaned up as some don't like to be mixed and may go off.
The build was pretty straight forward. I ensured that the bearings on the tripod go back to their original mount by marking them with a bit of elastic band.
I will let the photos tell the story...
Nice and clean...
Re-greasing...
Old Vs New...
Looking as good as new...
All back in place again and looking pretty good...
In the end, all the work took about 2.5 hours, including replacement of the undertray and getting the car back on the ground. Difficulty level is probably about a 5/10, but you will need to be methodical and patient as not everything is straight forward.
I took the car for a gentle drive to ensure that all the grease settles in and all is well.
I will report if anything changes, however I hope this lasts a while.
For now, I can call that job done!
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