jr27

i went to test fit some 20 inch wheels from my friends mustang gt because everywhere i searched said that i couldn't fit a 245/35/20 tire with a wheel of 35mm offset on the tl, so i thought if his wheels fit ill buy the konig airstrike in 20x9. anyways i noticed very little grease on the inside of my wheel. i cleaned it up and a few days later i saw it again. i new it had to be a small tear because it was leaking so slow and the pieces of grease were very little dots on the wheel, i checked it out and it is a very small tear. the problem i have encountered is that anywhere i call they only have the passenger side but i need the driver side. the whole driver side axle is 190 bucks but i get 75 bucks back for the core but i know i only need the boot because the small hole cannot be letting any dirt in yet.

is it even possible to only do the boot on the driver side? and do any of you know of a link to a diy for this i haven't been able to find one. i plan to do it myself. what grease do i need to repack it and what else should i replace once im there. thank you guys in advance.

shadowkahn

First off, why do you think a small hole won't let any dirt in? I guarantee there's dirt in your grease now.

Second, replacing only the boot is silly. It's more work than replacing the whole axle, because you have to remove the axle anyway in order to get the new boot on. If you use a 2-piece boot to avoid that, then you have to get the 2 pieces together perfectly or the boot will fail again, so you end up with an inferior product at the end of the job anyway. Might as well just replace the axle and be done with it.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Just the boot can be replaced, but if you're not familiar with the job, it's certainly easier to replace the entire axle assembly and a lot less time consuming. A while back replaced both boots on the daughter's Maxima, only $27 total, but a lot of time. After axle removal, the axle needs to be split, joint cleaned out, I use water don't want anything harsh, dry, lube with CV grease, sometimes comes with the boot kit, get the axle back together than special tool for the clamps.

Don't use a pickle fork on the ball joint, nor hammer on the axle shaft to get it out of the hub.

Quick, but it's a start.

jr27

@ shadowkahn, thanks man and yeah after searching and talking to some buddies of mine found out the same thing. i was just trying to do the boot only to save money but if it is too hard and might fail again well ill just do the whole thing.

@ turbonut, i have changed the two axles in a 1991 civic so i am a little familiar with this i guess. and also will the new boot be already on the new axle when i buy it? and also is there any high performance axles or products to put on once i have it off? thanks for the help and input.

also so if i am gonna replace the whole thing how long can i wait to change it. i wanted to hurry because i planned on doing the boot only and i didnt want the axle to get worst, but if i change the whole thing cant i wait i little longer now or not a good idea? what else can go wrong if i wait too long?

shadowkahn

Unless you're planning on doing major power upgrades, the stock axles are fine. "high performance" axles would just be axles that can take more power than stock, which isn't needed unless you're upping the power. I usually get my axles from Raxles. Good prices, and they've always performed well for me. Yes, the boot will be on the axle. It's plug and play, no assembly required.

shadowkahn

oh, and I wouldn't wait. You know you have to do it, and the longer you wait the more likely you'll have a problem. Plus, you'll have that grease flinging up into your wheel, which makes a mess as you've already discovered. Why have to clean that up too?

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

I've seen torn boots go for years. Those CV joints are pretty durable, but once the grease is gone an grit enters it will slowly destroy the balls/sockets, but as stated earlier it will take quite a while. The joint won't come apart, but it will get noisy in turnes. Take your time.

nfnsquared

Do careful research before splurging on "performance" axles....I think there was a thread in the Performance section (may have been in one of the Turbo threads) about bad experiences with so called performance/heavy duty axles for the TL....

burbank_dude

I drove on mine after the passenger side outside boot tore (only slightly) but it still made that nasty noise when the car was cold however, waiting cost me a tire as the tread went sour after a few thousand miles. I also started to feel a rattle in my steering. The new axle fixed it.

I wouldn't wait too long if I were you.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Would like to know how a worn CV joint will cause tire wear.

burbank_dude

Well, the cv half shaft is connected to the drivetrain on one side and the wheel on the other. The longer you ride on a ripped boot ( on the outside boot ) the more the bearings inside the shaft can become effected. Before actually pulling mine out when shaking the wheel there was a tiny bit of play which created a wobble effect on the wheel during rotation. This killed the tread on the tire about 4k miles after the tear in the boot.

One more piece of advice. Don't waste your time skimping on this part, go with the expensive OEM part over remanufactured or aftermarket. I bought a CARDONE axle and had to replace it 2ice before taking both crappy axles back to O'Reilly. Both the reman and new axles clicked on the inside boot-it was a steady clicking sound on straight acceleration up to 40 mph. After 40 mph it went away but sounded ghetto as hell! It ended up taking 4 days to fix having to take the bad axle back and then wait for them to 'locate' another. The OEM part was solid and click free.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Almost a month....... Think about the setup. Do you really believe that the axle keeps the wheel from wobbling? The axle stub goes through the hub bearing and the only play that can be in the wheel assembly is if a hub bearing is bad, discounting other worn suspension components. You could remove the axle and leave just the stub through the hub and the wheel won't wobble, unless a bad bearing.

burbank_dude

New cv axle, no alignment change 10k miles, 1 rotation, no excessive wear on new axle side since.

Anyone considering just replacing the boot is riding dangerously and losing performance. This has been the case all the other hondas with manual transmissions that I've owned. The axles going bad causes extra vibration and play. This part takes as much abuse as any other part.

Please don't reply to extend this issue. I consider my feedback on the original issue done. I won't check the site again for a while...

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

lowbudgetTL

iTrader: (1)

I'm replacing both axles tomorrow... 149.94 shipped to my door for both... A-1 Cardone... As for me the left one "CV" started taking a sheit around 07 @ 30,000 miles... The next winter the right one started, now I'm @ 105,000 miles... metal sound which is lous as hell when taking slow turns such as backing out of the driveway My car is a 2005 At