Rein CV Boot

[KLXD]

I just received two.

They're made of fairly hard plastic, not rubber. Doesn't seem to be urethane which I'd be ok with.

Anyone used them?

 

[Dimitri16V]

nothing wrong with the plastic boots . just make sure you put the inner clamp a bit closer to the outer joint to allow the boot to flex in tight turns

 

[need4speed]

From my experience, I couldn't say much about just replacing CV-boots. It looks (to me) to be a harder job than simply replacing the whole axle (which is a little more expensive, but you don't have to mess with the CV boot clamp, which requires a special tool).

Either way - make sure you re-use the stock 12-point (triple-square) bolts to mount to the transmission flange, and keep those locking-plates. re-torque these carefully; by-the-book. I replaced my axle with a cheap aftermarket one, and they gave me allen bolts - which did NOT stay in. I was just very fortunate that I was pulling away from a stop sign when it finally broke loose (instead of at-speed on the freeway). If you don't want to re-use the 12-point bolts, you can order a new set on line. Worth it.

 

[RT1]

I was weighing the same options. $80 in parts plus the time and greasy mess to repack, or buy A-1 Cardone complete axle for $30 more and replace without the mess. I figured my time was worth $60. We'll see how long they last. I got ten years out of the OEM but choked on the $600 price tag for a pair of VW replacement axles.

 

[kwong7]

Did any of you guys experience a torn boot or grease leak? I'm not sure if these should be replaced when there's a problem or if you folks are doing preventative maintenance.

 

[KLXD]

Two of mine are torn. Inner driver side for a while at the small end. Noticed the outer was bad too when I went to fix the inner. Ordered it and that's when I got the plastic.

Did the right inner when it failed more than a year ago at about 275000.

You can look for cracking at the bottoms of the convolutions.

I'm thinking of taking them all off and swapping sides. None are making noise.

 

[RT1]

Did any of you guys experience a torn boot or grease leak? I'm not sure if these should be replaced when there's a problem or if you folks are doing preventative maintenance.

All four of mine were compromised within a five month span. The first one, inner drivers, was observed in July when I got new tires, right inner and outer split shortly thereafter and the last one (drivers outer) split when I removed the axle. The inner drivers side also developed a distinct wobble. Given the miles I figured new axles was a better bet. I might have been able to extend the life if I had opted to grease and re-boot a couple of years ago as a preventative.

 

[KLXD]

Looked closer at them. Maybe they are urethane.

Also found two spots where something was ground away. One was still recognizable as the VW emblem. Hope that just means these were ones not destined for VW and not that they were rejects.