CV Boots

[Dan Cordon]

> Can somebody tell, and hopefully in btdt fashion, what the easiest way to 
> pull the front driveshafts is?  I just noticed that both of my outside CV 
> boots are torn on the front of the car, the passenger side pretty recently 
> as the grease is still getting thicker on the inside of the wheel.  And is 
> the tranny side CV attached with an 8-point drive screw/bolt similar to on 
> the VW's?
> 
> From my recollection, by just taking the bottom of the strut off the 
> ball-joint you won't get enough movement to get the shafts out.  Although, 
> now that I'm thinking of it, I guess the main nememsis (aka sway bar) is 
> attached to the control arm, not the strut.

I just replaced the passenger side shaft on my 200. I don't know if it's 
correct, but the pass side was held in the hub with a 17mm allen head 
bolt, while the drivers side has a regular bolt head on it. And yes, the 
inner joint is held on with the 8 (or 12) pt drives similar to the VW. 
However, they are a different size than the aircooled VW's I've taken 
apart. DON'T be tempted to use a 8mm allen wrench. It fits pretty tight, 
but won't actually work. I used about 24" of socket extension and got 
the bolts off through the wheelwell. Mine were on pretty tight!

I was able to pull the shaft w/o taking the upright or lower arm, or 
sway bar off at all. With the wheel straight ahead, move the inner joint 
up and to the rear, and push it out of the hub as far as you can. Then 
turn the wheel to the outside (to the right on passenger side) and there 
should be enough room to push the shaft the rest of the way out.

"Assembly is reverse of removal" :o) Be careful on reassembly to make 
sure the gasket on the inner joint stays aligned.

Also, I was able to get a rebuilt CV shaft (Cardone 607160) from my 
local Schucks for ~$56. And they didn't charge me a core either, so I 
kept my old shaft and will clean the outer joint and re-boot it. Some 
friends have had problems with Schucks rebuilt CV's, but with a lifetime 
warranty, and only a few hours to replace, I gave it a shot.

-- 
Dan Cordon
Mechanical Engineer
University of Idaho - Engine Research Facility