In situ replacement of front outer CV boots

[Bernie Benz]

Hi Rick,

I did not post my resonse to Chris's Qs to the list as I didn't expect the
current level of interest.  Will do so now, after the fact.

I don't know the specifics of the A6 CV joint problems but I suspect that
the snap ring attaching the joint hub to the half shaft is more like that of
the 89 chassis and the auto 44s, that being a round wire snap ring on the
outboard side of the joint hub.  With this configuration it is easier to
remove the hub from the half shaft inasmuch as the hub can be "forced
through" the retaining ring without having to first release the ring.  A
design that is much easier to service.  BTDT on my 90Q.

I do/did not remove the anti sway bar from the lower arm, only dropped its
attachment to the front subframe.  Thus, neither did I compress the spring
to accommodate the sway bar or to reinsert the ball joint into the hub
housing.  Not necessary.

Regards,  Bernie 

> From: "Rick Houck" <rhouck at neo.rr.com>
> Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 20:41:36 -0500
> To: <C1J1Miller at aol.com>, "Bernie Benz" <b.benz at charter.net>, "200q20V mailing
> list" <200q20v at audifans.com>
> Subject: Re: In situ replacement of front outer CV boots
> 
> Recently did one of my '97 A6 front outer boots, which should be almost the
> same. I had a devil of a time getting the sway bar back into the control arm
> hole, and even more trouble installing the inner end of the control arm
> after removing it for more clearance. I tried it every way I could think of,
> but all were difficult. The strut has to be compressed some to get the inner
> end into place. I used another jack, but it was tricky at best. A seemingly
> simple job took way more effort than I expected. Not sure how I could have
> done it any easier, but removing the sway bar brackets might have helped.
> 
> Rick
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <C1J1Miller at aol.com>
> To: "Bernie Benz" <b.benz at charter.net>; "200q20V mailing list"
> <200q20v at audifans.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 11:33 AM
> Subject: Re: In situ replacement of front outer CV boots
> 
> 
>> Good writeup, Bernie.  Did you consider patching the boot with liquid
> electrical tape or similar?
>> 
>> Most of the time the ball joint boot is destroyed by letting the control
> arm spring back up and hit the strut housing, or by not watching where you
> are prying.  Careful!  It might also be easy to release the inner control
> arm mount to relieve it and allow it to sag; just tighten again once the car
> is on it's wheels.
>> Chris
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