Garth S

A job we all face at some time - and there are various ways to R&R the common 'torn boot': most of the job is simple grunt work & grease which has been posted on numerous times, so these comments are limited to dissassembly of the only difficult step for the home DIY'er .... pulling off the inner joint once the axle is removed.
After prying off the inner cap, snap ring, and boot clamps, grab your trusty air hammer [ if you do not have shop air, then a hydraulic press or a trip to some better equipped shop is generally required]. Take a death grip around the boot with the meat of your hand pressing against the face of the CV to be removed. Have at the end of the splined shaft with the air hammer .... and the joint will start sliding in seconds. This can be done with the axle accross the yoke of a vise ( horizontal) or held vertically. Basically, you are driving the axle through your closed fist.
I've done a raft of these and, for what it's worth, this works best for me - obviously, protect the end splines with a socket if a flat head insert is not available for the air hammer.

As an aside, on the last S4 done, 2 inner CV bolts had marred heads - didn't think too much about it until time for the reinstall, as they were spun out with an air impact, so no resistance. Different story on reassembly, as all bolts must be hand started: these two were an issue, as their threads showed some 'roll over' - a clear sign of partial cross threading. Result - they would not start by hand.
I string out this story, as the inner flanges ( in the trans) are reputed to be very hard steel .... and are more likely replaced than repaired: to shorten the story, it was possible to use a med. size ratcheting 'T'-handle & tap to chase the holes> End result - fresh CV bolts were threaded in by hand, so it is feasible to recut damaged threads in situ for the halfshaft flanges.
Why did this happen? - likely, someone jammed the bolts home at some point with an impact gun - without first starting them by hand.

Bill Ball

You know, I did this about a year ago and I HATED the job, so much so that I can't remember a thing I did other than I made a big mess cleaning the CVs. Garth, your description rings no bells. I don't remember having a problem with the inner CV. Maybe I just skipped that.

JHowell37

I was always able to remove the CV without a hammer or press. I bought new CV bolts from Fastenal and they forced me to buy a bag of 50. It wasn't too expensive, and if I have to remove the bolts for any reason, I'll replace them with new ones. I also bought a 8mm ball head allen socket from Snap-on. Allen sockets from Sears are garbage. The Snap-On cost about $25 but it's tough.

Ben Allison

+1 on the Snap-on allen sockets. I've got a pair of the craftsman ones and the snap-on ones and use the snap-on ones exclusively

Grey Wolf

I recently did my CV boots and the inner joints came off rather easily. I also found that when putting them back together, they didn't want to seat all the way and wouldn't allow the retaining clips to go in.
After several attempts I found that there was one spline that lined up, and the inner joint sliped on as easily as it came off. This was the only position that allowed the reataining clip to go back in.
The PO had the shaft marked, but one spline off in either direction and it just didn't want to seat.

Ben Allison

Another random note. A number of times that I've redone CV joints (on a 924, 944 and 928), the bolts will come loose after a few miles. Even with new bolts. If you get any of the CV grease on the bolts, they won't get fully tight. Eventually the rotational force on the passenger side inners can loosen the bolts. Bring your allen socket with you and be sure to retorque the passenger inners (and maybe the driver outers on the older cars) after the first drive. Or just be careful not to get CV grease on the bolts!

pelaeon

I fear this job. Both my boots are torn and it's on the top of my list once i finish the interior.

Garth S

Just unlucky I guess .... I haven't yet had an inner CV that fell off in my hand without some persuasion, and that's for joints that were still sealed and grease packed.
Good advice on a retorque check for the CV bolts! A drop of blue loctite on assembly never hurts, after the threads are cleaned.

blown 87

No reason to fear it, it is just a dirty job, nothing really technical about it.

KLVA

I just did mine this last Jan while car was put up for the winter. Did not see any of those bolt issues... did get a rebuilt axle from Mark Anderson due to the play in the driver side axle. The side w/ the torn outer boot. Right side was OK. All boots and grease changed. I had just done the drive axles on my 1996 FWD Volvo 850 Turbo, so I was already greasy !! Not too bad a job and I have driven my 88 S4 AT alot since ...SO I guess I need to check torque on the axle mount bolts now !! The biggest challenge was getting the large nut tight enough and that was tricky !! Something like 420 ft/lbs !! A very large piece of heavy gauge steel pipe and a too small torque wrench. !! Big HELLO to Uncle mitch from Pool Shark in VA !! Great Pics !! I can even show most of them to my Mom !!!

KLVA

I think you need to go ahead and just order 2 new rebuilt drive axles already greased and booted . Any prolonged exposure damages the moving parts in the axles. Especially in FLA ..lots of sand , salt, humidity, rain. Also takes your work load down alot. Just a thought from recent experience.. Good luck !!

Bill Ball

If the rebuilts are done properly (I think there were some issues with that not long ago), I think it's at very least a toss-up as to whether to repack your current axles or install rebuilts. The labor of installing rebuilt axles is almost nothing compared to cleaning, repacking and changing boots yourself. It took me probably 6 grimy hours to remove, disassemble, clean, reassemble, repack and reinstall the axles versus an hour or so of relatively clean time to swap in some rebuilt axles on another car. If your time is free and your axles are not clicking, then enjoy making a 6 hour mess. Not having a parts cleaner and a lot of solvent is another factor that would favor rebuilts.

JHowell37

+1. Use kerosene for the initial cleaning. It's way cheaper then any cleaning solvent.

Bill Ball

I had trouble finding kerosene locally. Home Depot/Ace/OSH don't carry it.