It isn’t uncommon for CV boots to go bad – I blew out mine on a track day, but if your car goes through extreme temperatures (hot or cold) or you otherwise drive hard on the track or whatnot, inevitably you’ll blow out a CV boot. You can take it to the dealer and have them fix it, or you can DIY and save yourself a lot of money – it takes about two hours to complete, and is moderately difficult to perform. This DIY is courtesy of Phil aka fly300kts, who was kind enough to share it here with readers of Nick’s Car Blog. If you need clear corner caps, a ballast rebuild, or need help with your B7 Audi headlights, he is your man! But if your CV boots look like the above where the boot is torn and grease is everywhere, then it’s time to replace on your own, and that is where this DIY comes in handy. To do this, you might need a few specialty tools outside of your normal toolbox, including a Triple Square 10mm and a Allen socket 17mm.
To start, remove the center cap of your wheel with your parking brake ON and remove the big allen screw in the middle of the hub. Doing this before you jack the car up will help you get more leverage, although if you can’t get the center caps off without removing the wheel first then you should be okay to jack the car up and take the wheel off first. The bolt will look like this:
Next, jack the car up and remove the wheel. Then remove the cross bolt securing the upper arms (do not remove the upper control arms themselves though, this is the bolt below them!):
Also remove the bolt for the steering/directional control arm:
You can now use a small chisel to expand the arm:
Slide the assembly on the side and you will be able to disengage the axle outer side, like this:
Then using the 10mm triple square remove the 6 screws engine side and slide out the axle. After securing the axle, using a razor blade (or other) cut the remaining on the boot as well as the old clamps. Clean any excess grease. For the outer CV Joint you will be able to remove outside clip and slide out the tripod, but for the inner joint, you don’t have access to the outer clip yet.
To reach the inner CV joint, hit the flange with a hammer where the 6 screws are until it slides off the tripod and you should end up with something like this:
Now you have access to the outer clip. Remove it and slide out the tripod
After a good cleaning of the different components, slide the part in this order:
- Small Clamp
- New Boot
- Inner clip
Slide the tripod and come in contact to the inner clip. Then install the outer clip:
Next, slide the boot in his final position and tight the inner clamp.
Lastly, empty the entire tube of grease inside the boot, install the outer clamp and secure…then you’re done replacing the CV boot!
Now, just reinstall the axle on the car. Be sure to torque to the correct values:
- M8 bolt: 40 Nm
- M10 bolt: 65 Nm
For the next step a second person is required. The first person gets into vehicle and presses brake pedal, while the second person tightens hex bolt for drive axle to initial torque. Use these torque settings:
- Hex bolt (M14): 115 Nm
- Hex bolt (M16): 200 Nm
Last but not least, install wheel and lower vehicle to the ground. Turn the bolt securing drive axle an additional 180°(1/2) and you’re all set!
good post
Did this today in my B7 audi car and tried to pull the driveshaft without disconnecting the control arms and tie rod but didn’t have any luck. As soon as I popped those off there was more than enough clearance to slide the axle out.
Fantastic article. I have done some Honda axles but some day my A4 B7 Quattro will need some boots as well so it’s always nice to know what I’m getting into. Appreciate you taking the time to document this.
One thing I would add to this is to thoroughly grease all of the tripod surfaces and try to pack it into the areas you can’t reach before adding the rest of the grease and clamping the boot. This prevents a dry condition on the surfaces before the grease has a chance to set in thereby preventing wear on the metal surfaces during the first few minutes of use. Boots are cheap, the rest of the parts are not if you have to rebuild or replace the axle due to scoring.
Thanks for the tip!
Great information, thanks for the post!
What is the best way (with what) to clean the old grease off. Also how much grease do you put in the joint ans how much is put in the boot (and where in the boot). Thank you
I have the 2006 A4 (B7) 2.0 TDi triptronic. Right hand steering. From South Africa. Does anyone know by heart what the spline count is for the inner CV. I would like to purchase parts beforehand but most part shops are being careful and require a sample. Would really have liked to purchase the CVs before starting to strip the axle and CVs out. Feedback would be highly appreciated.
Did just the boot tear or is the joint bad? If it is just a torn boot then it should be possible to change just the boot with a boot kit.
Sorry I thought this was a recent post – probably solved.
The photo’s for this CV joint rebuild page are not loading. Can you check your links?
Thanks for the heads up, should be fixed now!
Hi just curious do you know the part number for this inner boot ?
My friend and I were struggling to figure out how to get the CV joint off of the axle, but when I found your instructions on what to hit to get the cage off, that did it for us , and were able to make the progress and get the boot replaced.
Thanks for this line:
“To reach the inner CV joint, hit the flange with a hammer where the 6 screws are until it slides off the tripod and you should end up with something like this:”