you gotta really watch out w/ dealerships...they prey on the truly stupid and paranoid.

Ron Price Subaru in SSF (I think that's the name), quoted me $300 to replace a stud on the front driver's wheel. Yes, i confirmed that it was the front and yes it was for just one stud. I asked the guy if he was SURE...yep, some BS about having to re-locate the ABS (that's only for the rear...and still not that hard).

From what i read, a cv boot only job is to hold the grease in place. If it's damaged, sounds like all you need to do is replace it. Now if the grease has leaked out and the car has been running for a long duration that way, that may mean bigger issues. Lubrication is good, no lubrication gets expensive =)

good luck on your search...sorry about my little venting on dealerships. I ended up changing the stud myself in a half an hour. Sheesh.

dan.

 

Definitely shouldn't have to replace the entire axel until it snaps off the tranny.

The U-Joint shoud be replaced if it has run awhile unnoticed and of course another boot around the joint. Don't know how long that will take but it shouldn't be a horrible pain for a mechanic.

 

lets all cross our fingers and hope not.

 

The easiest and FASTEST way to fix your CV boot, is just do a swap of the axle, You basically trade in your axle with the busted CV boot for a axle that has a good cv boot. Replaceing the CV boot itself takes some time and is messy. (thought it should be in an hour), swapping axles is like 20 min job. (labor to take out the axle and put in the new one).

Both driver and passenger side axles on subarus are identical. So it doesn't really matter. I just had mine replaced (as i had a small ripp on my CV boot).

 

are you guys talking about the half shaft? cuz thats pretty easy to replace

 

you can replace just the boot itself, just make sure there isn't any deep score marks on it, especially if it's been "dry" for a while. Mine was torn and I picked up all the parts to repair it, but ended up getting used STI shafts. They're much beefier. I might still have the parts if anyone wants them.

Tommy

 

I did this on my civic.

the CV boot cost was $10 less then the whole axle/drive shaft/whatever you want to call it.
to install a new boot requires a good couple of hours to do, its messy, pain in the ***, it would be more efficient to pay the few extra bucks on part instead of labor time to buy the whole axle.

This is of course assuming that the prices are close to each other for the CV boot and axle.

If you have an impact wrench, air compressor, and needed tools just do it yourself.

 

what parts do you have lying around Tommy?

 

now thats a hellova open end question... i dont think this forum can handle the parts list

lol
edgar,

whats up tommah

 

alright, to those like kme that have a torn cv boot. i called steve barsotti and asked him about the cv boot replacement. he said that with around 30k miles or less, with the small hole in the boot, it should be ok to replace the cv boot and not the drive axle. he did mention to check if there is any play in the joint because if there is then you would have to replace that axle. so that is the good news. the bad news is that the correct way to replace the boot is to remove the entire axle because the outter boot has to slide down the drive axle in order to get it into the correct place. this requires taking off the inner cv boot and replacing that one as well. on top of that, there is a special grease that must be used to re-pack the cv, but it should come with the boot, though you might have to purchase it seperatly from subaru. and then there is a special tool that is required to tighten the clamps on the cv boots. so to list everything if you are going to do it yourself, inner and outter cv boots ( which should come with the required clamps), the special grease, and then removing the axle.

on the up side he did mention that it doesn't require too much work, just need that tool to tighten the clamps, though he did make it seem as if those tools are hard to come upon.

if anyone knows or hears anything else on this let me know. the more i know the easier it will be to do it myself. i don't want to mess anything up or it to take forever.

Keegan

 

I basically had my cv boot replaced last week,

First I bought all the neccessary hardware to have the cv boot replaced. Boot, grease and clamps (orignal clams are disposable). Subaru sells the boot as one part and the clamp & grease as another set. so you need to buy those two ($35).

I got these parts brought it to the shop, well the shop guys had my cv boot all taken apart within 20 minutes, but they were having a tough tough time putting it back together with the new one.

Finally, they got fed up and basically told me that it was a bit tough to get it done and offered to just replace the whole axle (and they'll rebuild mine). So (time running out) I opted for the new axle and they had a replacement axle in within a matter of minutes and I was out in no time. If I knew, I woulda just told them to replace the axle and save me the time in trying to put the cv boot back together.

 

how much did they charge you for the replacement axle?

 

bumpage.
keegan did barsottie's give you a price range?

 

mpj/gb did mine
big up to riggs he kicked *** and got it done quick

 

Hey Keegan i checked the servce manual for removal, installation and all that other jazz for the axle, driveshaft, etc etc.
looks kinda complicated, but its not toooo bad i dont think, as long as we have the right tools.
i plan to call some local shops this weekend and get some quotes n stuff... if its too much bank, garage day in davis? lol