replacement outer CV boot (stretchy type)

[stuart bowes]

replacement outer CV boot (stretchy type) fitted today

can confirm the following parts work:

stretching cone:
https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/stretc...aper-lubricant
I used washing up liquid instead of the grease
also I cut the cone down to perfectly match the size of the CV joint as it was about an inch too long / wide

stretchy boot:
https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/univer...to-115mm-black
the smaller of the outer two sizes (I cut off larger size before doing job)

when first arrived thought absolutely no way this is gonna stretch wide enough (never used one before) but soaked in boiling water for a good 10mins and tried it over the end of a broom handle, lo and behold it worked. like magic or something

in the end doing it over the actual shaft was more of a faff due to a) clearly the massive job of disassembling everything first and b) either I didn't heat it up as long, or maybe because this was now outdoors and cooled quicker, but it got stuck half way. some jiggling and stretching with two pry bars, one either side, eventually got it there.

make sure smaller end is squeezed up to be inside the little lump on the shaft which will mean it clears the bottom of the suspension leg.

hugely more work that it should be for such a silly little thing really.. but am now 100% MOT compliant. roll on another year

[JoeNinety]

Agree it does not look like it will stretch that far without splitting.

Me, I prefer to knock off the CV joint, give that a good clean out and inspection too.

[stuart bowes]

I was thinking about it but it wasn't making any noises, felt smooth in the hand, and I didn't want to open a can of worms (or should that be a race of ball bearings..) and also didn't want to deal with the potential issues trying to get the other end of the shaft out of the box

Would it be possible to do that without removing the other end of the shaft?

Partly I actually also wanted to see how easy this stretch fit thing was. And while it was pretty straight forward actually I don't think popping the end off and fitting a normal one would have been any less time assuming no snags with the other end

worst thing is my thumbs are absolutely killing today, where it got stuck halfway and trying to tug it on. added to the general turning of nuts by hand and so on

[Clan]

Originally Posted by stuart bowes

replacement outer CV boot (stretchy type) fitted today

can confirm the following parts work:

stretching cone:
https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/stretc...aper-lubricant
I used washing up liquid instead of the grease
also I cut the cone down to perfectly match the size of the CV joint as it was about an inch too long / wide

stretchy boot:
https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/univer...to-115mm-black
the smaller of the outer two sizes (I cut off larger size before doing job)

when first arrived thought absolutely no way this is gonna stretch wide enough (never used one before) but soaked in boiling water for a good 10mins and tried it over the end of a broom handle, lo and behold it worked. like magic or something

in the end doing it over the actual shaft was more of a faff due to a) clearly the massive job of disassembling everything first and b) either I didn't heat it up as long, or maybe because this was now outdoors and cooled quicker, but it got stuck half way. some jiggling and stretching with two pry bars, one either side, eventually got it there.

make sure smaller end is squeezed up to be inside the little lump on the shaft which will mean it clears the bottom of the suspension leg.

hugely more work that it should be for such a silly little thing really.. but am now 100% MOT compliant. roll on another year

In my experience it probably wont make the next MOT , Always get a volvo repair kit which will last for many years so your work and cost is kept to a minimum

[stuart bowes]

I was wondering that but when it arrived I decided it was well strong enough

it's very thick rubber, not like those wrap around and glue things.. literally took all my strength to turn the thing inside out, very very strong

also made sure nothing is rubbing on it, which would be a failure point for any boot whoever made it

the only possible point of failure could be to do with the rubber compound itself, i.e. breaking up due to heat or age maybe? seems highly unlikely within a year or two

if it does fail I will update, but I will say if it splits down at the narrow end it could well be because of my ham-fisted levering see post #1

[ajm]

I have used strech boots (from J&R Trading) in the past and they lasted the rest of the life of the car, several years at least, with no issues.

I must admit on my current car I just replaced the whole shafts, as the inner boots were failing - that way you know both sets of boots, the CV Joint and the reluctor ring should be good for another decade at least and it's really just the same amount of work. Possibly easier than tugging the stretch boot into place actually - I seem to remember that the lube which makes the boot slide on the cone easily also makes the boot slide out of your grip easily!

[stuart bowes]

update on this 8 months later and fast approaching next MOT..

happened to have access over this weekend changing track rod ends and gave it a good look over, no signs of weakening yet

of course it might not be obvious on the outside the only time I'll find out is when it suddenly starts spitting grease

but anyway so far so good

[Jaston10078]

Hi Stuart, thanks for updating your original post. I'm just about to have one fitted.

Is it still holding up?

All the best

James