w123 rubber boot problem

[stuarth]

Sorry for the misleading title but my Haynes manual doesn't even mention this...
There is a rubber boot on the drive shaft at the wheel end of the shaft from the diff to the wheel - I don't know what it is called but it is split a bit. Is it easy to change and how much of the rear will I have to dismantle?

thanks

 

[TimN]

I am planning to do this job myself when the whether is a bit drier. There are a number of ways. There is of course the Mercedes way. Check out the following web page but you will need to get your cheque book out for all the specialist tools

http://skinnerbox.steaky.org/Service/W123/w123CD2/Program/Chassis/35-660.pdf

Then there is the cheep and chearful method. Cut the old boots off and rap around a split boot. You can get multifit split boots from your local motor factors. I guess for that matter you could use a rubber glove. I have heard of people putting the split boot over the old boot.

Next there is the complete axle method. Germa Swish and French and Euro Car Parts both sell axles with Constant Velocity joints and new CV boots at either end for £124.50 plus vat. If your CV joints are warn (and they might be if the split has been there for a while) then this is your best bet.

Apprarently there is the stretch method whereby somehow the new boot is pulled over the CV joint housing but I can't believe it. It would be like giving birth.

Lockheed do replacement boots. The inner one is about £6.50 and the outer one about £32.00. The reason for this is that you allegedly have to destroy part of the outer CV joint to get the new boot on.

However I am working on a much simplified method. This might make sense to you if you read the MB page above. A brief discription is as follows. I will be writing a detailed description with photographs if it is successful

Jack the vehicle up and secure on stands chock the wheels
Peel back the crimped edge joining the 2 parts of the CV housing.
Undo the bolt securing the driveshaft to the hub and push the drive shaft through.
Lever the drive shaft out and free of the hub.
Remove the outer CVjoint. (catch the balls)
Extract the plastic plug and then the spider.
Remove the boot.

As they say installation is a reverse of the above but I have a cunning way of recrimping the two parts of the cv joint together thus saving costs on parts.

 

[landover]

You can get a stretch on cv boot if you dont want to dismantle the shaft.
But you will require the tool to fit them. It is a large tapered cone.
A local garage may have one.