I was replacing the brakes on my GF's Elantra and saw that the outer CV boots are torn. Does Hyundai sell just an outer CV boot replacement kit, or do I need to buy a whole axle assembly? my other choice would be to get a rebuilt axle and turn in my cores I guess... The joints arn't clicking, yet.
I just replaced the axles on my 2001 this saturday. No core charge on the axles, got them for about $70 each brand new. replacement took less than 3 hours for both (I flushed the brakes, and replaced the rotors while I had the wheels off, otherwise I'd have been done much sooner)
I'd rate the job as "easier than it sounds", check a chiltons/haynes manual
My experience has been that it's much more of a hassle to replace the outer joints than to replace the halfshafts and there's not much difference in price. Considering the age of the car, that seems like the prudent thing to do.
It's not dificult to replace the boots just messy. YOU will need new bands for the inboard boot as well as the outer boot kit. Pull the axel, slide the inner boot back, remove the snap ring pull the inner end off. Then you can replace the outer boot, reassemble the inner & your all set. YOU will need the special tool to tignten the axel boot clamps I would also order new axel retainer clips--- order at least a week ahead of time from your dealer
While that all sounds relatively simple, it doesn't address the contamination of the outer joint. Once a boot has torn or split, water, dirt and other contaminants get into the joint and will eventually destroy it, if they haven't already. Additionally, sliding the new boot along the halfshaft is a guaranteed way to drag dirt and rust into the joint. Also, by pulling the boot back on the inner joint, you're risking contaminating it, too, which is a strong possibility if you're working under the car. If you're going to do the job right, it requires pulling the halfshaft off the car, completely the entire assembly of dirt and rust, cleaning both joints of all grease (and any contaminants that may be in it), installing the new boot(s), greasing the joints, then sealing them.
In other words, it's much faster and a LOT less hassle to simply pop in a new halfshaft after pulling the old one out. More importantly, you KNOW that the joints are free of contamination and should last for tens of thousands of miles, at least.
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