I have 78K on my 2000 avant and sure enough I have had a CV joint boot failure. Its the outer passenger side. So the question I have is two fold,

1 - should I do the inner and the outer at the same time or is it usually just the outer that fails.
2- should I plan on doing both sides at one time just to get it out of the way, do they usually fail within a few thousand miles of each other or is it just one of those things that you should wait and see.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks
Dan

 

Once one outerboot fails the other isn't far behind, i made the mistake on my S4 of just doing one and the other one went the following month [:@]
The inner boots however hardly every fail, just like the back ones. I wouldn't worry about the inners un-less you see them slinging grease everywhere.

 

Thanks Auditech79 - I did some searching for DIY'son this and it looks fairly easy as long as you have the correct tools.One question I had was, it looks as if you have to drop the lower control arm to get this done so I was wondering ifI should plan on getting it realigned after doing that, I have never done that so I am not familiar with how those come apart and go back together.

Thanks
Dan

 

I changed my drivers side outer boot due to a small tear that my INDY noticed when I had it in for an oil change. It was changed over 5k miles ago and the passenger side is in good shape. No tears yet. In regards to the alignment...it is best practice when changing tie rod ends/controls arms to get an alignment afterwards even if you are just taking the components off for work and reversing the process. I don't know about you, but my tires are too damn expensive not to pay a good shop a hun and a half to do a 4 wheel alignment.

 

My95 A6 and 89 200QThad the boot failures within a few weeks of each other. Since the A6 CV joint wasmaking a bit of noise,I went witha rebuilt half-shaft because it was only a few dolars more than a CV joint and both ends were done. The200 had 350,000 miles, so Idid the sameon it becauseit was so easy on the A6 and it had so many miles. If your just popping the ball joint there is no need to realign because everything goesback into the same position, but if you mess with any of the adjustable links you'll need to re-alignthe beast. If it hasn't been aligned in awhile go ahead and do it anyway.

 

I also did the same with two rebuilt shafts from the local parts shop. I think they were about $180 each side, maybe 190. Then I paid $200 to have the local import repair shop install them. Lifetime warranty on parts too boot. Seems like all the VW/Audis have this problem right around. 65-70,000 miles. Now my Daughters Passat has two outboard boots broke at 66,000 miles. The dealer wanted around $500 per shaft plus instal. The boots alone were $100 each. They must not have very good rubber in germany or something. My GMC suburban is 10 yrs. old with over 100,000 miles on it and is still fine. We'll see how my 05 holds up if they have gotten any better at all. I have 45,000 miles on it already.

 

$180 to 190 per side??? Way too much.
Rebuilt at Autozone is around $130 with a core charge of $40 or so that you get back.
I get them from my friend in Concord NH for a bit less.