having my car in the shop for some warranty work, i was tolsd that my front drivers side outer cv boot was ripped. of course they wanted $400 to replace it. I know this is a diy job if you have the right tools.
my question though is if i am going to replace the boot, shoud i shell out the extras $'s and replace the whole joint as well? or is this not necassary?
I am getting a slight clicking noise when i make a slow tight turn, nothing very loud though. any advice?

 

You can't destroy and audi CV axle trust me they are bullet proof. Ive seen customers come in with blown cv axles bootsfor over a year and all we do is slap on a new boot and some grease and they are good to go.
Not to mention a single CV axle from audi costs over $900.
The boot repair kit is somewhere around 60-70 bucks but it can be a PITA if you don't have a slide hammer to pull the outer joint off the axle shaft.

 

thanks for the quick reply. will putting a new boot and some grease in take away that clicking noise or is that just common? is the axle you mention the same as the joint? or is the axle the whole assembly and the joint the end piece near the wheel/brake area?

 

Changing the boot and putting in some grease will take away the clicking noise. Audi makes a repair kit which has everything you need, new snap rings, boot, and grease. The axle i was talking about was the entire assembly. Theouter joint or (rezzepa) joint what its commonly called aren't available seperately from the axle assembly. But on the bright side when you get it off you will see around the outer axle superheated spots or blue marks on the joint where the ***** in the cv joint got really hot from lack of grease, thats the only damage your gonna see. Its almost impossible to warp the outer joint due to what grade of steel its made out of and its thickness.

 

thanks for all you help knowledge. we need more people on the forums like you.
final ?
do you know about how much the kits run from the dealer?

 

ThanksOh the 60-70 bucks i mentioned before is the repair kit.
Your gonna need a few special tools to get it done, a 17mm allan socket, a breaker bar, and that slide hammer i mentioned. You may be able to rent these tools from auto zone if you don't have them, or i can do it for you if you live in Nor Cal?

 

i thought u can use a gear puller to get that outer joint off....here is a link on how to do it yourself. here is a excellent DIY link
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel37.shtml

 

I am about to do this on my 2.7T now. I was looking to do my coil-overs and was scouting out the job while replacing a well dented front fender. Needless to say I found the typical torn boot with axle grease covering everything back there.

So I work at the dealership and pick up the CV joint kit for $32 at my cost. I plan to do this work in the next week or so while doing the coil overs. I do not have the joint puller tool, or the pliers for the one time use ring. Where can I get these and what will they cost? I have to do my TB eventually as well, perhaps the gear pullers, or other tools necessary for that job could be used for this as well? It would be nice to get more than one use from those $100 tools! Can anybody lend any experience to this? THANKS!

 

If u have a autozone they lend out tools like that free of charge u only need a deposit which is refunded to you after u return it.

 

$400 for a CV boot? I had the exactly same thing happen on my 03, but with the oil change with Mobil 1, a full diagnostic and walkthrough (as I had just purchased the car) and the CV boot installed my bill was only $300.

Sounds like your shop is a little high with the labor cost.