KCinBR

Took a look under My 88 Targa today and found the rubber boots on CV joints in bad shape.(da is broke)
I consider myself a fairly good wrench and will probly tackle the job, but first I'll seek advice from some of the members of this board who have done this job.
1. What particular brand of replacement parts would you suggest?
2. Any special tools needed?
3. what sort of unseen problems might I encounter?
4. The car has 92k miles on it, would you replace the cv joints at this time? (there is no indication of any problem)

Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated


KC

wwest

There are aftermarket, one of "name" brands, replacement CV boots available that can be installed withOUT removing the axle.

GeorgeM

I've done this a few times. Even the first time I found that it's a fairly simple fix.

You can get the parts from anywhere. I've used boots made in Germany and Italy, and they seemed to be the same.

Like wwest said, all you have to do is remove the axle. The hardest part of this is getting the darned axle nut off. I think it's at 235ftlbs or something ridiculous like that. A standard homeowner's propane torch will help here.

"Special" tools required include the 12 point star type socket thing for the CV nuts, snap ring pliers for the circlips on the CV joints, and the pliers that tighten the locking clamps on the boots.

Good Luck.

KC911

Hey Keith! When I purchased my car, 'one' of the outer boots had a slight tear, so I decided to go ahead and replace all four. On the G50 cars, you have to remove the inner (tranny side) joint anyways in order to slide the outer boot down the half shaft so it's a no-brainer. I purchased the 'kit' from Pelican. It's a MESSY job, but very doable. I would also disassemble the inner joints (you can't disassemble the outer joint on the G50 half axle, so just clean out the old grease), and inspect them (mine looked 'like new' @ 50K miles), before repacking with a quality CV grease. On your '88, you will not need the 12 point star socket (it's for the older cars), and although I don't recall the size, it's a standard size allen (hex) bolt. Clean the 'gunk' out the bolts so you can get the wrench seated in them to avoid rounding them, etc. I was also able to tighten the locking clamps without the special pliers, but you will need snap ring pliers to remove the circlips. Just FYI, after removing the circlips, one of my inner joints came off with no problem, but the other one was a royal pain, and I finally had to have it pressed out with a 30 ton shop press. Make sure you torque everything to spec, and recheck them again later. For the axle nut, I used an impact wrench for removal, but a breaker bar would suffice (with the car still safely on the ground). Good luck!

Keith
'88 CE coupe

wwest

Ooops...

I had meant to say WITHOUT removing the axle.

KCinBR

Thanks to all who replied, I'm gonna tackle this job as soon as I get my wifes car taken care of, right now she's driving my truck and I'm driving the Porsche everyday. As soon as her car is back to tip top condition I'll be able to park the Porsche for a couple of days and make a few repairs.

Only in America can your spare care be a PORSCHE.....I'm lovin this

KC

DGaunt

When re-assembling the CVs, after cleaning or inadvertant dropping of all the ball bearings on the floor, reassembling them is counter-intuitive. The small part of the inner goes with the large part of the outer. If the CV does not slide in and out and move freely through angles, it is wrong. It will go together wrong. Also make note of which side is in and out. On my CVs there is a line to idicate. The lines go on the same side. Hope this helps.

Oh, and me too on the cleaning of the Allen heads. use a dental pick or something to make sure the Allen wrench bed down all the way.