I recently discovered, much to my aggravation, that all four boots on my CV joints have pulled free on the big end. Apparently the kits or the mechanic is faulty. They've been on for 3 years and not much driving of that car.

I used name-brand kits (GKN Loebro 928-332-922-01-M60) that came with hose clamps. These are the "right size" clamps where the ends are drawn together to a specific diameter. Should be easy to get right, but all four pulled loose. Some had the clamp come with the boot and some had the clamp still around the flange and the boot had pulled out.

I'm wondering what went wrong. A suspicion is that I clamped down the small end too far back and that put extra force on the boot and pulled it free. I got some hose clamps out and used them on the small ends. It wasn't really tight but something went wrong.

I'm going to clean it all up and re-use the parts I've got. I'll slide the small end down more so that there's less tension on the boot. This is a job I really dislike, too.

Any ideas or similar experiences?

 

All I can tell you is that some kind soul loaned me a proper crimping tool. That, and the guaranteed-correct parts from Roger, and I've had no trouble (but I'd better check...). I don't recall if I cleaned the grease away from the boot clamping surfaces; probably important.

 

ya, i had the same issue. fought them for about 3 months. took the axles on and off 4 times...the stock clamps (mine are like large hose clamps) just sucked.

so i went to napa and got a cvboot crimp tool and the clamps.

left the boots in the sun for a hour to get nice and warm, popped them on, then crimped them down tight.

 

Seems I'll be trying this again with different clamps on the big end.

Thanks.

 

This is the kind you need

http://www.kartek.com/Product/400/UT...ot-Clamps.aspx

 

The pliers used to crimp the clamps are special, in that they hold the top part of the crimped part flat, If you try and cheat using diagonal cutters or nippers, they bend the top part of the crimped area, which then un-bends easily, vs the acute angles made made by the correct tool. The tool isn't expensive at all, is readily available at any good parts store, and gets the job done easily and quickly. Oh, and the small-end clamp goes on last, with no tension applied to the big end when installed at the correct position.

Lisle 30800 CV Boot Clamp Pliers is the one I use, under $25 on Amazon.

 

Nylon Ziplocs?

 

In my experience, it's tougher to get adequate tension on zip ties. The right clamps with the correct tool seems to work best. I might use zip ties in a pinch, but only until I could find the metal clamps. There's enough stuff zip-tied together on most 928s, no need to risk forgetting to put the right clamps until after the boot backs off and the joint gets contaminated.

 

When I did mine my wrench suggested drilling a couple of 1/16" holes in the clamps so they could be pulled tight with internal circlip pliers - worked for me. Note also that there was a change in the section of the large end of the boots - deep ridge to improve engagement in the groove inn the CV body to prevent exactly this issue.

Here is my post from 2011...
"There are two different boot styles. Later (dont know the timing) boots have a larger inside lip on the large end, and there is a matching deeper groove on the mating steel plate. I was told that the early boots tended to slip off the plate too easily, so they modified boot and plate to resist this problem. Early in this context may refer to 911 usage, not necessarily 928 usage. My 83 had the deep grooves......"
The extra lip is around 1/4-3/8" deep.
jp 83 Euro S AT 56k

 

Last I did this, Roger had two set of parts. Just the bare boots (for early cars), and boots with flanges already installed on them (for later cars). I used the later parts on my early cars and have been happy with the results.

 

Turns out I have 4 crimp-style clamps from years back. I got a pliers at O'Reilly's for $10 and I'm ready to try it again. Goes back next weekend. I'll post a follow-up.