I just spent the last few hours, 4.5 to be exact, cleaning and rebuilding and replacing the boots on my half-shafts. I had to tear down and rebuild the first one twice and the second one 4 times before I got it right. I couldn't get the damn things to move freely after re-assembly and extend/compress their full length. And man what a greasy mess! I went through two rolls of paper towels doing the job. Is this process always this painful? Seems simple enough. :dead:

You may be able to take comfort from the likely fact that they won't need doing again for another 30 years or so

When I reworked My half-shafts, I encountered the same issue of full extention and compression travel. However, by applying additional force, either to compress or extend the assembly, it will move and find the travel stops. Mine have been working perfectly for over 5 years now. I'm not positive this is the recommended procedure but, it worked for me! And yes, what a greasy mess it was!!!!

How did you guys get the new boots onto the half-axles?

I did it by turning the boot inside out and slipping them down over the inner shaft. You have to take them apart to replace the boot, unless you buy one of those cheap bolt together on-car repacements. I took a pic and will updat this post with a URL once I get the pics off the camera.

Ok, here's the pics. Unfortunately I got so frustrated with the assembly process after getting the boot on that I forgot to take more pictures, save one. I may do a write up on this later unless someone beats me to it. I'm ok with that.

First, you gotta take it all apart and clean it. To take it apart, all you need is a pair of reversible snap ring pilers that can handle both inner and outer snap rings. If you have or prefer to buy seperate pliers for inner and outer snap rings, you can. At the big end of the assembles shaft, there is a large end cap held on by a large snap ring. Remove the snap ring and them compress the shaft to pop the end cap free. Once the end cap is off, you will see a lot of grease, or maybe not. Clean it off. You will find another snap ring(small) that holds it all together. Remove this and the clover shaped bearing keeper, then seperate the two shafts, being careful to catch all the bearings(12) and plastic spacers(12).

Here's the dissasembled shaft.

Assuming you;re done cleaing it, it's time to put is all back together. To get the boot on you ahve to turn the boot inside out. If you got a decent pair, this won't hurt them. This is not easy, but it's a lot easier than trying to coax the boot on without doing it this way.

Then you just slip the boot down over the top of the inner shaft, and pull it down gently from the bottom being careful not to cut it on the sharp edges of the bearing races/oil channels. Be sure to apply some lube to the shaft before attempting to slip it on. Did I really just say that? :tapemouth

Once you have it all the way down, just turn it right side out. that's the easy part.

Now comes putting it all back together with grease and all. Unfortunately this was so messy I only got a few pics. Basically, you just add grease, slide one shaft into another, and start adding spacers and bearings until they're all in. NOTE: There is a specific order in which the spacers and bearings must be inserted.

Looking at the picture below for a reference, you'll note that the inner flange which faces the diff is on the top, and the outter flange which faces the wheel is at the bottom. Before asembling the two axle halfs, completely fill the bearing races and oil channels with grease. The are 4 bearing races on the outer axle half(bottom), and 8 races/channels on the inside of the inner axle half(top). The additional races are called oil channels. Be sure to align the outer flanges with each other. The should not be opposing.

From this perspective, you start by adding a spacer first, then a bearing, spacer, bearing, spacer, bearing. Once complete, replace the inner bearing keeper(clover) and snap ring, fill the end with grease, and replace the end cap and it's snap ring.

This is not all inclusive but an over all dissasembly and re-assembly. Enjoy.

Thanks for all of the info!

Thanks for all of the info!

No problem. And don't forget to burp the boot prior to pinching the last clamp on. You'll want to put the outer(small) boot clamp on last. Burp it once you have the boot in a neutral position with both ends in the depressions/ridges on the axle shaft. And if your clamps are't the kind that seperate, be sure you put them on the axle before you re-assemble the whole thing or you'll be kicking yourself later.

1 Q, If you fill the gooves with grease, how can you force the spacers and balls down into these grooves? Or maybe a better Q is, Where does all the grease in the grooves go when you're forcing the spacers and balls down into this grease?

Did clamps come with the boots, or ? I had heard tha the OEM style metal clamps were not available, so I was planning on using large nylon Zip Ties as a substitute.

Did clamps come with the boots, or ? I had heard tha the OEM style metal clamps were not available, so I was planning on using large nylon Zip Ties as a substitute.

Hi Garth and all,

I have thought about the clamp issue for years. A long time ago I worked in a Rain Bird sprinkler distributor. We sold a crimp-on clamp made by Oetiker. They are very close to our half shaft clamps and available in many sizes. You can check them out here. www.oetiker.com or here www.pep-plastic.com/manufacturers/newage/oetiker.htm

My old Rain Bird shop had a crimping tool you could rent. But I have seen them on the web for around $28 USD. I personally have used the clamp and tool and I think when I do my half shafts I'm going this route.

They have a stainless version so I won't worry about rusting.

FWIW,

Chris A.

When I did mine I also painted them with POR-15 before assembly. Another trick to put the boot on and avoid damaging it on the sharp grooves was to put some duct tape over the channels. Then apply some grease over the tape and the boot slides on real easy.

1 Q, If you fill the gooves with grease, how can you force the spacers and balls down into these grooves? Or maybe a better Q is, Where does all the grease in the grooves go when you're forcing the spacers and balls down into this grease?

Did clamps come with the boots, or ? I had heard tha the OEM style metal clamps were not available, so I was planning on using large nylon Zip Ties as a substitute.

The boot comes with metal clamps that you wrap around the boot ends, and the crimp with a standard pair of end cutters available at any hardware store.

As for where the grease goes, there are only 4 races for the bearing, as you shove the spacers and bearings down into the opening, some of the grease comes out the bottom by the boot. I insert a spacer, them some grease, then a bearing, then some grease, then a spacer and so on..... The excess grease can be left in the boot, or wiped out if you prefer, but you should have some extra in the boot anyway. Not an excessive amount but enough to keep that end of the shaft lubricated.

Here is another resource that might be of interest to someone doing this j.o.b.

Half Shaft Reference Diagram.pdf