CV boot life expectancy

rob83ke70 · Post by **rob83ke70** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:50 pm

Just wondering, on a stock standard L series sportswagon, how long should I expect out of a CV boot?

I put two driveshafts in the car less than 6 months ago, and less than 5000km ago, brand new items...

I have one split boot, and the other three are cracked/perished in appearance as if they are going to split very soon....

I don't recall reading anything about having to replace CV boots on an interval one 12,500km/6 month service......

I have taken the car to the place I bought the drive shafts off, and after some argument, have been told that if I take the drive shaft with the split boot out, they will put a new boot on it for me (as I fitted the driveshafts). As for the other boots which are going to split very soon but haven't yet, "there is nothing wrong with them we don't know what you are talking about" is what I was told...

I really really HATE having to needlessly re do work. I replaced the driveshafts as they had multiple split boots and were worn out and noisy, hoping not to have to touch them again for maybe another 200,000km... is this too much to expect?

I won't be buying anything off these people for my own personal car(s) again. The disgusting thing is, I'm a motor mechanic, and my work buys a LOT of parts from this business. Its not like I'm an average yobbo who doesn't know anything about cars or how to fix things.

Robert.

BlackMale · Post by **BlackMale** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:08 pm

More info is required to provide you with a more informed response. Eg.
Are the cv boots genuine items?
Have the boots been 4WDing?
Have the boots been kept clean of have grease and crap on them? Etc.

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:23 pm

I got my last CV's from repco because they had a 2yr warranty.

My the drivers side boot split in less than a year so i went back to repco ann they told me the warranty doesnt cover boots.

rob83ke70 · Post by **rob83ke70** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:02 pm

the car is a spoilt thing that never goes 4wding, they were aftermarket drive shafts (read: cheap shitty) and apparently they are the same as what repco would sell.

I wouldn't be asking for warranty on boots if they had been split by something, but the car does nearly all bitument work, and the boot that split is the one above the cat, where nothing could hit it. The car is kept clean, the boots were clean. Everything is clean, I can be a bit ocd about cars especially my own.

The thing that bothers me is that they are all showing signs of splitting, they looked like that when I bought the car and they were at least 200,000km old when I bought the car!!

Robert.

Xtreme_RX · Post by **Xtreme_RX** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:11 pm

I'm happy to get 6 months out of boots.....

subybrumby · Post by **subybrumby** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:18 pm

We are all going through this but in your case it seems a bit extreme. Blackmale is right, there a a lot of factors that affect the boots. I would also add, are all your heat guards and protectors in place. The quality of the rubber in the boot could also be a factor. I am going to trial a boot from here-http://www.cvboots.com.au/ and I'll let you know how I go. I have two brumbies and they are constantly blowing the CV boot above the exhaust on the drivers side. My CV man in Toowoomba tells me that it is a common problem with Subaru. On one Of my brumbies, I made another guard out of muffler wrap sandwiched between to galvanised plates and riveted together. The plate sits under the CV boot (near the gearbox) and shields it heat from the Y joint on the engine exhausts pipes. Bit early yet but results are promising.

Other than this, I would recommend going to another CV specialist, tell them your problem and see what they can do for you.

subybrumby · Post by **subybrumby** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:22 pm

I might add that some stuff I have read indicates that some CV boot installers will not guarantee the boots if the original stock heat shields are not in place on the engine.

rob83ke70 · Post by **rob83ke70** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:27 pm

the entire car is stock standard, standard exhaust standard heat shields.... other than very inferior rubber quality I can't think of why I shouldn't be able to get oe lifespan or close out of boots!!

and the others are all splitting too, not just the one above the cat! (not that my cat heats up much i don't think its overly brilliant)

Why can't aftermarket manufacturers make things to oe spec?? They replace worn out oe parts don't they?

Robert.

Post by **Captain Obvious** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:34 pm

try using drivepro boots, thats what driveline services in bribane use and i have gotten 2 years out of them, i think you can get them from supercheap!!

subybrumby · Post by **subybrumby** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:35 pm

Mate I hear ya. I'm going through this at the moment. See here

showthread.php?t=13309

Just hafta work the problem and sometimes engineer it to make it better than it was. Did you have a look at the CV Boot site where I am going to buy mine from.

http://www.cvboots.com.au/ I'll try anything once. I drove all the way back from Longreach to Toowoomba with a busted CV boot, I've had a gutful of it but I'm trying to work it out.

subybrumby · Post by **subybrumby** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:37 pm

There ya go. Thank you captain obvious, might grab some myself.

Xtreme_RX · Post by **Xtreme_RX** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:56 pm

There are only a couple of CV boot manufacturers around.
Kelpro, NAK are the biggest here in Australia.....

Driveline services uses one of the two above listed brands.......

Part of the reason the boots fail is the rubber is not ozone resistant............

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:49 pm

I've noticed here, If you get cheap boots, they normally dont last as long that they would. If you pay a bit more then they'll last lot longer. I bought mine on the passengers side from CBC they're $21 & $29 (inner and outer) (but CBC gives me special price) and So far, it has passed 60,000kms and they're ok, drivers side was $12.95 from Bursons (both front CVs were installed on same day) already split about 20,000kms later - CBC ones lasts longer. SO it depends on the price and quality.
Cheers
AP

Post by **Alex** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:58 pm

cant remember the brand. They come in a green box and theyre NOT kelpro(kelpro are crap) But these boots are awesome. They out live the kelpro ones by up to 3 or 4 times. you can just tell theyre quality by the feel of them compared to the kelpros and other brands.

Try and get your mits on them ones. I will remember the brand very soon haha.

alex

Matatak · Post by **Matatak** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:02 pm

DrivePro alex?

(Kelpro arent crap either)

cant compare liberty and Lseries either in regards to CV's and boots.

Repco is also reboxed Kelpro for interest sake

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:37 pm

Not sure what brand the front ones I use are, they get fitted by Alan's CV joint. I've never had a torn one, ever - and that includes all my offroading with 3" lift and a crapload of kms. Never bothered to clean them or spray silicon or anything either

Rears I've never had a new boot, always had incredibly old crusty ones either on my car already or from wrecks which are god knows how old and high kms, rears just don't seem to tear at all.

rob83ke70 · Post by **rob83ke70** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:50 pm

I got a new one put on today.... another cheap crappy chinese one. wouldn't say what brand it was. gave me a lecture about how the warranty, even on the boot just installed only is from the date of first purchase. refused to admit that the other boots (cracking badly) had anything wrong with them. Said the problem is that it is a subaru, and somehow that makes less than 5000km out of a cv boot ok. And subaru cv warranty is less than any other make, and they are going to shorten it again because they keep breaking boots.

this is the biggest cop out i've ever heard. rather than fix the problem (cv boots splitting really quickly) they are going to decrease the warranty... who wants to actually fix a problem these days when you can sell so many more bits and make so much more money by fixing the symptoms.

When the next one splits I will go and buy some higher quality (read: more expensive) boots from ANOTHER outlet, and will ask specifically for ones that will last as long as oe items or better.

Robert.

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:08 pm

A guy was telling me the other day that if you wanna cough up the dough, you can get silicone based boots that go on without the need to dismantle the shaft. They have a special tool that stretches the boot over the DOJ

dibs · Post by **dibs** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:38 pm

i put a new cv on my ute and one of the boots only lasted 2 weeks. gota hait that burning greese smell.

dibs

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:03 pm

dibs wrote:i put a new cv on my ute and one of the boots only lasted 2 weeks. gota hait that burning greese smell.

dibs

that is bad.... did you get a refund?
Cheers
AP