cv axle boots

anoyone ever had to change theirs themselves or the whole axle. i am debating just buying 2 new axles as both of my outter boots are torn and need replacing but neither have any grease in them anymore. so im wondering if the can be saved?? oh and any tips or a DIY would be cool on either process. thanks guys in advance!

Boots are Not worth the bother and rather difficult to source. You can buy Cardone rebuilds but IMO they don't last and are inferior because they use aftermarket Pots. I went thru about 4 of them not including leaking boots because of loose band clamps. If you go that route make sure when the counter guy passes you the box that you check the boots. If you can turn the boot by hand then the clamp is loose and it will leak grease.

I prefer the Mopar replacements. No core charge and new units. They have the proper wrench tabs in the Pots (Not that that matters) but the best of all is the boots are made of Hard rubber where as the rebuilds are soft and easy to rip or tear especially if you find that you need to reband and or change a clamp. The extra cost is worth it IMO but if you do not do hard launches go offroad or battle snow blizzards then the rebuilts might do ya,

Wow long post. A trick to changing these is to throw away the Manual. After taking the caliper and rotor off, Just undo the upper ball joint and the tie rod end and your axle 1/2 will come out as there is no need to undo the lower ball joint. Use a crow bar across two studs onto the ground to dig in when undoing the shaft nut which is on pretty tight (135 I think).

Pick-up a new o-ring where the shaft goes into the diff axle splines as it keeps water out and stops the splines from rusting onto the diff pot. I always put in a new snap ring on there too. So for about 3-4 bucks you get 2 O-Rings and two clips.

Good Luck. Its easy to do just need patient and good tools. I can change a shaft in the driveway by myself from start to finish in less than a half-hour but realistically a couple hours for the first time you should have both sides completed and remember to torque everything back to spec.

Yea I know how to get everything apart it's just replacing them, I think I'ma go by autozone and see what they want tomorrow and maybe do one side this week and one the next.

Yes I've replaced my whole front end so I know what I'm doing just curious if there was anything special with these. Thanks for the help man I really appreciate it!

Interesting. Maybe I need to look into the mopar replacements. I've had two replacement cv axles from NAPA and the boots have busted on both. I'm running on a busted one now.

OOps wanna get that Taken care of Wendy. FYI, the rebuilds sometimes cause a shake at hwy speeds in 2wd. You cannot feel it in the steering but if you put the side of your knee on the door panel and it vibrates then your 1/2 axles are worn. Another way is to see how badly a cup of coffee shakes in the Holders.

GhostRam94, No Probs Man and Nothing special really other than I had to modify my 2 jaw puller (saw the center nut off a bit) to pull the upper through the outer arm, same puller for the Tie Rod, and please no 1/2 ass hit it with a hammer ******** as you will fckup the aluminum.

Lastly the rebuilds come with new end nuts but I prefer the Mopar ones as they have an intehgated washer. IMO you can re-use the Mopar ones as long as you add a dab of Blue Threadlocker, The Mopr nuts need to order those separate when going Mopar shaft. If you go to the dealer ask nicely for the 20% off Price or even Better our new Mopar Vendor John can surely help ya.

Yea I hear ya man on the aluminum, so what's holding the 1/2 axle in, is it just I there and just pulls out, don't know to much about the drive train stuff

Its held in by a clip onto the actual axle shaft in the diff pumpkin (which in turn clips into an opening inside the female splined 1/2 shaft Pot). and of coarse bolted at the splined 4x4 bearing assembly end at the wheel hub. Once all is removed on the outside you can pop out the 1/2 shaft from the diff with a small to medium prybar (45 angled). Just some light pressure will do it while placing the angled part of the prybar on the alum diff housing, you'll see its easy. On my Magnum LX there are dust covers that normally end up with a ding in them but the ram is open. Its a good time to replace any leaking seals at the diff where the shafts go in while this stuff is apart. Remember o-Ring and new Clips too.

Google the Free 03 Ram SVC manual download as a guide, great book with over 2000 pages which you can refer too if you like.

Bought an 03 ST 1500 a few weeks ago. First Dodge for me, first non-solid axle 4x4. It needs half shafts bad. The mirriors shake so bad AT 65+ you can't see anything in them. Can the shafts be pulled without seperating the upper ball joint, or is there not enough room?