Ok, so I was changing my ball joints and noticed that both front cv axles have tears in the boots. Just enough to where grease has barely started to come out. My big concern is with heading up in the snow and pass on the 6th with the X-mas tree run. No knocking or sound of the joint going out itself. I just dont want salt and crap to get in it. Would just a replacement cv axle boot work from Schucks until I can change the whole axle? Like I said, I am not looking to get crazy with the offroading just want something that will get me up there and back without putting alot of crap inside the axle. Anyone ever dealt with temporary boots before? good or bad? :-\

I have no experience with them, but have been warned away from them.

When installed, the seam needs to be glued. The trick apparently is keeping the seams completely free from oil, grease, dirt or any other contaminant or else the glue might not hold properly. Also, no movement for at least an hour after installation to allow the glue to set. The second part is not so hard. But ensuring that the seams stay totally clean strikes enough fear into me to shy away from them.

The axle replacement is really easy. it will take you about 30 to 45 minutes to wrangle the boot replacements on and about the same to do the axle replacement (per side). I would just replace the axles and be done with it. It is what I always do now that I have done battle with the speedy boots. In my opinion, they suck and are a real battle to get on properly.

if the cracks are in the convolutions - at the bottom of valleys - you could try this. imagine an elastic band places inside of the convolution with the crack. not sure how you get it around the axle, but it could sit down in the valley of one just starting to develop a crack and cover it up so to speak.

 

but i recommend replacing the boot. aftermarket axles suck enough that it's worth saving the ones you got if they're good.

I would agree with gary, but take the axles off and put on new boots. It isn't that difficult to do and just adds a few minutes to the job.

so, okay, your boots are cracked-but until your new axles arrive you can protect the joints. just cover them in heavy plastic and duct tape. will last a week. I've also squeezed a little extra grease into the joint for any that I lost.

You could cover the whole thing in duct tape

that's a good point, i had a roommate in college that would wrap saran wrap and tape all around his joints for awhile.

 

speaking of all of this - I wish I could temporarily repair my rear CV for inspection. We have yearly inspections which is basically rust, tires, and CV boots. Since the rears never fail for me (i've put 100,000 miles on a broken rear cv boot) I could care less about replacing it.

I've run into the same problem in the past, winter weather, no time to replace the boot. I used comercial shipping wrap, turning to wheel in the direction of travel, applied over the whole boot. That way it didn't unwind goin' down the road. Held it on with a few zip ties, and got several months out of it. Luck. Steve.

temp cv axle boots = roll of duct tape. clean off both sides of the broken boot. start the duct tape on the small size of the boot (with the car jacked up ofc) and then have a friend put the car in first gear. spin on the duct tape til the boot is fixed.

 

ran a rear axle like this all through mud season this year. changed it a few weeks ago. lol duct tape pwns

temp cv axle boots = roll of duct tape. clean off both sides of the broken boot. start the duct tape on the small size of the boot (with the car jacked up ofc) and then have a friend put the car in first gear. spin on the duct tape til the boot is fixed.

 

ran a rear axle like this all through mud season this year. changed it a few weeks ago. lol duct tape pwns

 

that may work on the rear but on the front the tape will quickly bunch up in the folds. the better way on the fronts is to tear equal length strips and overlap about 1/2 the strip lenthwize, wrap a length on the ends and zip tie. (heavy mill plastic underneath)

booya