RobinG

After spending about an hour trying to get the circlip off the outer CV joint to replace a cracked boot, I decided to replace my front right drive axle.

The axle I got from AudiCarParts.com appears to be the same except for the following dimensions:
Axle diameter: org - 32.4mm ; new - 26.5mm
Outer joint(largest dia. at the boot): org - 88.5mm ; new - 97.7mm

Not that the 100 has enough torque to do any damage, wouldn't torque steer be affected with the smaller dia. replacement axle?

RussB

I recently had a similar problem: the outer CV joint circlip wouldn't remove. I fought with with it for hours. My workaround was to keep the CV joint intact (after washing it with mineral spirits) and instead pull (with the help of lots of silicone spray and dabs of silicone grease) the new outer CV boot on to the axle from the inner CV end (while the inner CV joint was off, of course). A bench vise is handy for holding the axle steady as you pull the new boot on. Although it's a very tight squeeze, it was possible. Then I greased up the outer CV joint, and crimped its new boot in place. I made a note that next time I should replace the entire axle, I suppose.

Professional mechanics assure me that they sometimes resort to this.

If I were you, I'd not want to use the smaller diameter axle.

RobinG

Thanks for the idea Russ, it worked great.

I actually heated the boot in the microwave for about 30sec. which helped it over the fat part of the axle and those 2 rings that are bonded to the outer end of the axle.

I'd recommend taking the inner joint off to slip the outer boot on as the default process for anyone.

BTW: Another issue I had with the replacement axle is that 3 of the ***** from the inner joint had fallen out in shipment (I guess). Once I finally got them back in (not easy when the tolerances are tight with new parts), the whole joint locked up. The whole reason I bought a new driveshaft was to save the hassle of messing with the boot. This was one bad experience after another.

RussB

Those two rings really stretch the boot, don't they? I was almost ready to give up, but figured that I had nothing to lose at that point, so I kept tugging.

I like your idea of heating the boot in a microwave first.

I hope that the axle vendor refunds 100% of your purchase cost. It sounds like they delivered the wrong axle.