I Just had my passenger side cv boots replaced and now the car pulls to the right badly. I can actually see the right front wheel looking almost toed-out when the steering wheel is centered. Left front looks fine. Had driver side boots done a few months ago and had no change in steering afterward, but this time the change was immediate, as the car tracked perfectly before the passenger side boots replacement. I am taking the car back to the shop first of the week to have them fix whatever they seem to have disturbed, but I just can't imagine how the boot job would cause that, but there are not really any other possiblities I can think of. (Didn't hit any holes, curbs, etc., and the brake caliper isn't frozen. I didn't think that the tie rod ends were disturbed during halfshaft removal but maybe I am wrong? Just looking for some ideas or suggestions to keep in mind when I get it back over to the shop that did the boots. Thanks in advance.

Firstly, I assume you mean outer CV joint boot and not inner.

Did you have the one-piece or the two-piece boot put on? The one piece requires removal of the rotor and hub from the drive shaft as a minimum and if they follow proper Volvo directions, they should actually remove the outer CV joint, degrease, inspect and repack with grease. The two piece does not. The two piece is basically put around the CV joint and a special adhesive/epoxy (?) is used to seal the two pieces together.

In either case, it should not have affected the allignment unless they didn't know what they were doing and damaged the steering or suspension trying to remove and install everything again.

About eyeing your allignment, I don't like that method because it's one of those things you can't rely on your eye for. If it really was that out of allignment that it would be that easy for you to see, your car would REALLY pull, and your front tires would be wearing VERY fast and unevenly. Check the suspect side's tire and see if there is extreme feathering on the tire tread.

Tie rods can do a bunch of stuff to the handling of your car. To check this, jack up the front end SECURELY, and try to cause steering on the front wheels back and forth rapidly. Basically, grab the wheel and the 9' o clock and the 3 o clock positions, and try to cause steering movement back and forth rapidly. If you can feel something like clunking or sort of like the wheel is kinda loose from the steering, you have a failing/failed tie-rod end.

When was the last time you had an allignment done? Was there some ununiformity in the pavement that could have caused this pulling? My recommendation, inspect the tires, and if in doubt, have the allignment checked. At worst, a front end allignment costs less than $50 Canadian. And ask for a before and after print out of your allignment specs. Less than $50 now is better than a new set of tires.

How well does that two piece boot work? Also, where could I get one? I have a torn outer boot on the passenger side and I've been putting off repairing it because I don't want to go through the labor of removing the hub unit. Thanks

Alex

I'm not aware of where to get one since I haven't had the need to have one changed yet. But, I have seen them on an 850 Turbo Sedan before. I was at my local dealership and when talking to a mechanic working on a dark green 95' 850 Turbo Sedan, I noticed they non-machine made seam on the CV boot, on the passenger side that was not on the driver side, and asked the mechanic if it was indeed a two piece, and the mechanic noticed that too and said yes. And I know this and these mechnics at this dealership, and I know they wouldn't lie to me about things like this. The owner wasn't around; he just left the car for service and probably went off to work. I made sure to remember the way it looked for future reference.

I then later saw a friend of a friend install one on an Acura Vigor/Legend (can't remember) and it was the same seam, so I'm absolutely sure the one on the Volvo was a two piece.

Actually, the hub removal only takes about half an hour (not including prep for taking the stuff off), and is good practice at doing brake work, as well as getting a person to actually inspect stuff. Anyways, I assume the amount of time you have to wait for the epoxy/adhesive to dry/cure will take a couple of hours to be safe. And there is no way a two piece boot will last as long as a one piece, and I'm sure it takes practice to make a good seam on a two piece.

I can ask a friend that confirmed the existence of two piece CV joingt boots if he knows where to get them. I'll try my best to remember to ask him the next time I see him.