i personally would not got o expense of replacement shaft - why change it?? i've lost count of the number of cvj boots i've changed - with no cv joint problems. does it click on full lock? if you peel back boot and look into joint, is there still fresh grease or dry? ive never seen much dirt in one where boot ripped - if you can remove the shaft yourself, then this job is extremely easy - liteally wheel off, axle shaft nut off, lower ball joint and sterring ball joint off, and remove shaft from box, remove remains of old boot, open up clip in cvj and hammer off joint - but i suppose if you're not mechanically minded, then not so easy! You could do in an hour.

new non-dealer quality boots are cheap (not from dealer, becausw really dear and come as axle sets only, inner and outer cvj boots - who ever needs an inner?!?)

Pat,

When functioning, a CV joint acts like a mortar and pestal, with grease being the material "crushed" between the inner and outer races and the ball (bearing).

The CV joint is also dependent upon these three extremely-close-tolerance-componenets working together.

If ANY dirt gets into the the grease, the grease becomes a grinding paste which can very, very quickly wear the joint's close-tolerance surfaces out of tolerance. If you live near the beach, or in the desert, and sand frequently gets kicked up off the road, this grinding paste would be far more damaging than if you lived in the moors.

If you regularly monitor the CV boots and know that they failed just recently, then it is likely that you caught them in time. If you are like most people, have a life, and don't inspect your CV boots every morning, it is possible that this condition has lasted unnoticed for quite a long time and the joints have suffered significantly. Considering that they are split all around, the boot failure was probably the result of fatigue (repeated applications of stress) and did not happen 'cause you caught a tree branch on the way back from church.

So, do you feel lucky?

If you replace the half-shafts, your expense is up-front and you have no more worries. If you just relace the boot(s) you have less of an expense now (although labor is a significant part of this repair) but you have a possibility that the joint is near death and you may have to replace the half-shafts in the near future anyway.

You can use one of those universal split boots and save most of the labor costs--but I'm not a fan of "universal" parts--but it is your money, you can decide.

As mentioned by another poster here, you should first test the joint to determine if it has already failed. Go to a parking lot. Stop the car. Turn the steering wheel full-lock in one direction. Then accelerate into a circle keeping the wheel held at the full lock position. Repeat the procedure with the steering wheel in the full lock position in the other direction. If, during that starting out, you hear a "click-click-click . . ." sound in proportion to the speed, one, or both, of your joints is bad. You can usually tell which side is bad as it is making the clicking noise (or they might both be clicking). If you fail the joint test, you have no choice but to replace the half-axle.

I don't know specifically about Volvos, but CV joints can also be rebuilt. But buying the whole half-axle assembly, which contains the CV joint, is usually more cost effective, because the labor to rebuild a joint is fairly high.

Good luck.

Ken

It's less expensive to go to an after market axle place and have all replaced, than it is to have the boots replaced at the V dealer.

Well, the right way to do it is replace the entire axle shaft. however, if it has just torn, and you would like to not drop more than you need to, you have another option. You can get a "split" boot repair that will let you put a split boot over the old one and seal it together with either lots of little bolts, or seal it with silicon. I actually did this on another vehicle and it lasted fine for 7 more years. They key is making sure there is no/virtually no dirt/grime in the joint, and putting lots of new CV grease on it. Mind you this only works if the joint isn't damaged from being exposed--if you are noticing a popping sound when you turn the wheel hard, this doesn't do anything for you. It's an easy fix to try if you aren't one of those that must have it perfect--and it's cheap (probably $15 total).

Well, the right way to do it is replace the entire axle shaft. however, if it has just torn, and you would like to not drop more than you need to, you have another option. You can get a "split" boot repair that will let you put a split boot over the old one and seal it together with either lots of little bolts, or seal it with silicon. I actually did this on another vehicle and it lasted fine for 7 more years. They key is making sure there is no/virtually no dirt/grime in the joint, and putting lots of new CV grease on it. Mind you this only works if the joint isn't damaged from being exposed--if you are noticing a popping sound when you turn the wheel hard, this doesn't do anything for you. It's an easy fix to try if you aren't one of those that must have it perfect--and it's cheap (probably $15 total).

I believe because of the "knuckle" and the bearing in there it is easier to replace as a whole assembly. We've done it on an Mitsu, and Saturn. I've also done just a boot but the problem was making sure the knuckle is tight and the boot is sealed good around the old axle.