mora2818 Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Is paying $225 for replacing a CV axle cause the boot is torn and decent price? This includes replacing the axel, boot, and labor. It sounds like a pain to replace myself considering I haven't ever replaced one nor have I got all the tools. Thanks, Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 What are the labor rates in your locale? It sounds a little on the high side to me. It should only take about an hour to do the job. It's actually quite easy. The tools you need to replace the CV axle are: 12mm socket 3/8" drive 8" extension 17mm socket snap-ring pliers floor jack jack stands How much is your time worth? You can probably buy a new axle and all of the tools for under $225 if you want to do it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mora2818 Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 What are the labor rates in your locale? It sounds a little on the high side to me. It should only take about an hour to do the job. It's actually quite easy. The tools you need to replace the CV axle are: 12mm socket 3/8" drive 8" extension 17mm socket snap-ring pliers floor jack jack stands How much is your time worth? You can probably buy a new axle and all of the tools for under $225 if you want to do it yourself. Well an hour for you probably, more like 3 hours for me. It takes me a while to figure out what to do off what is described here in the forums and reading the Manual. If i had seen one done before I am sure I could tackle it no problem. A good example of this is it probably took me 2+hours to do a wheel bearing the first time because I kept having to analyze it all but the second one took me all of 30 minutes. I guess my point is I don't really want to do it. For labor rates I believe $70/hr is the norm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 (edited) Seriously, it's a really easy job, even easier than doing a bearing repack. When I say "an hour" it means a shop shouldn't charge you more than about 1 hour labor to do the job. $225 is too high if the labor rates are only $70/hr. At the worst it should only cost ~$175, and that's if the CV axle costs $100! 6 12mm bolts hold the axle to the diff. 3 17mm nuts hold the lower ball joint to the A-arm. CV is held in the hub with a snap ring snap ring is accessed by pulling/prying off the little dust cap if you have stock drive flanges. Otherwise, it's 6 allen head screws. You remove those 11 pieces, separate the ball joint from the A-arm, push the A-arm downwards and slide the CV axle down and out through the gap formed by the dropped A-arm. Probably the hardest part about it all will be jacking up the truck high enough to give you enough clearance to drop the A-arm. But if you really don't want to do it yourself, at least get a few more quotes from other places. Ask how much the part costs when you get quotes, so you can tell if you're getting charged the same amount for labor at various places. Edited September 19, 2008 by XPLORx4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mora2818 Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 Seriously, it's a really easy job, even easier than doing a bearing repack. When I say "an hour" it means a shop shouldn't charge you more than about 1 hour labor to do the job. $225 is too high if the labor rates are only $70/hr. At the worst it should only cost ~$175, and that's if the CV axle costs $100! 6 12mm bolts hold the axle to the diff. 3 17mm nuts hold the lower ball joint to the A-arm. CV is held in the hub with a snap ring snap ring is accessed by pulling/prying off the little dust cap if you have stock drive flanges. Otherwise, it's 6 allen head screws. You remove those 11 pieces, separate the ball joint from the A-arm, push the A-arm downwards and slide the CV axle down and out through the gap formed by the dropped A-arm. Probably the hardest part about it all will be jacking up the truck high enough to give you enough clearance to drop the A-arm. But if you really don't want to do it yourself, at least get a few more quotes from other places. Ask how much the part costs when you get quotes, so you can tell if you're getting charged the same amount for labor at various places. Alright, thanks Dean, you motivated me once again to take this on myself. So I need to get a Snap Ring wrench, CV Axel, Boots, Clamps and some kind of grease. Does that cover it? The rest of the tools I have or can borrow. I'll hit up Rock Auto since I have to order some suspension stuff anyway. -Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Alright, thanks Dean, you motivated me once again to take this on myself. So I need to get a Snap Ring wrench, CV Axel, Boots, Clamps and some kind of grease. Does that cover it? The rest of the tools I have or can borrow. I'll hit up Rock Auto since I have to order some suspension stuff anyway. -Kevin I would ask them what all comes with the axle, the ones i bought had the boots and grease with it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mora2818 Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 I would ask them what all comes with the axle, the ones i bought had the boots and grease with it... Nice, where did you get yours at and if you don't mind how much did you pay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 (edited) Nice, where did you get yours at and if you don't mind how much did you pay? When you buy a CV axle, it comes completely assembled with boots and everything. It's plug and play. If you had to fuss with installing boots and grease, OMG, I would never recommend this as a DIY to a novice. You can try your local auto parts stores. Pep Boys, Kragen, Autozone should carry them, or be able to order them. Prices vary. You can also reference this thread for places to buy CV axles. Also, a cheap pair of snap ring pliers shouldn't cost you any more than about 10 bucks. You can spend more, but unless you're doing this full-time, it's probably not necessary. Edited September 19, 2008 by XPLORx4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mora2818 Posted September 20, 2008 Author Share Posted September 20, 2008 No GSP at Rockauto anymore so I got a cardone remanufactured CV. Along with struts, strut bearings, and shocks this was a pretty expensive overhaul but at least it won't ride like crap anymore. I am sure I'll be posting some questions on how to do this that or the other but thanks to all in this forum. I really appreciate the help everyone provides and the fact that flame wars are pretty minimal here. -Cheers and time for a brewski! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathproud Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 (edited) Is paying $225 for replacing a CV axle cause the boot is torn and decent price? This includes replacing the axel, boot, and labor. It sounds like a pain to replace myself considering I haven't ever replaced one nor have I got all the tools. Thanks, Kevin I had the front CV axle replaced, actually bought the whole axle at Advance Auto for $160, ( new, not remanufactured ) they then charged me two a hours labor to put them in. The garage I no longer use messed up the ABS sensor in the process, which eventually was corrected but that is another story. But to tell the whole sordid story, I now have a small crack in one outer front boot again, this is only 3 wks later! A friend told me to silicone the small crack this time. Is that advisable, or should we put a split boot on this time? Edited September 23, 2008 by pathproud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 I had the front CV axle replaced, actually bought the whole axle at Auto Zone for $160, ( new, not remanufactured ) they then charged me two a hours labor to put them in. The garage I no longer use messed up the ABS sensor in the process, which eventually was corrected but that is another story.But to tell the whole sordid story, I now have a small crack in one outer front boot again, this is only 3 wks later! A friend told me to silcone the small crack this time. Is that advisable, or should we put a split boot on this time? If you bought the CV axle at Autozone, isn't it still covered under warranty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathproud Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 If you bought the CV axle at Autozone, isn't it still covered under warranty? [/quote Yes, it turns out it was. The Advance Auto store first refused, then said they would only replace cv boot. Finally after a mechanic got involved they allowed the full replacement of the axle. So it should only take a shop about an hour to do the cv axle replacement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 So it should only take a shop about an hour to do the cv axle replacement? That's my guess. Maybe 1.25 hours. An hour is what it took me to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mora2818 Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 (edited) That's my guess. Maybe 1.25 hours. An hour is what it took me to do it. Well I finished replacing my suspension and that torn cv boot. On a scale of 1-10 I would say replacing that cv boot was about a 3. It was surprisingly very simple. Thanks for all the help Dean and others. All the pictures make it easy to figure out what the hell I am supposed to do. As far as the rear suspension, to replace the rear coils I didn't have enough space to remove the coils without removing the sway bar so that was a pain but not too bad. The rear end feels real solid now and I imagine if I switched out he bushings it would be extremely crisp. The front suspension on the other hand was a nightmare. Trying to get the strut coils lined up with the rest of the strut and strut mount proved to be very difficult because of the strut spring compressor I rented. The bolts for the compressor weren't spaced far enough away from the upper spring mount so after I had compressed the coil, I couldn't fit the upper spring mount between the bolts. I had to use 2 vice grips will ratcheting it down and to get the bolts to squeeze by. After monkeying around with this problem for an hour or so i then realized i forgot the rubber spring seat so I had to start over again. The spring compressor kept wanting to slide down the spring as well so I had to keep backing it up to move it back too. Anyways the first strut probably took me 3.5 hours. The second one took me all of 45 minutes. By the way, the spring compressor I rented was a powerbuilt brand. I can't find any images like it online and it looks like if you bought one today it is a totally different design. My guess is the problem with the bolt being too close the clamp like the problem I had and many would have. After driving around the suspension is much better. I think the lesson I learned most is have the right tools. I borrowed my buddies air compressor and impact wrench. If i didn't have those it couldn't have completed this project. I think the other lesson I learned it for the most part cars aren't all that complicated and if you have the time and tools, you can do almost any job yourself without prior knowledge of how to do this stuff. So your big enemy is you. So now I have 4 R50 coils in my garage that could go to use for someone or they will be tossed in the garbage. They have 132,000 miles and definitely have lost spring over the years. Let me know if anyone would like them, just pay the shipping costs and they are yours. Thanks again everyone for the help, -Kevin Edited October 6, 2008 by mora2818 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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