sammyshammy

Long story short, my wife is over four hours away with our 2005 e500 wagon and one of the conti's gets a grape friut size lump in the tread with belts and rubber hanging out. Tires were on there way out so she limps to a tire shop and settles for whatever is on the shelf. Mechanic says boots are cracked with grease coming out, thank goodness he could not get the parts so she comes home slow.
Have read some boot replacements here and read of a axle reman and I certainly seen the price of oem new. Would like to try the new boots if someone knows of the best place to purchase and also would like other opinions about this.
I have not noticed any previous noise from the car before hand so am hopefull to save the cv's. Mike

sammyshammy

This ain't gettin any better, started up car today and heard a air hissing noise coming from front left tire. Car won't lower and raise on one side, I'll need some air strut advice too!

vettdvr

You probably should replace both front airmatic struts w/Arnott life time warranty rebuild. This will save you $$.

For the torn boot I would recommend get a rebuilt "half"shaft new boots and dont' replace just the boot. Contamination has already gotten into the CV joint and it is a very precise fit part. Pull it and get rebuilt or take it to a rebuild shop that does rebuilding of these parts and have it rebuilt.

You have a choice to buy new but it will cost you more.

I highly recommend do not repair just the boot.

Quadcammer

meh, in my opinion it depends how long the boot has been split and what the joint looks like when you take it apart.

I just noticed a split front CV boot on my w220. The grease was fresh and the split was very recent. I drove it for about 80 miles until I could replace the boot. The joint was inspected and found to be fine.

Point being, given how expensive the new shafts are, and how iffy remans can be (with respect to the hardness of the areas where the ***** ride, called the cage i believe), if you inspect the joint and find it to be in good shape, just reboot. No use throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

biggking

I have a few struts from a RWD. PM me your VIN I can double check fitment. I might also have some axles for you.

harshybar

I am going to Assume your car is a 4matic. I will follow this close as I want to find out where you get the parts.

sammyshammy

Did search and see Arnott, thats probably the route I will go.
Saw CVJ axles in another post so I gave them a call, $265 each to rebuild but they did not have any that matched my car. If I ship my axles to them they claim a one day turn around after receiving them, not bad.
Now I need to know if my local mechanic who takes care of my other two lumps wants to mess with this thing, man it sucks not having a warranty anymore.

sammyshammy

So after weighing my options I started to break down the front left side of the car. My thought is to remove both axles and send them to cvj to reman then order the struts from Arnott and reassemble. All went fairly well but I am having a hard time removing the shaft from the tranny side, the shaft wants to split in two when being tuged. Any suggestions?

AMGAffalterbach

You don't need to re-manufacture your CV Axles if they are not clicking when turning or driving in a straight line. If there are no metallic or grinding sounds when you are driving then the axle doesn't require a rebuild, you only need to replace to torn boot. I just went through this issue last weekend and paid to have the boot repaired.

I disagree with Vettdvr on this one, CV axles and joints are actually quite durable and can withstand many months of running with 'contaminated' grease (within reasonable limits). All they require is being cleaned out and packed with new grease and a new boot. $240 for the kit is a bit less expensive than re-manufacturing or buying a new axle which can be a very expensive part. The one thing I have to caution you on is that the axle can be very hard to separate from the joint if it is a virgin assembly, meaning it has never been disassembled before. It's best to take it to a shop and have them do it because if you end up breaking the part you will be out quite a bit of money and it is not an easy repair to do yourself.

As for the struts, get Arnott parts and send back your old cores for a $50 rebate. Also look for the discount code on the forum.

vettdvr

You are correct they are very durable and take tremendous loads. However they are precision fits to prevent noise. Small amounts of contamination will damage the fits. They will still work. Life will be shorter, they may have a click or clunk when going from forward to reverse.

If you want new performance and full life I recommend rebuild / replacement. If you only plan to keep the car a few years and don't mind some loosness then you decide when you have the parts in your hand. If the load surfaces are polished/shiney they may be ok. IF satin finish you probably have contamination damage.

Measurement of fit is the only real way to know for sure.

So I will stick with rebuild/replace if you want long life and new performance.

It is ok to disagree that what makes better problem solving.

AMGAffalterbach

^+1

sammyshammy

As mentioned cvj rebuilt is $265 done professionally and those boot kits I priced are not that cheap.

AMGAffalterbach

Surprised, at my indie and the dealer here in Colorado they are both cheaper than that. Not by much though so it probably is just worth the CVJ rebuild.

sammyshammy

Axle is out and boxed for shipping also ordered the Arnott. I'm going to tackle this one side at a time in case I screw things up. Thanks for the help

sammyshammy

Update:
Strut and axle installed and all seems good, was not a bad job at all and worth saving the extra $ compared to the dealer.
CVJ strut was $360 and not $265 like mentioned before.
Arnott discount for MBW members, nice.
Again a many thanks to everyone here for the great help.

AMGAffalterbach

Good to hear buddy, definitely useful information for future members with the same problem - gives them an idea of the price for this type of repair. So you did this all yourself, did it require any special tools or training?

sammyshammy

Yea by myself with some basic metric sockets and wrenches in the driveway on a blanket. I have limited mechanical skills but this was a matter of disassembly and reassemble. I have to say compared to other less expensive cars I have worked on this car came apart nice and somewhat simple. There was no corroded bolts and rusty parts snapping off, just had to think a little in between each move and off course this site and internet for searches.

The stock axle did slide out through the strut but the new setup would not assemble that way, not sure if the axle became fatter or the strut passage got thinner but it made for a tougher time.

There is a steel plate on top of the existing strut that needs to be removed and put on the new one, its a giant support washer for the bolts and just hand presses on.

As learned here the front left brake sensor wires were snipped apart.


Arnott strut about $500
CVJ axle about $400
Prices average with S/H