I had a rip in my inner right CV boot along the larger clamp. Replaced the boot which i got in a kit from Rockauto for like $50 CAD with shipping. There are couple good online DIY tutorials, @habbyguy posted a good video on the CV axle removal and @Josh.A.Hussey did a good write up regarding the inner boot replacement, which I followed, links below.

Just a few things to add, I had a tough time removing the axle bolt initially because I used a cheap E24 socket from Amazon, the bolt stretched the inside of the socket, should have just gotten an impact socket to begin with.

The removal of the axle wasn't too bad. The old patch job worked for a couple of weeks, metal clamp was actual the weak point, that is were the grease started to leak again, the clamp kept getting loose. The rip was along the large diameter clamp, as you can see in the second pic, once i pulled on the boot it separated easily along that joint.




Once I got inside the joint the only tricky part was trying to remove the tripod head, it required a 3 jaw puller to remove, I taped up the 3 tripod ends with electrical tape to protect the surface and give the jaws a better surface to grip onto.



After getting the old boot off and new boot on, a 23mm 12 point socket was perfect for hammering the tripod back onto the shaft.

I replaced the snap ring that retains the tripod on the shaft with a new one, as well as the c clip that hold the axle in the front diff, but probably could have reused them, they were only a few bucks each at the dealership. old and new c clips were pretty much same in shape.



Cleaned up around the axle seal, I might replace the seal when I end up doing the engine mounts in the future.


New boot



The hardest part was trying to convince the wife to help me put the axle back on, you can get a good chock grip (chock holding it by the tripod joint housing) and when laying under the car pulling the housing into the diff, while someone holds the hub end and pushes it towards the diff while clearing the suspension parts.

Now I have to figure out what is happening with my new strut bellows, I'll post a thread for that when i have some time.



https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...placement.html

 

Good thing I came across this thread. Im preparing to replace a torn inner boot and hadnt thought about having to remove that inner star part. Now I have to buy a puller. I have a pin hole in the passenger side outter boot and already have all the parts to replace it and that shaft seems to completely slide out from the bearing cage, no star and bearings to deal with to replace the boot. Which specific puller did you use or what would work best for it? The manual seems to show only a 2 jaw puller unless im not seeing the 3rd arm.

My torn boot is on the drivers side so I plan on pulling the axle apart while the inner hub is still attached to the intermediate shaft. I've seen numerous threads of people having issues pulling the axle off the intermediate shaft and i dont want to mess with removing the intermediate shaft.

Did you mark all the parts before pulling everything apart in order to install them back exactly where they were? Im wondering how to mark a greasy axle shaft, paint marker?

When you put the 3 bearings back on the star do they stay on by themselves? I ask because i'll be holding the axle horizontal when putting it back into the inner hub and wondering if if the bearings sliding off will be an issue, trying to hold the bearings on while holding the axle while under the car.

 

I used this kind of 3 arm puller, came out without issues.

I didn’t mark which bearing went on which part of the tripod, even with grease the bearings slid off easily. I’m guessing if you insert it with 2 bearings at about 10 and 2 o’clock, then you just have support the 3rd bearing pointing to 6 o’clock untill it’s inside the housing.

 

I'll be honest. I would not be replacing boots. If there is the smallest chance that the shaft got some road grime or salt and is damaged, i'd be replacing the drive shaft all together. I made this mistake and replaced a boot last year. about 6 month later it failed anyways and blew out my oil pan and bearing. I had to get the engine dropped to get it fixed to the tune of 5K-6K dollars. Just bite the bullet and replace the drive shaft with a good OEM one. Most after market ones make the engine shake while turning the wheel. Ask me how i know. If you are high on miles already it might be due soon anyways and its cheap insurance. Most people would scrap the car if they get hit with a bill that high.

 

I thoroughly inspected the internals, no visible issues, so far I have 10k km on the new boot kit. I wonder if application of something like 303 would be helpful on the boots, I’ll be under the car in a week or 2 to apply some fluid film.

 

I replaced both drivers side cv axle boots. Heres a thread I made: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...e-removal.html

I bought a 3" puller and it worked well for removing that bearing holder, thanks for the info.

Prior to removing everything I marked the orientation of everything. Marked the "top" of everything with either permanent marker like the rotor, cv axle shaft and then the parts inside the boots I etched some lines with a drill bit just so I can put things back the same way.

Id like to know what everyone used to tighten the new clamps on because I could not generate enough force with the plier type tools. I order a small vise type tool half way thru the job that worked great, it totally saved the day for me.

I also wonder what the cause of the failure stated above was from. I can see the clamps not being tightened enough so they come back off resulting in all the grease coming out causing issues.

 

HaHa! I used an old, dull pair of horse hoof clippers.


Unfortunately, I couldn't get the tool on one of the clamps, so I resorted to the same technology as on my 1957 Saab 93 GT, a non-perforated hose clamp.

 

I never used Oetiker clamps until now and thought it would be easier to clamp them. The MB manual says the gap has to be closed to at least 2.5mm. Even with the Lisle clamping tool with a 1/2" drive torque wrench and breaker bar I could only get the gaps around 3.5-4mm. And that was working on a bench so doing it while under the car there is no possible way.










Researching the clamps it appears they are Oeitiker 167 Heavy Duty clamps and it shows the clamping force needed is at least 5000N. At the factory im sure they have pneumatic machines for clamping.




I cannot praise and recommend the small tool I bought off Amazon enough, its small and fits anywhere. I used a small 10mm open end wrench on the bolt and had no trouble closing the gap on the clamps. It totally solved my problem of installing the inner most clamp that is right at the subframe.









Earlier today I went back under the car and tightened the clamps a little more because im paranoid of the boots coming off.

 

I tightened them as hard as I could, used this tool but axle was off the car

Recent pics

 

I replaced the inner boot on the passenger side earlier this year. Rather than using a puller to get the 3-bearing assembly off, I hung the axle through a vise, and protected the “tripod” with clean shop rags. Left the vise loose so it was not clamping the shaft. I gave the shaft a couple of sharp blows using a mallet and center punch, and the assembly came off well.
Messy job getting all the old grease out prior to reassembly.

 

I dont have a vise so it was cheaper buying a 3" 3-jaw puller.

I replaced both boots while the axle was out since i'd rather not have to pull the axles again.

For the passenger side i did the same as the drivers and left the inner hub in the car. Cut the inner boot and pulled the axle out from the hub. The small clamp tool was able to fit and close the clamp.

I also realized the three bearings on the inner star can come apart to be cleaned.