How To: Vanagon CV Joint rebuild with OEM VW boots and clocked joints 

Thanks! Go get it done! Nate

Glad we could help! Gad you got it all together! Nate

Thanks for watching! nate

Thank you Chris! So glad we can help you work on your Vanagon. Keep it up!! Nate

Thanks! Nate

Awesome. We have had no issues with our Tiguan boots from FCP Euro and there is a lifetime warranty if we do. Nate

Glad we could help! nate

Thanks for watching! Nate

Glad to do it! nate

👍🏻👍🏻 Glad it helped! Nate

Thanks!

Yeah stretching the boot out would keep the ribs from rubbing but I am not sure about adding in additional "stress" into the boot. Where it sits is the natural length of the boot and after 30K miles, the ribs look almost new. If one does fail, I might try that to see if it lasts longer. Thanks for watching! nate

Glad it was helpful! Nate

Thank you very much! Nate

Glad you enjoyed it! nate

You're welcome Thomas Nate

For sure!

Thanks glad you enjoyed it! nate

Thanks!

Thanks Nate

Glad it was helpful! Nate

Glad it was helpful! nate

Glad you liked it! Natr

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching! nate

Thanks Troy!

944's are on my list but I can't justify them until one or more of my Vanagon CV's need replacing. If these Tiguan boots fail I might have to look for other options and then just put in 944's at the same time. nate

After installing Gowesty 1.5'' springs my CV joint' s made noise when accelerating. Clocking was not correct either. Now go and install 944. It is very important that you install the old drive shaft in de same direction of rotating.

Glad we could help! Nate

No problem! Nate

Awesome! Good luck with the suspension nate

Glad it was helpful! nate

Years of practice…..

Glad we can help! Nate

Our VW Tiguan boots have held up very well. Seems they have gone up in price a bit though from FCP Euro but they do have a lifetime warranty! nate

Glad you enjoyed the video! We are still planning on being around the Bald Hills area soon and am hoping we can get through it with no snow. nate

Thanks! Nate

Glad you’ve had your Westy so long, that’s awesome. Appreciate the nice feedback too. Take care! Nate

Thanks Roland. It isn't all that complicated, just a bit time consuming and messy. There is a link the the VW boots from FCP Euro in the description. nate

Thanks! Nate

Glad we could help! Mulege is amazing isn’t it? Nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife yeah man Mulege is great. We spend some time there every year. Safe travels!

Thanks, I totally spaced adding in the torque value when making the video. Thanks for the feedback! Nate

thanks

I have never seen circlips on the back side of a Vanagon joint or even the use of the domed washer. These only use the circlip that was shown being taken off in the video. This video was centered on rebuilding the CV's and not a full install video on CV joints. Thanks nate

That is true about the wear pattern but I would be more concerned that you are not able to inspect the balls and races properly to check for pitting or excessive wear. But at least you are putting in new grease and keeping them fresh! nate

Thanks for watching and glad we could help! nate

It is an M8 triple square

They are still like new. Super happy with them Nate

On the inner race it doesn’t really matter much. I would put it back the way it was. If you don’t know then put the step facing out. Nate

I am not familiar with the Jetta joints but since your CV angles are so low, I am not sure it will matter much. The clocking is really beneficial when you have more severe joint angles and allows for less binding during rotation. nate

Yes on the floor. Our van is tall enough that we can fit under it easily. If you need more room, ramps are good but if you use jack stands, make sure they are under the trailing arm and not the body as it will put your CV joint angle to high for easy install.

Yep exactly the same procedure! Nate

Yep it’s easy to assemble them wrong and they will be locked up as you found. Glad we could help. Boots have been holding up great! Nate

Torque to 33 ft/lbs. No special sequence and no thread locker. That’s what the serrated washers are for. Nate

Interesting, I have not heard that before and since you bought them from GW, I would definitely do that then. I may give them a call and ask why they recommend doing that. Appreciate you dropping that in the comments for us to all learn a bit more. Thanks! nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife heres the email: "The three rings should be installed outward on the axle shaft. In other words, the rings are toward the outer edge of the shaft. Thanks! Mike Wiehl Sales Manager"

Hi John, that is a tough one because I have not had a CV boot last long enough to make that call. I hope these VW boots can last. If the boots hold up you can go a very long time without needing to open them up. I hope I don't have to look at these for 75K more miles. nate

Thanks! The boots have been holding up perfect for thousands of miles and lots of dirt, rocks, and mud! nate

They can click if the grease turns hard or if there isn't enough grease. If you catch it early, a quick clean and grease will be fine. Take them apart (one at a time) and inspect the races and ball bearings for any abnormal wear or pitting. Some slight grooving is the races is fine. Reassemble and put in fresh CV grease. nate

No the serrated washers can be installed either direction but are very important to keep the bolts from backing out Nate

Good to know! Those would probably not be a prone to the heads getting gunked up and hard to remove. Thanks for the tip Nate

Glad it helped! nate

Thanks! So far the boots are holding up fine. Due to our lift, the bellows do rub together so I would expect them to eventually fail there but we will see. We bought them from FCP Euro just for their lifetime warranty on all parts so if they do fail, we send them back and get a new set. Nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife Thank you. Considering the shaft, the joint, and the boot all rotate at exactly the same time I would claim there will be no abnormal wear where the pleats come together. Again, great stuff from your channel.

Good point, let's hope you're right! :) nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife, would you recommend a different boot in retrospect?

Nope, they have held up great so far. Better than any other boots we have used in the past. nate

We are around 17.5” in the rear with the old GoWesty 1.5” lift springs. Regarding the 930 joints, our WBX doesn’t put out enough power to cause any issues with the stock style joints. We did put in the higher angle 944 joints when we got back from Canada though. The 930 joints are great for high HP or torque engines and vans that are lifted more than ours. Chris at T3 Technique has new joints out that are like 930’s but don’t require new flanges. Nate

Ah yes, the 944 CV joints are what I’ve been looking at, not the 930s (was confused). I too have a WBX. Rear heights are 16 3/4” LR and 16 7/8” RR but going to shim LR 1/2” and RR 1/4”. Working with existing GoWesty non lifting springs. Will redo TA bushings, wheel bearings, CVs and adding Radflow shocks. Is it worth it to go up to 944 CVs or stick with German stock ones (GoWesty deluxe bundle) in your opinion? I do some off roading but am very careful. Gosh at this point I feel like I owe you a consulting fee 😉. Thank you 🙏

At that ride height and mild off roading, the stock style joints will be more than fine. They are actually a bit stronger than the 944 joints as the increased articulation for the 944's come by having smaller balls in the cages than the stock ones. If you don't find yourself binding the stock joints, I would stick with a high quality German joint. The Burley Radflo shocks are awesome and are on our list for an upgrade in the future. Also use a high quality CV joint grease like I show in the video. Do not use the Redline CV-2 grease that GW and others tout. Sounds like your van's gonna be dialed! nate

Thank you so much Nate.

@@ThatBaldwinLife Hi Nate. Curious as to the reason(s) for recommending against the Redline product.

Yep!

I don't know the size of puller but I believe it is a tie rod puller that I have had in my tool box for years. I just needs to fit over the cage so it does not bind. I won't be near my garage for a bit or I would measure it for you. thx nate

That is how you rebuild a CV joint. There are no spare parts you can put in the joint nor would you want to mix old and new parts. Your options are to rebuild like we did or buy a new one. Depending on what is wrong with your CV joint, fresh grease may fix it. If your old grease is dry and caked on, it will click. Nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife Thanks mate. It is old and caked on. But after cleaning it up about 30min ago there are score mark on the inner race. I think at some point the cv has been exposed to grit etc. So new one. Your vid has been a tremendous help so thank you again.

Boots are holding up great, perfect shape so far. Nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife well the videos over two years old so I assume that’s pretty great performance. How long are they typically supposed to last? Also, would I need to order four of the kits or two of the kits?

We have had them on almost a year and put 12k miles on them. So far so good. With our lift, it does cause the bellows to rub a bit on each other and I do expect them to eventually wear out there but we will see. Nate

Hey Frank We have had that puller for years and I don’t remember where we got it. I believe it is a ball joint or tie rod puller maybe? Nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife Ok, thanks anyway. Will keep looking, most seem to narrow to fit around cage.

Hi Frank. I'm a bit late to respond but I beleive the puller Nate used is called a Pitman Arm puller. You need the opening to be at least 30mm+. I'm also about to buy one myself for the same reason & same job. Hope this helps.

No jack stands needed. Just make sure the E-brake is on and maybe chock the wheels if your E-brake is suspect. Then remove the 12 bolts per axle and rebuild! Nate

8mm triple square. Make sure the bolt head is clean and tap it in as far as it goes. They might be old and stripped out a bit. That makes it pretty hard and you might need to get a larger size torx and pound it in with a hammer and replace the bolts with new ones. nate

Not uncommon. It would probably be just fine to run it the way it is, especially if you are stock height. But, if you want a lesson in CV rebuilding, you can take it apart and see how it was put together. The outer race with the three rings is not as important as I have seen them run both ways. I just try and be consistent. The inner cage should have the chamfer facing the axle. If you decide to take it apart, be aware it is a new joint and will be tight. A bit harder to install all of the balls in the cage. nate

Tightening the clamps is pretty straightforward. If you can rebuild and clock the CV's you should be able to tighten the clamp. nate

So far with a few thousand miles they have held up fine. A little rubbing in the bellows since my CV angles are a bit higher but so far so good! nate

I am sure it makes it a bit easier! nate

Not always. Sometimes the cage is hard to get off of the inner race while it is still on the axle. That was the case here and I wanted to show you can use the puller while the cage was on. Thanks! Nate

Also could you send a link to which puller you were using here? Thanks! Great vid though! I’ll definitely be using it here shortly!

I wish I knew but I have had this puller for a very long time. I believe it is a tie rod puller. nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife awesome! Thanks! I assume as long as it’s wide enough to keep the cage free it’s good to go. Also is the size for the bolts a M8 triple square?

Yes it is an 8mm triple square. nate

It is a tie rod puller that I have had for 20 years. Harbor Freight has them

Getting bolts in is easy for proper grease monkeys, which I'm not... I recall doing the top bolt on a 350 turbo trans by myself was quite a challenge (w/ out a trans jack). I would image torque spec is fairly important on these bolts too?

Hey Paul I guess I have never had an issue with that and install is the reverse of removal. I just take the extension on the triple square and insert it in the top bolt of the axle. Then put the axle in the trailing arm and use the extension to move the bolt around until it lines up with the top hole. Then move the axle around until all bolts are in. I torqued all bolts to factory specs based on the Bentley. Good luck with your rebuild of your van! nate

Paul I'm going to guess that it was because of the CV-angle during the time you were trying to get the bolt in. If the van is on ramps, with the suspension partially compressed, the CV angle is not as much. But if you have it jacked up, with the suspension hanging at max droop, it can be real hard to get that first bolt in because the CV won't just lay flat onto its flange.

Great advice. My van was not jacked up at all and the first bolts on the wheel side can be tougher for sure. nate

i've done this 2-3 times on my bus and it wasn't a problem at all as far as I remember. And I'm no mechanic.

So far, perfect. Longest lasting boots I have put on the van so far. nate

Yep, same cv joints and boots, just the auto’s use two different shaft lengths so keep track of which side the axle shaft came from. Nate

@@ThatBaldwinLife Dankeschön 🙏

So far so good they look brand new still (minus the dirt 😁) Nate

The assembly instructions should be all you need to do the procedure correctly. Thanks Nate

Good to hear! Is your van lifted at all? Our bellows on the boots rub just slightly because of our lift. That is where I think ours may fail but so far they are holding up great. nate