Driveshaft Cv Boots Gone (again)

[sasquartch]

I have a 2005 TDI 6-speed which I've owned from new, now done 70k miles.

 

Last year, before the MOT I noticed that the nearside inner CV boot had split. I replaced the whole driveshaft with a replacement (only about 50 quid from ECP).

 

Servicing the car the other day I've noticed the inner CV boot on the offside has now split.

 

Not a massively difficult job to do but suprised that both boots have gone in a such a relatively short time.

 

I can't see how the wear can be anything more than a fucnction of distance travelled and 70k isn't really a high mileage.

 

Has anyone else had similar experiences ?

 

Other than than the aux heater which hasn't worked for years this is really the only fault I've had with the car from new.

[sasquartch]

Has no-one else experienced cv boot failure at this sort of age ?

[niallsan]

Ya- I'd say mine went around the 80k mark- offside one. Local garage replaced it but never packed it with grease again so about a month later I got that wobble/vibration from a worn inner cv joint. I replaced just the inner joint with a Polish one(€120 inc postage- now on ebay for £30... dammit) but it's starting to wobble again so I think it's time to replace the full driveshaft.

How did the driveshaft you replaced work out- is it still wobble free/running ok? N.

[SilverBeast]

My nearside inner was split at last years MOT (approx 90k) but didn't fail as only the outers were classed as a fail at the time. It was replaced by the mechanic I have used for some years but was split again this year (approx 100k miles )so I replaced the whole drive shaft myself. At only £37 for a new one I believe it was worth it as I also had a slight vibration at around 20mph that I thought was due to the driveshaft. By the time you have possibly replaced inner and outer boots, with associated hassle and mess to me it made sense. It did get rid of my vibration, but obvioudly ended up costing more as I also replaced bottom balljoint (which turned out to have a split boot anyway) and had to buy extra tools.

 

It's due for a service again (this weekend's job) so I will be replacing the offside driveshaft/balljoint at the same time as I believe the outer CV boot is split because of the amount of grease around the hub!

 

Unfortunately I believe that the transfer shaft may also be worn as there seems to be a lot of backlash in the drivetrain and will check this while the driveshaft is off. These arenothing like as cheap though!

[MrT]

It is not just distance, my split after only 35K but 10 years old, dried out and took the CV joint out. Still on the original tyres, lets hope they don't do the same as they cost more than a drive shaft each.

[niallsan]

You should replace tyres after 5 years otherwise they are really prone to blow-out due to weathering. Just some friendly advice! I wish mine would last more than 1 year :) :angry: :angry: .