Axle boots tore prematurely? I replaced both inner/outer boots last summer

[rwtags]

Does anyone know of a better universal kit that will fit the iX front driveshafts? i just had to replace mine, after having them replaced last year, one was torn, the rest are cracking already! i dont understand!!

[iXBeater]

I am doing my set today or tomorrow, might just do a write up.

Greetings - did you get yours done? Thoughts/tips/writeup? :)

[iXBeater]

I hear you! These cars are old and need lots of work/maintenance. Still cheaper (and more fun INMHO) than a new car payment, but if you don’t have the time to work on it then bad (and expensive) stuff eventually happens if they are neglected.

I have an M635 that occupies most of my free time in the garage, and while I don't mind a hiatus to focus on this car, I can't do it for lots of time unless I turn this into a daily. Unfortunately there's too much required to get it there for me, and my Mini Clubman daily is E30-ish enough that I get my fun factor in. I have distant thoughts about putting one of my teenagers in it, but I'm not sure a stick-shift is a good idea in this distracted world as a first-car.

The CV reboot is cheap to do, and a used axle can be had for fairly cheap, but if you are going to sell the ix it’s not unreasonable to let the next owner deal with it.

Like I said - I'm on the fence here. I think the right buyer for this car is wrenchy anyway, so I'll be happy to pass it along to that kind of person. The E39 528iT/5spd that replaced this car as my daily was eventually sold to exactly that kind of guy. In retrospect I wish I'd kept that car. It needed a lot of stuff when I sold it (to a guy who was thrilled with it), but it was mainly stuff I'm now able to do myself. That was a great car too - drove that one all the way back to NC from Oregon (literally touched the Pacific and drove to the Atlantic ;) )

[E30andy]

Honestly, I'm trying to limit my investment in the car. I've come to the conclusion over the last few days that I'm going to make sure it's roadworthy and as clean as I can reasonably make it, but with a spawn in college and two more right behind that one, household expenses and some other things going on (not to even mention the cost of two more drivers soon and the lovely insurance they bring along with that), I just can't keep the car. I'd definitely like to do the boots, but replacing the axles isn't something I love the idea of if they're "real" $$. The underside has some spots of rust that came from my family member doing stupid stuff, but overall it's not rusty. I hope that means the axles wouldn't be bad... The ideal eventual home for this car is someone who can wrench on it and do the kind of wrenching and prep work that will make it a fully decent car again.

We smoothed out the rust on the piston and the interior of the caliper for the one that was stuck, but I just ordered a set of reman calipers for the rear. I'm sure they'll be fine to get home, but I don't want to have (or pass along) a car with suspect brakes. I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to get them in - I'm going to be traveling most of this coming week, and my next several weekends might also be spent out of town.

I hear you! These cars are old and need lots of work/maintenance. Still cheaper (and more fun INMHO) than a new car payment, but if you don’t have the time to work on it then bad (and expensive) stuff eventually happens if they are neglected.

The CV reboot is cheap to do, and a used axle can be had for fairly cheap, but if you are going to sell the ix it’s not unreasonable to let the next owner deal with it.

[iXBeater]

I’m doing this job now and as long as the car has not been neglected and isn’t rusty everything should come apart easily enough. If the axle is stuck in the hub or front diff you can get into trouble. The circlip can be tricky but other than that it’s a straightforward job that will need to be done multiple times over the life of any ix. I say go for it! If you screw something up you can always find a used ix axle on this forum.

Honestly, I'm trying to limit my investment in the car. I've come to the conclusion over the last few days that I'm going to make sure it's roadworthy and as clean as I can reasonably make it, but with a spawn in college and two more right behind that one, household expenses and some other things going on (not to even mention the cost of two more drivers soon and the lovely insurance they bring along with that), I just can't keep the car. I'd definitely like to do the boots, but replacing the axles isn't something I love the idea of if they're "real" $$. The underside has some spots of rust that came from my family member doing stupid stuff, but overall it's not rusty. I hope that means the axles wouldn't be bad... The ideal eventual home for this car is someone who can wrench on it and do the kind of wrenching and prep work that will make it a fully decent car again.

We smoothed out the rust on the piston and the interior of the caliper for the one that was stuck, but I just ordered a set of reman calipers for the rear. I'm sure they'll be fine to get home, but I don't want to have (or pass along) a car with suspect brakes. I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to get them in - I'm going to be traveling most of this coming week, and my next several weekends might also be spent out of town.

[E30andy]

ForcedFirebird (and any others with a perspective) - My buddy is waving me off replacing the boots, concerned that I might screw it up and wind up with expensive axles to replace. I've replaced (but not rebuilt) axles on my wife's van, done struts and shocks on that and my old M635, etc. I'm good for nuts and bolts stuff, and have good tools, a QuickJack, etc., but I definitely don't want to screw up by trying to fix up. The boots are torn, but there's no noise or other damage I can see.

Thoughts/brutal honesty?

I’m doing this job now and as long as the car has not been neglected and isn’t rusty everything should come apart easily enough. If the axle is stuck in the hub or front diff you can get into trouble. The circlip can be tricky but other than that it’s a straightforward job that will need to be done multiple times over the life of any ix. I say go for it! If you screw something up you can always find a used ix axle on this forum.

[nando]

Replace the boots! The CV joints are not special, and any monkey in a driveline shop can do it. But letting the grease out and dirt in, they're going to be shot anyway.

[moatilliatta]

Great time to clean all old grease out, it’s just a really really messy job. They can get bound up when clean without grease on re assembly. Just be mind full of which way you take apart the cage and which direction the taper goes inside the cage.

A car wash with hot water maybe a good way to get the outer joints cleaned out.

Its been 5+ years since of done them, I think I kept the outler assembled without boots and pulled the Cclip off the inners.

Maybe vice verse.

[iXBeater]

ForcedFirebird (and any others with a perspective) - My buddy is waving me off replacing the boots, concerned that I might screw it up and wind up with expensive axles to replace. I've replaced (but not rebuilt) axles on my wife's van, done struts and shocks on that and my old M635, etc. I'm good for nuts and bolts stuff, and have good tools, a QuickJack, etc., but I definitely don't want to screw up by trying to fix up. The boots are torn, but there's no noise or other damage I can see.

Thoughts/brutal honesty?

[iXBeater]

I am doing my set today or tomorrow, might just do a write up.

That would be awesome - even a few pix of the clean-up and the basic procedure would be great.

[nando]

I wouldn't expect that at stock ride height. Always wanted to come up with some sort of heat shield for that passenger axle. The passenger inner boot seems to only last about 20,000 miles, but my car is also really low (for an ix).

[nrubenstein]

Also, get used to doing this job. My experience with our old iX was that we never went more than a couple years between losing a boot. And that’s maybe 35,000 miles over a decade.

[nrubenstein]

Anything unusual about the boot-process on the iX?

I'm hoping it isn't much different than this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S-ofMoWsr0&t=114s

If there's an iX-specific DIY out there, I'd appreciate a link :)

The only thing that’s meaningfully different with the iX is that you have to disconnect a tie rod to get the half shaft out. Otherwise, they are pretty standard.

[moatilliatta]

Ah, I remember these days! I could have an ix axle out and rebooted in an hour...

Maybe it was the tight auto X curcuits, I used to tear thru them all the time..

[iXBeater]

Empi and GKN is the way to go.

Best source for them? I probably need front outer boots.