Looking for CV axle rebuilders in the West cost?

The CV joints on the liquid cooled VWs hold up very well unless they have been running on cracked boots sans all grease for several years.
The SOP was to clean, new boots, repack with grease, and send it on its way without worry.

I remove the CV joint from the axle, remove all the steel balls, clean everything, then inspect the balls and the races for any problems. Replace the boot where required, put it all back together with the same balls in the same races, new lube. In all the times Iā€™ve done this I never found any problems with the balls or races; so for me a rebuild went nothing beyond that. However, were I to find a problem, say the CV joint races were damaged, of course Iā€™d replace that part.

Youā€™re on top of maintenance, so did you do this because of a torn boot, right? Folks with clicking axles would need to do more.

Usually it is b/c I spot cracks developing in the boots. If it only the outer boot, Iā€™ll just do it on the outer joint. Easier b/c donā€™t have to completely remove the axle. I clean & inspect the boots at every oil change. Even if both boots are ok I still do this service on both inner & outer joint every 80K or so. I started on this routine w/ my VW Rabbit. I followed the maintenance instructions in the book ā€œHow to keep your water cooled VW aliveā€, and the author recommended this as a part of routine service. I think that book recommended every 60k. I did it more frequently on the Rabbit than on the Corolla.

Hereā€™s a CV tip: No matter what you may hear, donā€™t spray WD 40 on the boots ā€¦ ask me how I know ā€¦ lol ā€¦

Can you install a split boot on top of existing boot on a medium/compact cars like my Integra? Split boots glue on and they are bigger than the std boots.

No, No, No and NO!

Split boots never bond correcty and very quickly begin to split again, leaving you back where you were, except a couple of bucks lighter
Again, boot replacement parts about about $10 for the boot, reman CV about $30, aftermarket new CV about $60, PLUS the big variable, the the labor cost.

So if someone offered me $10 to ā€œcover his torn bootā€ which may last for a couple of months Iā€™d probably tell them where to jump off.
Likewise for someone who offered me $20 to clean and repack their new CV boot so now weā€™re up to $30, close to the cost of a rebuilt unit with a one year parts warranty.

So if a quality aftermarket manufacturer offers a new factory built CV with a lifetime parts guarantee for $60 ā€¦?

The labor cost and/or my time and effort is worth so much more than the parts cost that it makes no sense to go cheap on the parts.

To mount a boot, shop wants $150/side

Goodness, I hope that includes at least a lifetime partts warranty?

$150/side labor only - lowest price in town

Update: This is just the outer boot

I never had any luck with a split boot. Just replace the whole axle. I donā€™t intend to ever do it again but would be careful not to pull the inner cv apart now. Back to Napa for another axle.

Replacing CV boots includes disassembly of the joints, cleaning and new grease, this is not a ā€œrebuildā€.

I donā€™t use cheap parts with lifetime warranties, they are of poor quality.

Rock Auto shows axle assemblies for this car for $50, too many parts in CV joints to be able to offer a complete quality axle assembly for that price.

I suppose it is possible, but not something Iā€™d recommend. If you want to keep the existing axles, best bet is to pony up the $150/side and have your shop install a new boot the proper way. To replace an outer boot I think it takes me about 1 1/2 hours per side, doing it in my driveway; but a shop w/lift, probably more like 45 minutes a side. So $150 a side seems a little steep. Of course the boot itself isnā€™t free, some cost to that. But the reason it may cost more than expected is the point I mentioned above, in the mid-90ā€™s the cv/axle attachment method changed (at least it did on the Corolla), and that change makes the job more time consuming. For example on your car it may be necessary to completely remove the axle assā€™y, then remove the inner joint, then slide the new outer boot into place from the inner side. On mine I can remove the outer CV joint to install the new boot, without having to remove the entire axle assā€™y.
Not sure the motivation for the design change for the CV/axle attachment, probably either to make it more robust/secure ; either that or just that the new method is less expensive to manufacture.

So on a practical basis your outer CV boot replacement choices are

  • Pay $300 to shop
  • Install new or rebuilt axles (probably will cost less than $300, and youā€™d have everything new or rebuilt, with the caveat that the new axles might introduce unanticipated problems)
  • Do the job yourself in your driveway

Were in your position, not wanting to do it myself, believed the CV joint itself remained in good condition, and confident the shop would do a good job, Iā€™d pay the shop to install new boots. Most car owners would follow the advice of their shop however & just install complete axle assemblies.