Hi All-

I tried to post this this morning but now it seems to have disappeared so I'll try again.

I have a 2004 Foreman 450S. I noticed that some oil/grease (seems more like oil) is oozing from the left, outer CV boot at the narrow end where the boot encircles the axle shaft. There is a ring of grease about half inch wide just outside of the narrow end of the boot on the axle. The boot shows no tear or leak point. Here are my questions:

1. Does this mean I have to replace the boot? The boot looks fine and the joint seems fine. I was sort of hoping this was just normal but the other side is dry as a bone.

2. If so, do you recommend OEM Honda boots or something after market?

3. If I'm doing one, should I go ahead and do both while I have the axle off?

4. Do I really need a ball joint separator or is there another technique to dissassemble, and if I do, where can I get one that size - an autoparts store or is it a special order item?

5. How hard is the job - I'm reasonably mechanically knowledgeable; I work on old Cub Cadets. From the shop manual, the job looks pretty straight forward, but I'm not a master mechanic by any means.

Thanks to all - I'd appreciate your input.

you don't need a ball joint separator to change out cv-joint boots. yes, replace both boots. and they hold grease, not oil. you will have to remove the inner cv-joint, in order to get to the outer boot, sooo..yeah..may as well replace both cv-joint boots.

 

Thanks - the shop manual says you need a 28 mm ball joint remover to get the axle shaft off. How do I do it without one? I appreciate your help.

 

Thanks - the shop manual says you need a 28 mm ball joint remover to get the axle shaft off. How do I do it without one? I appreciate your help.

you can unbolt the front upper and lower a-arms from the frame, pull it off the axle. don't worry about the tool the book wants you to buy.

 

here is MY suggestion, do a youtube search on replacing a CV boot on a honda,
it will show you exactly HOW to and whats under the boot and how to replace
after watching you will maybe have a better understanding here and do you some good I think

if boots are NOT torn, and CV's are NOT making clicking noise, they may still be fine??
the clamp is loose allowing older grease and ??? to ooze out, is what it sounds like here, MAYBE someone filled then with oil???
NOT sure why> but if they did, the clamp might be just allowing thin oils to come out as there NOT made to hold liquid in , all the more so OIL

 

1. It's a bit of a gamble if you want to replace the boot or not. You may be able to get away with just putting a new clamp on it. But, did any water or debris slip by? How can you be sure it has good clean grease without disassembly? On a trail machine I'd probably take the chance and just replace the clamp, on a mud machine I'd replace the boot, no question, and probably order a new axle to keep on hand lol

2. OEM is OK, most aftermarket are junk. The boots used on Gorilla's are very thick and durable, I don't know what brand they use. Nothing is advertised on their site anymore about OEM replacement boots, you may want to contact them. I've never gotten a decent aftermarket boot from the dealer, they have all been garbage.

3. If you just have to do an inboard joint there is no need to touch the outboard joint. If it isn't broke don't fix it. In your case you are replacing an outer joint, which sucks, because it requires disassembly of the inboard joint as well, so you will need to buy two kits and do both joints.

4. I usually just unbolt the shock at the top a-arm and the bottom a-arm itself, that give you enough play to get the end out of the knuckle. Unbolting the top would make it easier but it's two more bolts and I'm lazy.

5. It's easy. Even for your first time someone decently mechanically inclined should be able to tackle it in under an hour. Provided you have the parts you need and tools in front of you. I usually shut the gas off and tip the machine on the back rack to work on the front end, I'm a tall guy and I hate bending over or crawling on the ground. Make sure you clean the CV out as best you can with brake cleaner or similar, get all of the old grease out or at least as much as you can. Any contaminants in the grease/CV will spell the death of it in a hurry.

 

Hatchet: Welcome to the forum. I have deleted your duplicate thread as duplicate threads only confuse those who are trying to help you. Thanks for your understanding.

 

Thanks everyone - I really appreciate it. I will pick up a couple of boots and related hardware and all and tackle the job. All of your responses are really helpful - exactly what I was looking for. I'll circle back after I've had a chance to work on this and let you all know how it went.

 

Thanks everyone - I really appreciate it. I will pick up a couple of boots and related hardware and all and tackle the job. All of your responses are really helpful - exactly what I was looking for. I'll circle back after I've had a chance to work on this and let you all know how it went.

your welcome. we have a lot of helpful members here on our forums, everyone tries their best to help everyone . keep us posted !.

 

Hi Everyone-

I got the axle off - pretty easy; no ball joint puller necessary. I did unbolt the shock off the upper a arm, and then unbolted both a arms and that gave me enough play to swing the axle out. Getting the hub nut off was the challenge - I don't have an impact wrench. A buddy brought one over and we removed the axle over a couple of Coors Lights! Thanks for your advice on it - it really is something a weekend mechanic can handle.

Dissassembling and reassembling the axle and joints was not difficult either except for two questions:

1.we pulled the bands out of their bags without keeping track of which band was which - the bags have different part numbers. So does that mean that the bands are joint specific, meaning there are specific bands for the inboard joint and for the outboard joint?

2. the shop manual talks about measuring the length of the driveshaft - there was play in the inboard joint when I took it off and there still is; I am not understanding about measuring the shaft. Don't I just assemble it and put the boots on in their grooves on the shaft and joints where they fit?

Sometimes I wonder if the shop manual is more complicated than necessary - such as the fact that it calls for separating the ball joint to get the axle off the bike, where you guys showed me how to do it without going through that hassle. I'm thinking the same is true with measuring the axle. Once I reinstall the axle, it will come out to whatever is the length it is supposed to be when I bolt the wheel hub and all back on it, right? I mean, the a arms will largely govern that?

I'd appreciate your input on the CV boot bands and on the shaft length.

Thanks.

 

Hi Everyone-

I got the axle off - pretty easy; no ball joint puller necessary. I did unbolt the shock off the upper a arm, and then unbolted both a arms and that gave me enough play to swing the axle out. Getting the hub nut off was the challenge - I don't have an impact wrench. A buddy brought one over and we removed the axle over a couple of Coors Lights! Thanks for your advice on it - it really is something a weekend mechanic can handle.

Dissassembling and reassembling the axle and joints was not difficult either except for two questions:

1.we pulled the bands out of their bags without keeping track of which band was which - the bags have different part numbers. So does that mean that the bands are joint specific, meaning there are specific bands for the inboard joint and for the outboard joint?

2. the shop manual talks about measuring the length of the driveshaft - there was play in the inboard joint when I took it off and there still is; I am not understanding about measuring the shaft. Don't I just assemble it and put the boots on in their grooves on the shaft and joints where they fit?

Sometimes I wonder if the shop manual is more complicated than necessary - such as the fact that it calls for separating the ball joint to get the axle off the bike, where you guys showed me how to do it without going through that hassle. I'm thinking the same is true with measuring the axle. Once I reinstall the axle, it will come out to whatever is the length it is supposed to be when I bolt the wheel hub and all back on it, right? I mean, the a arms will largely govern that?

I'd appreciate your input on the CV boot bands and on the shaft length.

Thanks.

the boot bands will only fit on the cv-joint large cup ends, does not matter which band you use ?, they are the same. the smaller bands go on the shaft around the boot in the groove just like you figured. don't mix the right and left axles up putting them back in the front differential !!!. don't worry about the length, as long as you get the c-clip back inside the cv-joint. AND DON'T FORGET WHICH WAY THE BALL CAGE COMES OFF THE AXLE !!. pay attention to the c-clip on the middle of the cage end of the axle, prob under grease ?!..lol. this has to come off in order to get the ball cage off. as for the shop manual ?..yeah..they want you to go by the book 100% !!..nope...no need to.

 

oh. forgot, make sure you wrap the over hang of the band lip facing backwards !!!. thread the band through the hold down clamps, and it should face backwards towards you . this is so when the axles are rolling, the lip of the band won't catch on something, and pull it out of the clamps.

 

Hi everyone -

just to close the loop, I finished her up today and spent the past three or four hours on her, riding around with my neighbor on our properties' trails.

A few observations, maybe if anyone else is new and not an experienced mechanic.

First, this forum was really helpful. Thanks, all. I found a terrific 10 minute youtube video that showed how to rebuild the axle, and another one that showed how to take it off the machine; those really helped.

Second, I'm not sure I did the best job on the boot change - I got a lot of grease all over the place, including I'm sure where the boots close on the axle or joint. I didn't think it all through quite as well as I should have - the youtube vid really helps with that. Also, I struggled - of all things - with the clips that hold the band tab in place. It had to do with where I was gripping them to bend them down; I finally figured that out. I also bent the snap ring that holds the inner joint to the axle shaft and naturally didn't have a spare. I fixed it as best I could and installed it and it seemed to hold.

Third, the hub nut was torqued on my machine very hard; be prepared for that if you don't have a compressor and impact wrench.

The rest was pretty easy. I'm a little uneasy about whether the boots will stay sealed, but if they don't, worst case, now I know exactly how to do it and could get it right next time.

Ultimately, anyone who is new to all of this shouldn't shy away from doing this on their own. Even if you just swapped out axles, you'd be ahead on costs compared to having someone do it for you and now I understand something I didn't before.

Thanks again. Happy riding.

 

Hi everyone -

just to close the loop, I finished her up today and spent the past three or four hours on her, riding around with my neighbor on our properties' trails.

A few observations, maybe if anyone else is new and not an experienced mechanic.

First, this forum was really helpful. Thanks, all. I found a terrific 10 minute youtube video that showed how to rebuild the axle, and another one that showed how to take it off the machine; those really helped.

Second, I'm not sure I did the best job on the boot change - I got a lot of grease all over the place, including I'm sure where the boots close on the axle or joint. I didn't think it all through quite as well as I should have - the youtube vid really helps with that. Also, I struggled - of all things - with the clips that hold the band tab in place. It had to do with where I was gripping them to bend them down; I finally figured that out. I also bent the snap ring that holds the inner joint to the axle shaft and naturally didn't have a spare. I fixed it as best I could and installed it and it seemed to hold.

Third, the hub nut was torqued on my machine very hard; be prepared for that if you don't have a compressor and impact wrench.

The rest was pretty easy. I'm a little uneasy about whether the boots will stay sealed, but if they don't, worst case, now I know exactly how to do it and could get it right next time.

Ultimately, anyone who is new to all of this shouldn't shy away from doing this on their own. Even if you just swapped out axles, you'd be ahead on costs compared to having someone do it for you and now I understand something I didn't before.

Thanks again. Happy riding.

your welcome, hope ya got it back together good enough to ride !!. worse case ?, your learned how to do it yourself !!.