Bad left front axle AGAIN...#3

[boardspinna]

so i noticed a vibration the other day when on the highway or during acceleration, and i thought to myself....NOT AGAIN!!!

when i got home i parked the car and turned the wheel all the way to the right and i did what any man would do, i stuck my fingers right in there. The Boot is torn yet again and not only do i have another bad axle boot for the 3rd time in 8 months BUT i now have a hand full of axle grease.

is it common for these to go out this consistently. I mean 3 times in 8 months....
is there something else that could be making these go bad??

[16valex]

Originally Posted by boardspinna

so i noticed a vibration the other day when on the highway or during acceleration, and i thought to myself....NOT AGAIN!!!

when i got home i parked the car and turned the wheel all the way to the right and i did what any man would do, i stuck my fingers right in there. The Boot is torn yet again and not only do i have another bad axle boot for the 3rd time in 8 months BUT i now have a hand full of axle grease.

is it common for these to go out this consistently. I mean 3 times in 8 months....
is there something else that could be making these go bad??

No that is not common. Try OEM boots next time.

[tdz123]

Have you lowered your car? Slamming an XI can cause this sort of problem.

[danewilson77]

No.....not common...

[GCoop]

Originally Posted by boardspinna

so i noticed a vibration the other day when on the highway or during acceleration, and i thought to myself....NOT AGAIN!!!

when i got home i parked the car and turned the wheel all the way to the right and i did what any man would do, i stuck my fingers right in there. The Boot is torn yet again and not only do i have another bad axle boot for the 3rd time in 8 months BUT i now have a hand full of axle grease.

is it common for these to go out this consistently. I mean 3 times in 8 months....
is there something else that could be making these go bad??

I assume you mean the same boot? If so, then no it is not common for them to fail in such rapidity. Something is going on there. If you are talking about different ones then yes mine all failed within months of each other. (didn't do both sides at once)

[tdz123]

Absent a problem causing a tear (e.g. control arm issue or something similar) a CV boot should last approximately 90k-100k miles.

[Critter7r]

Not normal. Provided you don't have the car lowered, and if you're using OEM boots, then I'd bet a week's wages you're running over stuff. The boots tend to last 80-100k miles. And now, the OEM boots are supposed to be made out of an even better material, so they're supposed to last even longer.

Do you live (or drive regularly) on a dirt road? Lots of construction near you? (That's a gimmie, I see you're in MI)

[nathancarter]

I don't have an xi, but aren't the front CV joints covered by the splash shield?
Seems like even with gravel and construction debris, the splash shield should deflect practically all of it.

Critter7r, didn't you mention some months ago that overfilling the boot with grease can cause premature failure? There should be enough to cover the joint, but NOT enough to fill the boot... right?

[Edit] After re-reading the whole thread. Are you replacing just the boot and the grease, or are you replacing the joint, or the entire axle? Post #1 kinda implies that you're replacing just the boot and grease. If the joint is already damaged to the point that it's vibrating or clicking, then replacing the boot and grease is not a sufficient repair. Replacing just the boot and grease is only acceptable if you notice the torn boot BEFORE the joint is damaged.

[tdz123]

Originally Posted by nathancarter

I don't have an xi, but aren't the front CV joints covered by the splash shield?

Inner yes, outer no. Even so, having one fail three times in 8 months is very odd.

[bmwdave37]

Wait one darn second. A torn cv boot does not cause a vibration. If the axle is driven for a long period of time with a torn boot, and thus no grease, then that will damage the joint and can cause a vibration.

So have you replaced the boot three times, or the axle three times?

[shadow4bimmer]

Originally Posted by tdz123

Have you lowered your car? Slamming an XI can cause this sort of problem.

This is a persistent rumor which is not true. Many people are driving lowered xi's (including me) with no problems. As noted earlier, this type of wear pattern is highly unusual. Assuming you are not using cheap Chinese knock offs, I would look at your installer to check if he is putting them on correctly. I replaced the outers boots at 54k and have never had to replace the inner boots with 72k on them and counting.

[tdz123]

Originally Posted by shadow4bimmer

This is a persistent rumor which is not true. Many people are driving lowered xi's (including me) with no problems. As noted earlier, this type of wear pattern is highly unusual. Assuming you are not using cheap Chinese knock offs, I would look at your installer to check if he is putting them on correctly. I replaced the outers boots at 54k and have never had to replace the inner boots with 72k on them and counting.

Well first off, having to replace boots at 54k is about 30k to 40k miles earlier than normal, so say what you want.

Also, I said "slammed" not just lowered. My XI is lowered too (but not slammed) with no problems.

[shadow4bimmer]

Was unaware that you were an expert on the normal date that boots need replacing. How about a cite to an authority other than yourself for when boots normally wear out? Slammed is a meaningless term and just another word for lowered only more than normal, since there is no definition to the term. I know of no one personally or on the forums who has slammed an xi, and have seen no one credibly claim that a drop of any kind damaged their boots.

[WHITEXi]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I have the same issue but have changed them so often now it wont take more than an hour to change one out lol. I have aftermarket ones in there now and have changed them a few times. If I knew I could get the oem ones rebuilt I would have saved them but I didn't. I would get the oem boots like they say.

I have had mo oem axle fail with a bad cv joint and no torn boot. It gave me the worst vibration to until I changed it.

[tdz123]

Originally Posted by shadow4bimmer

Was unaware that you were an expert on the normal date that boots need replacing. How about a cite to an authority other than yourself for when boots normally wear out?

Haha "cite to an authority." Clever argument. Doesn't change the fact that you had to replace boots about 30k to 40k earlier than anyone else I've ever heard of, other than people with lowered cars or those who have had other issues (e.g. control arm issues).

Originally Posted by shadow4bimmer

Slammed is a meaningless term and just another word for lowered only more than normal, since there is no definition to the term.

Which is it? A "meaningless term" or "another word for lowered only more than normal"?

Originally Posted by shadow4bimmer

I know of no one personally or on the forums who has slammed an xi, and have seen no one credibly claim that a drop of any kind damaged their boots.

You lowered your car, you've had early CV boot failure and you won't admit that lowering your car may have been the cause. That you don't know anyone who has claimed "that a drop of any kind damaged their boots" isn't a big surprise. I'm sure they're in denial as well.

[16valex]

I have to agree with TDZ123, those who slamed their XI will face the consequences, and perhaps one of those is shorten the life of outter CV boots.

[boardspinna]

Originally Posted by nathancarter

I don't have an xi, but aren't the front CV joints covered by the splash shield?
Seems like even with gravel and construction debris, the splash shield should deflect practically all of it.

Critter7r, didn't you mention some months ago that overfilling the boot with grease can cause premature failure? There should be enough to cover the joint, but NOT enough to fill the boot... right?

[Edit] After re-reading the whole thread. Are you replacing just the boot and the grease, or are you replacing the joint, or the entire axle? Post #1 kinda implies that you're replacing just the boot and grease. If the joint is already damaged to the point that it's vibrating or clicking, then replacing the boot and grease is not a sufficient repair. Replacing just the boot and grease is only acceptable if you notice the torn boot BEFORE the joint is damaged.

Im replacing the whole axle... and yes i have H&R sport springs on it...so its lowered about 1.25....underlying cause? And the axles are coming from BavAuto.com

[danewilson77]

Originally Posted by shadow4bimmer

Was unaware that you were an expert on the normal date that boots need replacing. How about a cite to an authority other than yourself for when boots normally wear out? Slammed is a meaningless term and just another word for lowered only more than normal, since there is no definition to the term. I know of no one personally or on the forums who has slammed an xi, and have seen no one credibly claim that a drop of any kind damaged their boots.

Settle down there bud....

Slammed is not a meaningless term to some of us....

Let's be civil

Originally Posted by boardspinna

Im replacing the whole axle... and yes i have H&R sport springs on it...so its lowered about 1.25....underlying cause? And the axles are coming from BavAuto.com

I do not think the 1.25" drop is the underlying cause.

[16valex]

Originally Posted by boardspinna

Im replacing the whole axle... and yes i have H&R sport springs on it...so its lowered about 1.25....underlying cause? And the axles are coming from BavAuto.com

Can you check your outter CV boots and see if any kind of wear and tear?

[boardspinna]

ill let you know later on tonight

[boardspinna]

the one closest tothe wheel has a small tear in it whcih is leaking grease everywhere...this is how i knew it was bad in the first place