After removing your CV (Constant Velocity) axle and you are done rebuilding your vehicle’s CV joint. You need to place back the CV axle, also referred to as the half-shafts. Trying to install your CV boot, you notice that you do not have a clamp installation tool close by, and you have no idea how to tighten your CV boot clamp without the tool. Well, no need to worry. You can actually tighten your boot clamp without using any special tool.
All you need is a plier and a screwdriver to serve as your homemade CV boot clamp tool. With these simple tools, you can place back your boot clamp without having to spend money on buying a unique CV clamp installation tool or hiring a mechanic’s services.
This article will enlighten you on how best to tighten your boot clamp as effectively as using any special tool.
How to tighten CV boot clamp without tool step by step
Step 1: Safety First
Remember to always put on your safety wears on before carrying any major or even minor repair procedures. I suggest that you buy a pair of sunglasses and some rubber gloves. If possible, a coverall. These safety kits will help avoid any form of injury that might occur when carrying out a repair. Moreover, it helps protect your skin from any toxic or harmful fluid that might spill, like the brake fluid, for instance.
With safety wears on, you can perform any repair without directly exposing your skin to any harmful substance or fluid you might handle during repairs.
Step 2: Get your tools ready.
It necessary you get your simple tools close by, so you don’t have to run about getting tools that you urgently need during a repair. It is advisable that you get a tools box, especially for mechanics who are constantly repairing a lot of vehicle systems.
Step 3: Raise your vehicle.
Before you raise your vehicle, you should check your wheel by placing any non-sharp object that can prevent it from rolling in any direction. You can also set your emergency brake system for additional safety. Break loose the lug nuts of your wheels. Turn the lug nuts only about a quarter; please make sure that your wheels on the floor before doing this. Then place your floor jack under a solid part of your vehicle, ensure your jack is resting on a solid and level surface; it is important.
You can raise your vehicle enough to place the jack stands under other strong parts of your vehicle. You can place the stands at the same points on each side of your vehicle. Reduce the jack level, so that much of your vehicle’s weight is left to your jack stands. You can still leave the jack under your vehicle to support the stands.
You know also try using car lifts, it makes lifting your vehicle easier. Just make sure the adaptors are well placed in the recommended positions in your vehicle before lifting your vehicle and the vehicle should be placed in such a way that it is evenly raised by the lift. Also, ensure you inspect the lifts for fault and know the load limit it is designed to carry before using it.
Step 4: Detach the lug nut and wheel
After you have raised your vehicle to a moderate level, you can now wholly unscrew your lug nuts and axle nuts so you can remove the wheels. Always make sure you are careful.
Step 5: Take-off your steering linkage
You need to first take off the tie rod. If you notice a bad tie rod, you can replace it now. To remove the tie rod, use your pliers to detach the cotter pin. Then bend the cotter pin to make the ends straight, then use the rounded end to pull out the tie rod.
Now take off your castle nut using a socket wrench. Tap the threaded end that you took off the nut with either a mallet, preferably plastic, or a wood. If you only have the option of using a hammer, then place the wood between your ball joint stud and your hammer.
Be careful while you hit so as not to damage the threads with the hammer. You can try partially fixing back the nut on your stud. This will make you hit the nut instead of directly hitting your threaded stud.
Step 6: Take-off the stabilizer bar linkage
Removing the stabilizer bar linkage is something you need to do because it will prevent you from forcing down the lower arm. It is very easy to do. Just ensure that you do not take off the washers, bushings, and nuts.
Step 7: Detach the bolt of the lower arm.
The lower arm bolt does not only hold the lower arm ball joint. It covers the rounded slot in the pin of the ball joint. Carefully unscrew the nut by keeping the bolt steady. The bolt should detach. Your lower arm’s pin should also come out from under; otherwise, you may have to hit your lower arm with any kind of hammer gently.
Step 8: Remove your steering knuckle from the axle
Your brake disc, wheel, spring system, and caliper are all placed on your steering knuckle, so you are now free to remove the whole steering knuckle easily. Take it off to the extent that you will be able to detach your axle from your splined hole.
Step 9: Time to tighten your CV boot clamp
Place the boot clamp, which is a metal band around your constant velocity (CV) boot. The clamp is designed to rest on a grove by your vehicle’s manufacturer. Make sure you wrap the clamp in a counterclockwise direction around your boot.
Then thread the end of the boot clamp, which has holes under your metal clasp. The metal clasp is fixed to your clamp to ensure the clamp is well circled around your boot. Place the boot clamp to the left side of your CV boot.
Pull the thread outward to tighten the boot clamp around your CV boot. Use your needle nose plier to do this properly. This will tighten the clamp around your CV boot and create pressure on the metal clasp.
Bend the free end of your boot clamp backward onto your metal clasp and lock it by pressing it against your boot clamp with a screwdriver. Like I said earlier, all you need is just a plier and a screwdriver. So that’s it, you have successfully tightened your CV boot clamp, and the best part is you did it without buying any special CV boot clamp tool.
FAQs
Q: How do you use CV boot clamp pliers?
Once you have your boot clamp well-placed around the CV boot, grab your Lisle CV boot clamp plier and use its metal grip to hook the end of your boot clamp, then pull outward until it’s tightly fixed on the boot clamp. After making sure it’s tight, bend the free end of the clamp over the metal clasp. Please do not apply too much effort in pulling the end of the clamp outward; this can damage the clamp.
Q: How do you attach boot clips?
For the different types of CV boot clamps found, the first one is a normal sliding saddle with a ball that holds it tight, and the other is flat, and it has to be hooked together and crush the section binding it upward to pull it tight. Pull the clips together as tight as you can till one of the hooks enter one of the holes on the trail, further away from the raised portion, and holds the clip in place.
This can be done using your finger/thumb pressure or using a big pair of water-pump pliers. Then pinch the raised portion’s sides to compress them close together; this causes it to tighten the clip against the boot.
Q: Can you reuse the CV boots clamp?
Of course, your boot clamps can be reused. If they haven’t cracked, damaged, worn-out in the CV, or have not slid off the half-shafts, they are fit for reuse. CV boots clamp hardly ever goes bad, so there is no cause to change the clamps in most cases. However, make sure you check the clamp thoroughly when servicing your CV axle system, so you will know if the clamps need to be changed or not.
Q: How do you replace a CV boot without removing the axle?
The axle nut in the middle of your wheel is removed instead of the whole axle so that the axle will be loosed from the steering knuckle assembly at a later point and will not interfere with the process of replacing the CV boot. The steering wheel tie rod is also removed using a pair of simple nose pliers to remove the cotter pin. Next, the end of the threaded stud is whacked and break loose to remove it.
Disconnect the lower arm control system, the steering knuckle from the axle, and remove the old CV boot by inserting the wide end coated with grease over the axle CV joint. Install new clips, cut away the excess CV boot materials, and reassemble all components using a reverse method.
Q: Can you use cable ties on CV boots?
A cable tie, which is also known as a hose or zip tie, or ty-rap, can be used as your CV boot clamp alternative. They are cheap and easy to use in fastening or holding items together. They prevent grease from coming out and can also be used to tighten clips.
Final Words
Easy! Right? Now you know how to tighten your CV boot clamp without using any special tool. I hope you got every step, and you are now able to tighten your boot clamp all by yourself. Remember to follow the guidelines carefully, and you won’t have to worry about anything. You can alert us if you have any questions.
My new CV boot clamps do NOT have any sort of holes nor “notches” in them to help with the tightening. What to do then? I want to make sure they are tight enough.