Removal of the nearside front drive shaft and outer CV joint boot replacement.

Tools:

Torque wrench

Socket set

Long breaker bar (24” at least)

24mm socket for the dodecahagonal bolt (12 sided)

10mm spline drive for the 6 driveshaft bolts

 T20 torx bit for body panel screws

13mm socket for under engine protection plate (scout)

16mm socket for ball-joint nuts (more on this later)

Jack and axle stands.

 

With the car on the ground release the hub nut using the 24mm socket and breaker bar, more leverage may be required than just the breaker bar. Only release the nut by 90°.

Release the wheel nuts.

Jack up and support the car. (one side only is ok)

Remove the road wheel.

Remove the front inner wing protectors and any under engine covers to allow good access to the inner driveshaft flange.

Release the tension on the hub nut. Loosen and remove the inner drive shaft flange using a long extension and working at the front of the wheel as this provides better access, crack one bolt at a time then rotate the hub until all bolts are free then remove them and the “C” shaped washers.

Remove the hub nut; This then allows the driveshaft to be removed from the car. However it is not possible to do this due to clearance problems. It is therefore necessary to remove the lower ball-joint nuts and lever the lower radius arm downwards to enable the hub carrier to be moved outwards to enable the drive shaft to be extracted. The three ball joint nuts are locking nuts. The bolts are pressed into the ball joint housing; the exposed thread is very prone to rusting. Before removing the nuts give the exposed bolt ends a good soak with release oil of some type. Even after having done that I sheered one of the bolts whilst loosening it. This resulted in a new ball joint having to be fitted. I suspect that this may be a common problem.

 

Separating the CV joint.

Remove the clips from the gaiter, slide the gaiter along the drive shaft. The outer part of the drive shaft is hollow and around 13mm dia. This allows a short solid bar to be dropped in to butt up against the inner shaft end, the hub bolt can then be screwed back in so that a small amount of tension can be applied between the inner and outer sections of the drive shaft. I found that a couple of taps with a hide mallet was then enough to release the circlip and slide off the outer section of the driveshaft.

IF YOU USE THE ABOVE METHOD DON’T FORGET TO REMOVE THE SHORT BAR FROM INSIDE OF THE BEARING HOUSING!!

Clean everything up, pull off the old gaiter slide on the new hoseclip, fit the new gaiter onto the inner shaft, put a new circlip onto the shaft groove, reassemble the driveshaft. To enable the shaft to fit smoothly together it is useful to lightly pinch the circlip with a grip of some type (molegrips work well) before tapping the shaft end in place. Refill with the correct grease. (this comes with the Skoda gaiter fitting kit)

 

Fitting the hoseclips to the gaiter.

In the absence of a proper pair of hoseclip pliers a pair of pincers can be used with a ‘G’ clamp used to apply pressure to the jaws. This gives a controlled way off getting the clips tight enough. They can be difficult to put in place. Don’t use sidecutters as they do not apply parallel pressure to the hoseclips and may cut the clip.

Reassemble the Drive shaft and suspension components applying the correct torque setting as necessary.

As there is some variety in what is fitted to different cars you will need to investigate the correct settings according to your own car.

For example, according to Haynes manual the setting for the 12 sided hub bolt is 70Nm and then a further 90° turn.

 

GOOD LUCK.  (I hope this is of help to someone)

70nm + 90° ONLY if the 12 sided  bolt has ribs on the rear.

A smooth rear 12 sided bolt is 200nm + 180°