NO question, time to trade it. *NM*

After considering all the options and listening to Pedro's sage advice, I decided NOT to buy a new axle.

Instead, I went the ebay route. I found a selection of axles between $60-80. I used the "make an offer" function and landed one for $50 (free shipping).

The axle looked in decent shape - but there was a small tear in the boot right at the small side clamp. There was almost no seepage. It was so small, it might actually have occurred in shipping.

I removed the inner bearing and ziplocked it. Ultimately, I replaced it with my known good bearing which I had previously ziplocked.

On the exterior bearing, I carefully removed the boot and sampled a bunch of the grease with a clean towel. I could not feel any grit on my fingers. So I cleaned the remainder of the grease out. Two rolls of towels and 3 cans of brake cleaner and I had myself a clean CV joint. I looked at the balls and what I could see of the surrounds. (do they call them races in CV joints?) VIsually, the joint seemed fine. ( I know, only time will tell.) It did not have the flat spot that my old CV joint had. So I made the right choice....

Repacking was easy, but REALLY messy.

It took me a lot longer to reinstall than I thought it would. Although, in fairness, the biggest issue was trying to torque the hex bolts. I finally gave up - I just could not get my torque wrench in there. I am NOT happy about that, but I know they are not too overtorqued and they have locktite blue on the threads. I will have to re-check in a month or so. Hardly scientific, but....

The car was out on the road by 10:30. So, about 4 hours to clean, repack, reinstall and check my work. I had a few breaks during that time, but none long.

It only took about two hours to uninstall the half shaft, a lot of that was getting the car in the air. (twice - I forgot the 340 bolt before I lifted it the first time- duh).

All in, this is not a hard job per se. You do need to plan ahead and have proper tools on hand. The rental puller and ball joint set came in really handy. I used a combination of instructions on the web. Basically, I preferred to move the suspension than the exhaust and undercarriage. If the exhaust was new and not corroded at all, I might go the other way though. YMMV.

Overall, I would probably not want to do this job again, but I will if I have to. If there is a next time, I might not bother swapping boots etc. If half shafts are that inexpensive, I might just swap and cross my fingers. You can get 20 ebay shafts for the price of one new. That - to me - was ultimately easy math since the shafts themselves are not high failure items.

i cant get a good torque reading in there either. But i have very good feel for what X pounds feels like, then multiply by the lever arm.

Double check SOON in case something was not seated properly.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

It is really hard to get in there. Even harder to keep the hex socket seated.

I was most concerned about keeping the torque even. I would imagine that uneven pressure cannot be a good thing. Only time will tell.

and I'm able to get torque values. That said, I don't torque those bolts.

... in my experience, sometimes a LOT. So i'm much more comfortable using a stubby or normal wrench, and estimating pull x lever length.

Doing spark plugs once i was "certain" ( of course you never can be) that i was WAY over the value it was set to. That ended my use of torque wrenches on soft materials with poor access.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

... Which is straight on, coaxially with the bolt, should not affect the torque setting.
Even if it has play, the torque wrench will " click" only when it reaches the set value.
Obviously if the extension is at an angle it then introduced an additional vector which will affect the torque.
Happy Porscheing
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

I would never get a true reading with that. Plus my "under 50" torque wrench is a beam wrench rather than a clicker. Bottom line, I did not have the clearance nor could I get a decent reading even if I did.

So I use a straight extension, which doesn't affect the torque and I swivel the handle of the torque wrench so that it doesn't hit anything. Since the part of the wrench that measures the torque is perpendicular to the bolt being torque, the reading is accurate.

Then I rotate the axle a little to get straight access to the next bolt.

If you're using a swivel or a crooked hex at a slight angle the bolt will get over-torqued by a factor of 1/(cos a) where a is the angle. If the angle is 15° then the amount (3.4%) will be less than the accuracy of your torque wrench and thus not worth worrying about.

Yes, i understand what both of you are saying, and i also know that the theoretical difference at modest angls is small.

And that's exactly why i'm saying what I've experienced - obviously for some other reason (binding?) i'm often seeing inconsistent and large differences, on the order or 50-100%. ergo i simply dont do it

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

BTW, just to cover all the bases, I'm using Castol Edge 5W40, Michelin PS2's and I'm wearing a Citizen Eco-Drive with a metal wristband.

Oh, and silver is hands-down the best colour.

Sh*t, I forgot about that one.

Meguairs NXT, believe it or not. It's very compatible with 3M stoneguard. But it isn't a cleaner-wax, so I clay the car annually.

Of course, you're just yankin' my chain, Laz.

Hey, what was the name of that Canadian poster on PPBB who regarded his Boxster as a commodity rather than a car? Long-timers here will recall him. He was always posting about the deal he got and the even better deal he's going to get next time. Although he was a PITA by times, he was unitentionally very entertaining a fair bit of the time...

That was his name. It came to me in a blinding flash. Abe.

Yup. That's right. His car had the Zenon lights. Popcorn sales where way up during his car buying adventures. Finally bought a Boxster and then discovered that he couldn't take both kids for a ride at the same time, so he sold it, as I recall.

yup, it was Abe. Spent more time talking about acquiring the car than actually owning it.

That was an EPIC thread!
But it would be a real choir trying to torque down an Allen-head bolt with a crows foot
Happy Boxstering
Pedro

BTW only real Boxsters use amber side markers!

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

And Arena Red over Sand Beige is the best color combo.

And I am a charter member of Save the Ambers.

But I never did get jewels from Lefteris.