Club 80-90 Forums

Reading around the web on boots - it seems some prefer to leave the small end either un-clamped or lose to allow the boot to ride up and down the shaft as needed and not get overstretched.

Seems odd to me that a rubber boot fitted to keep the grease in and crud out is allowed to let crud and water in!
- If it was supposed to be lose (which i think may be going back to days of old), then surely there must be an easy way to keep the grease topped up (as its gonna find its way out the hole!

- If the boot needs to slide to save it getting overstretched - then its not the correct design

Still havn't bought the clamps ! BW OOS so local factors will hopefully be able to keep some quickkish

The new ones I bought from Heritage were really tight to get on, So much so that I thought there were differerent types. I doubt the clamps make much of a difference when the boots are that tight.

Similar issue if not related, refitted track rod/steering boots last year, didn't realise until refitting new ones that there is a groove in the track rod where the outer part of the boot is slotted into before securing. In the case of the CV boot without a slot it probably still needs securing but not so tight allowing for the up and down movement required during driving or when up on axle stands etc.

 The original vw workshop manual pictures that show there isnt any clips fitted to the small end of the boots. The original vw boots arent loose on the drive shaft, they grip tight .

I think the critical thing is to position the boots correctly so they do not stress the bellows and cause them to split, looking at images on line there appears to be a groove for a clip but agree with above if they are tight on the shaft and do not move then positioning correctly is the key.  In meantime:

Driveshaft with CV Joints: 251501203G | Heritage Parts Centre UK

FWIW, both my 1990 built Syncro's have no clips on the rear boots, but DO have clips on the front inners. The clips are also included in the VAG and GKN front boot kits.