Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Replacing a split driveshaft boot and possibly a rear wheel bearing too. Could I do this on my drive? And what specialist tools would I need? Or should I take it to the Porsche specialist and let him do it. I'd like to do it myself if it's possible though.

I've not tackled it but I think the drive-shaft boot is pretty straightforward (and there is a boot kit on eBay at the moment).

Have done front bearings but not rear. The torque on the rear hub nut is almighty, so you would need a very long bar to shift it. The rear axle bolt is 623Nm! This would be one of those jobs I'd ask Paul Anderson to do for me...

Hi All


Adrian is absolutely spot on as usual and congrats by the way

The drive shaft is easy to remove with a hammer gun or equivalent or even spanners at a push....

Do NOT buy a "split gaiter kit" which you wrap around and glue back up.....they are awful and do not last, so buy a proper kit ...

Even Paul A uses a MASSIVE length of pipe for that nut......and he has a ramp for extra leverage...you will NOT be able to do it at home.....and will get extremely fed up trying lol


All the best Brett

OK so the wheel bearing is a no no but the drive shaft boot is alright for me to replace myself. I just remove the bolts from each end and the drive shaft will come off, I don't have to start dismantling the suspension do I ?

I'm still not sure which wheel bearing is making the noise. I posted about this before and somebody gave me advice on how to find out, but I just have not done it yet. I'll have to hope it's a front one! There is a note on the last service invoice that the front wheel bearings require "adjusting" so I might be lucky.

You should be able to hear whether its a front or rear bearing.

If its rears drive around in circles or even find a nice stretch of roar and gently swerve from side to side to see which one is noisy.

If there are noisy its replacement not adjustment

The front wheel bearings are very quick and simple to adjust.

To check, remove wheel then remove the dust cap on the spindle (a few taps with suitable tool in the lip of the dust cap will do it - I use a 3/8 socket extension which fits nicely).

You'll see tabbed thrust washer sitting behind the clamp nut. If bearing pre-load correct then you should be able to wiggle the washer with pressure from end of screwdriver blade. If you have to lever the blade to move the washer then it's too tight.

If you need to adjust the locking nut then you'll have to move pads away from disc so that hub can rotate freely.

With wheel remounted (leave bearing cap off in case you have to adjust) there should be no free play when you grab tyre at top and bottom and try to wiggle it.

Hello Lightening

How did you get on? Apparently one of my boots has split.

Having been quoted GBP780 by a Porsche Centre to do the pair I've decided to get the spanners out and do it myself.

Did you succeed? And do you have any tips?

Cheers,

Ian

Early cars ( pre MY83) have drive shafts that are bolted at the diff and also bolted at the hub of the wheel. So they are fairly easy to do, although cleaning out each universal joint and repacking with grease is a filthy job.

Later cars have the part of the drive shaft at the wheel end welded to the axle, so you have to undo the hub bolt.
You would need to beg borrow or steal a 36mm 3/4" drive and a length of tubing to suit. If you remove the centre cap from the wheel, you cab then have the wheel on the ground, someone standing on the brake and then it's easier to undo the hub nut.

Check your car to see which type of drive shafts you have fitted to your car.

You have to heat the hub to remove the bearing.

I actually took the car to a local Porsche specialist and it cost me £150 plus the two Porsche boot kits.

Mine was an S4 (now sold) but the guy said it was possible to replace the boots by dropping the shaft at the inner end, removing the universal joint, replacing the outer boot, then refitting the inner joint with a new boot without disturbing the hub/bearing.