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Thu Nov 27, 2014 2:24 pm

Are the CV boots for inner and outer rear all the same for a 1970 bus?
Looking at Bus Depot and it looks like they do not sell inner ones.
On Ebay I am seeing some 4 boot sets that all look the same.

Currently all 4 rear boots are badly ripped. I got this bus about a month back, I don't hear a horrible grinding sound but am wondering if it's even worth replacing if they have been exposed for ??? years.

Should I just let them go and eventually replace the cv joints?

Thu Nov 27, 2014 2:25 pm

And Happy Thanksgiving!

Thu Nov 27, 2014 3:27 pm

Kaput wrote: Are the CV boots for inner and outer rear all the same for a 1970 bus?
Looking at Bus Depot and it looks like they do not sell inner ones.
On Ebay I am seeing some 4 boot sets that all look the same.

Currently all 4 rear boots are badly ripped. I got this bus about a month back, I don't hear a horrible grinding sound but am wondering if it's even worth replacing if they have been exposed for ??? years.

Should I just let them go and eventually replace the cv joints?

Happy Thanksgiving
Check these out. Go down to Transporter 79-66. They are both the same.
http://www.rockfordcv.com/Volkswagen_bootkits.htm

Thu Nov 27, 2014 4:46 pm

They are all the same but a word of caution... try to buy ones that are good quality rubber. I've had some swing arm (bug) rubber boots fail after 6 months. If you're going to do the job, make sure it lasts.

Thu Nov 27, 2014 7:44 pm

The individual boots sold under the EMPI name were decent in quality a few years ago, but then disappeared from the market for a while. They are back again today I believe, but I don't know if they are the same quality or not. While the individual EMPI boots were gone from the market, I found a four pack of EMPI boots on line for very cheap and ordered them. The rubber ended up being about 1/2 the thickness of a standard EMPI boot so I didn't bother using them figuring it would be a waste of my time and effort.

Fri Nov 28, 2014 6:43 am

Quite some time ago, there was a thread on this subject. I do not recall the results, but a search might turn up the results for you. Just remember that time changes all things. I would definitely get those joints, out, cleaned and inspected. You might just save a bit of grief by doing so. If a joint disintagrates while doing 50mph, the results might not be to your best liking. If you can get to a friendly parts man at a VW dealership, you might be able to get quality boot.

Fri Nov 28, 2014 2:26 pm

I too bought chinese boots that lasted only months. I just replaced mine again this summer. Like the Original Poster, mine had probably been torn for years. There were obvious signs of wear in them and one set of bearings were BLUE with heat... nonetheless I cleaned and reinstalled one pair and installed brand new cv's on the other sided. This summer while putting on new spanish made boots I cleaned and inspected all of my cv's.. the old worn ones appeared to be holding up just fine, no noticable slop or noise.( I was also told that if you flip them... ie change the direction of rotation, you can get many miles out of seemingly worn cv's..) But I changed the old for brand new ones. So far so good.

I'm keeping my old cv's for spares (which almost came in handy for a friend who destroyed a cv up in the mountains recently)

Fri Nov 28, 2014 8:31 pm

Has anyone tried the Bus Depot boots?

Are these good quality?
http://www.busdepot.com/251598201

The Rockford at $44.23 a pop seems pretty steep.

Any recommendations of a decent quality boot for not too much $

Fri Oct 09, 2015 5:32 pm

I installed new half shafts about 3 years and 15k miles ago on our '71 Westy. Read about Rockford being the best so spend equal money on Rockford boots as the half shafts themselves. They are all torn again now. Very disappointing.

I've just ordered some more half shafts again. And once again, wondering where I can buy boots that will last more than a few years like modern cars boots do.

Fri Oct 09, 2015 5:45 pm

Why replace the shafts W/cv's when the boots are torn. Original German cv's that are 40 years old are still going strong. The new ones are crappy cheap Chinese steel. Don't make the mistake twice.

Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:04 pm

The EMPIs I have on my '77 must have 50K or so on them by now and still look good. No guaranty that the ones being sold today will make it around the block more than a few times though.

Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:05 pm

My experience was similar to yours, onetofixit, 3+years, 18k,
go under to change oil & the outer boots are opened/beginning to
open on both far ends. (Rein brand kits)
It's probably the fact VW powertrains from 36+ years back are waaayyy
out of warranty coverage, no one feels the need to make a decent boot
to protect an ancient CV joint. So we inspect, & re-inspect.
I did try "no name" boots, they went bye bye in 2 years, so name brands seem at least 85% better than "mystery rubber".