Bad IRS assembly day!!

[Cincy123]

Things were going well, or so we thought. We carefully used a piece of wood on the inner aspect of the right and left half shafts to tap them into place. Everything went well on the right side, however on the left side we later noticed a .5 inch tear in the inner CV boot!! Needless to say a few choice words were to be heard. So next question is does this shaft have to be removed and a new inner boot installed which to my eye would require the CV joint also to be disassembled? Are there any other fixes to consider? Haven't read very good reviews about the easy boot.

Finally, how difficult is it to remove the half shaft from the center section?

signed
sleepless in Ohio

[Logan]

If the CV joint boot is torn, unfortunately you will get grease slingling out of it making a mess of the car and eventually destroying the CV joint itself when it overheats due to lack of lubrication.

They're not that hard to replace, but do require some tools not everyone has. Brass hammer, metal clamp tensioner/crimper/tool, snap ring pliers, etc. Order a new boot and two clamps, and you can replace it in under an hour.

When installing the newly refurbished half shaft, place the block of wood on the end of the half shaft/axle, and press in towards the diff to compress the two joints as much as possible with hand force, and THEN use the deadblow to drive it into the diff. Using the wood block on the inner joint/boot area is asking for trouble (as you found). All in all though, not an extreme issue. Easy and cheap enough to fix, learn a bit about the half shafts and CV joints in the process, and move on. Or if you'd rather solve this one the "Other way/$" just order a new half shaft and start over. Silver lining, at least you caught the tear before you had grease slinging all over the beautiful suspension work!

[Cincy123]

Thanks Logan. How difficult is it to get the half shaft out of the differential? It seems as though it “snapped” into place at the very end.

[edwardb]

Ford sells a repair boot kit 9L1Z-4A331-C for the inner LH side. Not cheap (approx $60) but the right way to do it. Check to make sure that's the right part number for your exact model year. But they're pretty universal for this Mustang IRS model, so 99% sure that's right. I had to repair one on the right side of one build so know the drill. Logan explained the right way to put them in. Compress the inner joint and tap in with a dead blow on the end of the axle. Never on the boot itself. They come out pretty easily. Yes there's a snap ring. Just put a large screwdriver or pry bar in the gap between the housing and the CV joint. Couple of wedges around the perimeter and it should pop right out.

[Cincy123]

Thanks Paul. Aside from this snafu putting the IRS together was quite fun. I got the Wilwood brake upgrade and thought their directions were well written and look very nice