I had the rear transverse mounts and bushings replaced on the rear of my 1998 V70. Mechanic told me the CV Joint boots were in bad shape, but that it is not much more expensive to replace the whole joint than just the boot. Seems to me though if that is true, I might as well wait for the joints to begin clicking before making a repair???

How difficult is this to do in the driveway- special tools, etc. Also, if I were to have it done in a shop, what should I expect to pay for parts and labor?

He said the ball joints were showing some wear but still in good shape-

Thanks in advance!

 

I would just replace the entire axle. I did a write up in the 850 section for doing it.

 

I have just replaced the front r/h cv joint on my 97-98 v70, not really because it needed it but because the inner boot had got a small hole due to a stone getting into the fold. The outer boot had been replaced last nov due to being split (done by MOT garage) and I was not happy with the way they did it !, so, centre wheel cap removed, hand brake on, bricks behind rear wheels, 36mm socket onto hub nut and a long bar got the nut loosened, jacked up now, on axel stand, undertray off, droplink to arb disconnected, steering ball joint disconnected, caliper and disk off, could not remove lower ball joint. So disconnected inner lower suspension bolts (much easier), strut easily moves out and drive shaft slides out of hub, undo the two inner bearing carrier bolts and lying underneath, ease whole axel shaft out from gearbox, gently grip outer shaft in vise and remove old outer boot, get the shaft positioned so that the circlip cutout is uppermost, it says use an 8mm drift to open the circlip up, i couldnt get one to stay in so I used some needle nosed pliers and opened up the circlip, gently tapping on the inner part of the cv joint, the drive shaft slides out, Hooray! the garage didn't do this when they fitted the new boot, they just stretched it over the cv joint. However, cleaned up the shaft, removed inner boot, slid new one on to shaft, packed with supplied grease, and secured boot, fitted the new cv joint, more or less reverse of removal, except the circlip has to be located in the cv joint recess and eased open enough for the shaft to slide in through it, 'till it clicks into place, remember to position the boot on the shaft first!, pack with grease and secure, new cv joints can be bought for as little as £20 off ebay, and they look ok, however, be absolutely sure you have the right one, inner splines differ, either 25 or 28 depending on the model, my supplier I telephoned to be sure it was the right one, guess what it wasn't and they couldnt/wouldn't pay the next day postage to get the correct one to me, so I sourced one locally for £50 which went on fine, once everything is back on and torqued up correctly, balljoint, caliper bolts etc, wheel back on and car on ground, hub nut done up to 89 ft-lbs +60degrees, then off to tyre shop for tracking, job done, the time waster was trying to drop the lower ball joint off, it was thanks to a post in a forum somewhere (volvo related) where someone said, he could never get that out and he always released the lower wishbone inner bolts, that the job then progressed speedily, so, a bit of time and £20 to £50, messy though, get some latex gloves and plenty of rags
Roger