CV BOOT INSTALLATION

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LOL...the joke's on me.

I tried to use the Doorman boot tool with NAPA and AMGen boots. The boots did not tear, the tool lacked the strength to tear them or open them to the necessary diameter to slip them over the CV joint, even when my air compressor regulator was cranked up to the max safe PSI for the tool.

My choice is- Buy the stretchy, neoprene Doorman boots meant for use with the spreader tool or disassemble the CV joint per the TM and use the heavy rubber boots.

Ajax MD said:

Because apparently I have too much money on my hands, I've purchased the Doorman CV boot spreader tool. It arrives today and I'll let you all know how it works out.

The tool has been out long enough that it sells on Amazon for $80 less than previous offerings with free shipping. If you want to keep American made axles on your truck but you don't have $800-$1000 to drop on new, US-made 10k axles, this is the way to go.

Face it, even if you do upgrade to new, 10k US-made axles, you're eventually going to tear a CV boot especially if you off-road. Are you going to just keep dropping $250-$300 on a new axle or are you going to get dirty and replace a $25 dollar boot?

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The Dorman CV boot spreader works great on the more flexible CV boots. Here is what happens when used on the heavier duty military grade CV joint boots. The manufacturer recommends 90 PSI for use. It wont even begin to spread the heavier boot at that PSI. I even tried to heat the rubber boot to make it more flexible to no avail. I have only had to replaced one of my half shaft boots. It is a 7K shaft and I used the Dorman part # 614-003. I cut it to size from the back side and it works fine.

@Inspector 1 Wow, your boot actually split. The NAPA boot that @cwc recommends is very similar in quality to the AMGen boot that I purchased, that is to say- thick material. I checked again. The Dorman spreader can *almost* open the NAPA boot wide enough to slip over the CV joint. The AMGen boot is even thicker and tougher and the Dorman tool could only open it a few inches. I suspect the AMGen boot will self-destruct if I try to force it.

My only beef with the Dorman boots is that they seem kind of thin and flimsy. The advantage is that they're cheap and plentiful and a decent solution to keep you driving while you save up for US-made 10k axles.

I *hate* re-work. If I'm going to the trouble of pulling an axle, I'm replacing both boots.

By the time I purchase 4 spare axles from AutoZone with lifetime warranty, I have spent just a little bit more that a Doorman CV boot tool and grease and 2 boots.

I love DIY fixes BUT at just over $110 per axle I just cannot justify this DIY unless I'm stuck on a trail. Even then I carry the spare axles so...

This is an awesome thread but seems easier to clean and split the CV from the axle and then place the boot on a trail where I don't have compressed air BUT I do have tools. Either that or the Saran Wrap trick to get me home and then swap axles there.

Best,

T

TOBASH said:

By the time I purchase 4 spare axles from AutoZone with lifetime warranty, I have spent just a little bit more that a Doorman CV boot tool and grease and 2 boots.

I love DIY fixes BUT at just over $110 per axle I just cannot justify this DIY unless I'm stuck on a trail. Even then I carry the spare axles so...

This is an awesome thread but seems easier to clean and split the CV from the axle and then place the boot on a trail where I don't have compressed air BUT I do have tools. Either that or the Saran Wrap trick to get me home and then swap axles there.

Best,

T

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Read my lips: I'm not putting $110 Autozone CHICOM axles on this truck. Ever. I've seen enough photos of failures from reputable HMMWV mechanics and it's simply an insult to our military and our national manufacturing base. What other people do with their trucks is their business.

For ME, this changes the cost calculus: Inexpensive boots and some hours of labor and getting dirty *or* $1300 in new, US-made axles. There is no middle ground, unfortunately.

Ajax MD said:

Read my lips: I'm not putting $110 Autozone CHICOM axles on this truck. Ever. I've seen enough photos of failures from reputable HMMWV mechanics and it's simply an insult to our military and our national manufacturing base. What other people do with their trucks is their business.

For ME, this changes the cost calculus: Inexpensive boots and some hours of labor and getting dirty *or* $1300 in new, US-made axles. There is no middle ground, unfortunately.

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Read My Lips:

Do you really know where the other axles are really made?

Others have used these axles without issue.

I hate the fact that we can no longer buy MADE IS USA items, and I hate the country that hid the Wuhan virus until it became a pandemic, but where do you think your boots were made? Where do you thinkthe internal parts for your PCB were made?

I admire your MADE IN USA aspirations but in this case I'm not sure where AMG sourced their parts.

Maybe RWH or 86HUMV can chime in?

I can't help how the vehicle was equipped when I bought it. I can change how it is equipped going forward.

When there are options to purchase US made parts, I will avail myself of them. If there is *no* other option but to purchase a foreign made replacement part or let the vehicle sit inoperative, I would purchase the foreign made part with an eye towards replacing the foreign part with a domestic when/if it becomes available.

At the very least, @Retiredwarhorses and other HMMWV shops have posted the splined ends snapped off of Autozone axles that failed during normal driving. That's enough to turn me away from them.

Ajax MD said:

I can't help how the vehicle was equipped when I bought it. I can change how it is equipped going forward.

When there are options to purchase US made parts, I will avail myself of them. If there is *no* other option but to purchase a foreign made replacement part or let the vehicle sit inoperative, I would purchase the foreign made part with an eye towards replacing the foreign part with a domestic when/if it becomes available.

At the very least, @Retiredwarhorses and other HMMWV shops have posted the splined ends snapped off of Autozone axles that failed during normal driving. That's enough to turn me away from them.

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That doorman boot tool and replacement boots are probably made in China as well

Cetme24 said:

That doorman boot tool and replacement boots are probably made in China as well

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The tool is certainly Chinese. Doorman boots I'm actually still researching. There are numerous companies that make extruded rubber and neoprene products within the U.S. In any case, I'm using a boot from AMGen which I'm highly confident is US made. The NAPA boot is from Empi US. I'm looking into that one.

I've got the axle out of the vehicle and mostly apart (I was interrupted and had to stop work). I have a compromise idea about how I might use the Dorman tool to slip the US boots onto the axle without ruining the boots.

The Dorman tool doesn't live on the vehicle, ya know. Also, consider this: Which Chinesium part would you rather have fail on you- a rubber boot or an entire axle? I'd rather have a boot failure than be stuck on the side of the road with a snapped axle spline.

I'm not dissing anyone for their personal choices regarding how they maintain their truck. I'm just trying to toe the line as close to domestics as I can.

Even things made in the US can be crap. I've come across plenty in my lifetime, and have come across better stuff from China for the same parts. Cost cutting in the US manufacturing sectors has hurt quality these days. People don't want to pay for quality 85% of the time, they want disposable cheap unfortunately.

Here is a quick tip to help find what you seek.

If any company is buying parts or pieces of a product outside the US. Then there are import documents that accompany it. So hop on a website like https://panjiva.com/Manufacturers-Of/Dorman+Products and search for the manufacturer. You will find every supplier/manufacturer that provides parts to them. You can go down the list and see what they imported... says it right on the descriptions.

Because otherwise unless a company tells you every single piece was made in the US, then it was only assembled here, or just oem'd fully from a foreign company. Most companies will advertise a fully made in the USA product. So the only way to find out without being inside the company, is use the import manifests.

A quick look at dormans annual report on page 14...

"Substantially all of our products are manufactured by third parties. We engage professional manufacturing firms around the world to develop and manufacture products according to our performance and design specifications, using tooling that we own. In fiscal 2019, as a percentage of our total dollar volume of purchases, approximately 21% of our products were purchased from various suppliers throughout the United States and the balance of our products were purchased directly from suppliers outside of the United States. "

So majority of their parts are made outside the US.

@donquijote thank you so much for the panjiva link and this information. I do acknowledge that plenty of US made products are junk. I've been bitten. I just prefer to give the first chance to the homeland. When they fail me, I look elsewhere.

Quick update:

A partial correction to my earlier statement: The Dorman CV boot tool *will* spread a NAPA (EMPI-US) CV boot for a 7k axle over the small end (or the bearing cage if you remove the bucket at the big end) without destroying the boot.
The tool will NOT spread a genuine, AMGen boot. It's simply too thick. The tool couldn't destroy the boot either, so I still have it.

This is just a note for people who don't like the fit of the Dorman "Uni-fit" boots but would still like to use the Dorman tool.
This allows me to keep US-made axles on the truck but of course I make a compromise by putting CHICOM boots on them.

FWIW- I found one of the hardest steps of totally disassembling the CV joint to be the removal of that thick circlip that keeps the bearing cage on the inboard axle end after you remove the "bucket." That thing is powerful. The Dorman tool allows me to skip that.

$160 worth of rubber to keep me driving while I save up $1k-1.3K in my "toy account" for a set of genuine 10k axles.

donquijote said:

Got a part# on those autozone cv's? I want to add them to my part cross reference excel spreadsheet. Search on autozone shows nothing for an H1 under CV. Thx

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

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I am new to the site and new to owning a M1097 R1. Is this spreadsheet something your willing to share?

MedicKam said:

I am new to the site and new to owning a M1097 R1. Is this spreadsheet something your willing to share?

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As long as it's an M1097R1 with the 3 speed transmission the autozone halfshafts should work. If it has a 4 speed transmission then pretty much everything in the drivetrain is a different part number and not compatible.
You can look up parts under 1992 Hummer H1


Part numbers for the shafts are:
16058N front driver
16059N front passenger
16060N Rear (x2)

Coug said:

As long as it's an M1097R1 with the 3 speed transmission the autozone halfshafts should work. If it has a 4 speed transmission then pretty much everything in the drivetrain is a different part number and not compatible.
You can look up parts under 1992 Hummer H1


Part numbers for the shafts are:
16058N front driver
16059N front passenger
16060N Rear (x2)

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Is there a way to tell if it’s the 3 or 4 speed besides driving it through the gears.

If your transmission shift does not have a “P” / Park gear position, then you have a three speed.

If you need to ask such a basic question then perhaps these are not the vehicles or the repairs you should undertake until you read a few TM/technical manuals.

As Tobash said, the "P" Park position on the shifter is the first giveaway. The next is having an overdrive position and then 3,2,and 1 gear spots.
From the exterior of the truck, provided there isn't a winch installed or other front end modification, the front bumper will look like the picture below, with 3 large holes in it.




4 speed trucks use a flat winch plate
(there is a rectangular hole wherer the license plate is in the below picture)

to add to the above, under the driver's side rear seat base, there should be a box with wires running to it. This is the TCM (Transmission Control Module) only found on 4 speed trucks. No TCM, no 4 speed.

In the battery box area, or more accurately bolted to the outside rear of the battery box, there are some additional wires, breaker, other stuff. That's all the 12V relay and breaker for the TCM, so once again, not found on the 3 speed.


In the engine compartment, if you have a 60 amp generator (a generator that doesn't have a bulky voltage regulator bolted to the side of it) then also you would have a 3 speed not a 4 speed.

TOBASH said:

If your transmission shift does not have a “P” / Park gear position, then you have a three speed.

If you need to ask such a basic question then perhaps these are not the vehicles or the repairs you should undertake until you read a few TM/technical manuals.

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Ha ha. Valid point. I am good with the mechanical part. But still learning about some of the many humvee variations.
I’ve rebuilt and done a lot of work on my M1163 Growler. So I feel comfortable working the problems. The manuals I’ve down loaded have been helpful so far but some details are either buried or not there.
Thanks for the info!