Drive shaft bellows Replacement

[Martin Hall]

Hi
Is there an easy way to change outer (The wheel end) bellows on a 1986 car It has completly split all the way round But the inside still looks very clean so the joint should be OK I have read in the Haynes and various other manuals and it seems to be a big job requiring special tools A friend told me you could get wrap round bellows that do not require the shaft to be removed Has any one heard of this ?
Any help or advise would be appreaciated
It is possible this subject has been covered before but I can not find any info in the archives
Thanks
Martin

 

[Simon.AU]

I'm assuming the outer end is the Spider type joint that is common to a lot of other Renault's of that era.

Unfortunately to replace it with Renault parts you need the special Renault tool, I call it an Eiffel Tower, as it resembles the famous tower in that it stretches the small end of the boot over the forked part of the Spider joint. As you mention though, there are longitudinally split boots that don't require the driveshaft to be removed from the car. However you really would want to be assured that no grit or dirt has entered the joint itself, as it will be difficult to clean the joint properly whilst it is on the car. The split replacement boots are available in various sizes and are generic in nature in that they will fit a number of similar type shafts. They are generally available from most places that recondition driveshafts.

 

[Steve Hennessey]

The easy way is to take the shaft to your local Renault garage and they will fit one as they have the tools.

I did mine the hard way by removing the joint as I replaced both inner and outer.

 

[Liam4R4SPARES]

Hi,
your local garage can cope with these as there is a new generation of driveshaft gators that do not require the joint to be taken apart [not the useless split type] .The new gators are universal cut to fit type and very good quality.We use them on a weekly basis and NEVER have any problems .If you could bring it over to me or post i could fit it for you .Alternatively i could supply a complete used shaft with new rubber gators already fitted assuming you car is a GTL model ?

 

[Martin Hall]

Hi
Thanks for all the suggestions
I have found several places in the Uk that do the universal boots
At the moment I am trying to get one to reply to emails
Martin

 

[Liam4R4SPARES]

Are you and the car in France ? if so any garage could help you !

 

[Martin Hall]

I got one of the universal kits sent over form the UK
Just spent all afternoon fitting it The kits are very good but one problem the outer large end has a metal type of cable tie that holds the thing in place
This will not clear the lower wishbone !! Shaft turned till the join in the tie got to the bottom then the whole thing came off result back to stage one again

Luckily at the weekend I brought a R4 F6 van with the back fill of spares including a pair of drive shafts complete 1 of these fitted in 10 minutes no problem back running again
The split boot kits would be great if they had a way of fixings the ends without increasing the diameter of the boot I tried a plastic cable tie as well even worse as the join piece is too big to go over the wishbone

you live and learn !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Steve Hennessey]

Glad you've got it sorted now. However, the genuine Renault boot comes with the correct clip that does clear the wishbone! If I get the problem that you've encountered I have a roll of thin galvanised locking wire that I bought over 30 years ago. I cut a length of it and wrap it around the boot 3 times and then twist the ends until it pulls really tight. Never failed me yet!!

 

[angel]

Hi R4 fans! I apologize for not replying for some time but I have joined the army so my replies will be fewer until May. Anyway... I have replaced a lot of outer driveshaft bellows on '73 and later R4s without any special tools...Here is it:
1.Remove driveshaft from car
2.Remove the inner bellows retaining clips or straps and pull the bellows inwards.
3.You have now the inner joint exposed. There are three sheet metal tabs on the joint "pot" that hold the spider inside,lever them at their ends slightly upwards with a strong screwdriver or a pair of slip-joint pliers.
4.Now fix the gearbox driveshaft coupling gently in a vice and holding the rest of the shaft try to dislocate one spider ball end over the tabs that you bent. BE CAREFUL!!! They are not retained in any way,and it is easy for the outer spider race to come off and the tiny bearing needles to fall out.
5.Once a spider end gets dislocated the other two will come off relatively easily in the same manner.Now you have separated the inner joint,hold your hand around the spider and wrap some adhesive tape round it so as not to lose the bearing races/needles.
6.The spider is being retained on the shaft end by a circlip,remove this and the spider will either slide out or will remain tightly fitted on the shaft.On the latter case,Renault recommend using a press,but a 3-legged puller will do the job easily.
7.Now replacing the outer bellows is a simple matter of sliding it back over the other,open,shaft end...
8.Reverse the above procedure to reassemble the inner joint,pay attention to the correct fitting of the inner joint extension spring,if there is one fitted,and knock back the securing tabs on the joint pot.Finished! Bellows failure happens usually because of air trapped in the joint,before fitting any of the bellows inner retaining straps slide a screwdriver between the bellows and the shaft to release the air.