Carpokes

To clamp, or not to clamp? That is the question. Is it better to use the boots like they were installed by the manufacturer or better to follow various enthusiast’s recommendations?
I just got the 2 new GKN axles for my 951 and all boots have clamps on the small side.
Thanks,
Lee

Do you mean the clamp is not as WIDE as you are used to having them? My two cents worth is if they are under a warranty, probably a year, if you use a Gates or similar clamp that could void your warranty. I would just look at them every few months and if they show no signs of leakage let them be. I just packed the ones on my 968 and yes the clamps are MUCH WIDER but that is old school (1993)

Not sure I understand the question? Are you thinking about cutting off those clamps? If so, I wouldn't do that....

Tom, I agree infact I think the new clamps are much tighter than Gates and the like.

Tom wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2026 5:31 pm Not sure I understand the question? Are you thinking about cutting off those clamps? If so, I wouldn't do that....

That is what I was asking. When I was originally planning to just replace the boots, there seemed to be a lot of views to just tie wrap the small end of the boot to allow for the boot to “vent” as it heated up. The boots that I removed didn’t have neither a clamp nor tie wrap.
When I found the wear to both inner and outer joints I decided to get new axles. Here are a few pictures of the wear (2x magnification).

Yikes, those joints look weirdly porous inside? I've never heard of leaving the clamps off on purpose. In fact, I once got to watch as a 924 GTR was being prepped/checked for a race, and one of the CV boots had a worm clamp -- which I would have assumed to be fine, but the tech flagged it and they had to install the correct Oetiker clamp. They were paranoid about grease escaping and getting on the track. Admittedly, it looked like a Home Depot plumbing clamp, but either way they sure seemed to think the (right) clamp was important for keeping the grease in....

Tom wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2026 7:34 pm Yikes, those joints look weirdly porous inside? I've never heard of leaving the clamps off on purpose. In fact, I once got to watch as a 924 GTR was being prepped/checked for a race, and one of the CV boots had a worm clamp -- which I would have assumed to be fine, but the tech flagged it and they had to install the correct Oetiker clamp. They were paranoid about grease escaping and getting on the track. Admittedly, it looked like a Home Depot plumbing clamp, but either way they sure seemed to think the (right) clamp was important for keeping the grease in....

I agree, I've seen plenty of worn CV joints with slight pitting here and there, but that looks like a metallurgy issue . . . . @zooklm1 any idea which brand CV joints these were?

@Tom , interesting observation about the 924 GTR CV boot clamp. The only car that I've seen which uses a worm clamp on the CV boots from the factory (outer side only) is the BMW 2002. Another reason not to use a worm clamp is the screw has enough mass to affect balance----I've never seen this affect a CV axle (any vibration issue arising from a Rzeppa joint is usually due to one of the joints being seized), but worm clamps can be used as a shade-tree method of balancing a propeller shaft in lieu of welding on small balance weights as a factory/driveshaft shop would do.

In fact, I have a pair of large worm clamps to balance the propeller shaft of my Copart-special '81 Alfa Romeo GTV6. This car has both the transaxle AND the clutch in the rear---the driveshaft is coupled directly to the engine flywheel and thus always rotates at engine RPM. It uses no less than THREE "giubos"/flex couplers and a center support bearing. Very few driveshaft shops have the fixtures to balance these properly, so close to 10 years ago I spent part of a day with a dial indicator, an iPhone vibration analysis app and a pair of worm clamps, which enabled a silky-smooth drivetrain for our Alfa .

Check your trans mount, as a worn mount causes the trans to "sway" and introduce movement in the CV joints that can accelerate wear and ultimately failure.

The wear patterns on those axles look very similar to mine when they failed, which was ultimately due to my extremely worn trans mount causing too much axial movement in the axles.

Also, leave the clamps on, there is no need to "vent" the inside of the boot and you will only be creating a gap which grease can leak out and dirt can enter.

walfreyydo wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2026 6:13 am Check your trans mount, as a worn mount causes the trans to "sway" and introduce movement in the CV joints that can accelerate wear and ultimately failure.

The wear patterns on those axles look very similar to mine when they failed, which was ultimately due to my extremely worn trans mount causing too much axial movement in the axles.

Also, leave the clamps on, there is no need to "vent" the inside of the boot and you will only be creating a gap which grease can leak out and dirt can enter.

Is there a quick/easy way to check the mounts?

zooklm1 wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2026 8:54 am

walfreyydo wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2026 6:13 am Check your trans mount, as a worn mount causes the trans to "sway" and introduce movement in the CV joints that can accelerate wear and ultimately failure.

The wear patterns on those axles look very similar to mine when they failed, which was ultimately due to my extremely worn trans mount causing too much axial movement in the axles.

Also, leave the clamps on, there is no need to "vent" the inside of the boot and you will only be creating a gap which grease can leak out and dirt can enter.

Is there a quick/easy way to check the mounts?

See this thread... viewtopic.php?t=2886

If your mount is original, it's probably lost its firmness. With the axles removed, try pushing to transaxle side to side. When they are really bad, it feels almost like its hanging from a rope. It's supposed to have some give (rubber and all) but most old mounts allow more lateral movement than intended. Hard to give a bright line for such a subjective test, but if you get under there, I bet you'll know... The mounts were NLA for a long time -- not sure it they are being made again, but urethane will work even (especially?) on old worn out mounts.