Honda Car Forum

i'm brand new to auto repair and it turns out that i have a torn driver side outer CV boot on my 1998 Honda Accord LX 4 cylinder. i decided to try to do it myself before taking it to the mechanic. i managed to remove the whole wheel assembly (including both control arms and the strut) to access the CV joint and cut off the old boot before i realized that I would have take apart the half-shaft in order to put on the new boot. now my car is sitting in my friend's driveway bootless. i will NOT drive it in this condition, of course.

my question is this: how do I put the new boot on? can i just remove the knuckle attached to the spindle? if so, how? or, do i have to take out the whole halfshaft and the inner boot in order to slide the new outer boot on? also, is my joint screwed after sitting outside for two or three days exposed to dust and water (alas, it rained)?

also, on a related note, while trying to remove the wheel assembly, i screwed up the lower ball joint boot. the joint itself is fine, aside from the thread being a bit wonky (I can fix that with a file), so can I just put a new boot on it? I can't figure out how to pull the joint off the lower control arm. to do so.

of course, Chilton's is of little help.

thanks!

-dave in Tucson