When repairing or fixing a car, you need the right set of tools to do the job quickly and effectively. Among the handy tools you need is a collection of various types of pliers for auto repair.
One of the most essential sets of pliers that a mechanic or DIY car enthusiast must keep in the toolbox is a pair of CV boot clamp pliers. These specialized pliers are extremely useful for installing CV joint boot clamps. These are the metal bands or clips that hold CV joint boots in place. You will find them mostly on OEM CV boots.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what CV joint clamp pliers are, how they work, and why they are an important tool for anyone who works on cars.
CV Boot and CV Boot Clamp
What is a CV Boot?
CV joint boot is a flexible rubber or plastic cover that surrounds the CV joint. Its main purpose is to retain grease that lubricates the moving parts in the joint. In addition, a CV boot prevents dirt, debris, and moisture from entering the joint, which may cause it to fail prematurely.
To effectively seal the CV joint and keep the grease from coming out, the CV boot cover must be airtight. There are many ways to do this including using zip ties and worm clamps. However, the most effective method that most manufacturers use is either with a CV boot clip or CV boot band.
What is a CV Boot Clamp?
eared cv boot clamps
A CV boot clamp is a type of stainless steel ear type clamp for securing axle boots on vehicles. It has holes on one end and teeth on the other end. It also has a raised portion or ear that you compress and crimp with a special tool to tighten the band. This special tool is called CV boot clamp pliers or ear clamp pliers/pincers.
How to Install a CV Boot Clamp with Boot Clamp Pliers
Time needed: 2 minutes.
The process of installing a CV boot clamp is quite straightforward. All you need is a good quality boot clamp and a pair of boot clamp pliers, then follow these simple steps.
- Put the ear clamp around the CV boot by hand. Open the right size ear clamp and wrap it around the CV boot.
- Stretch the boot clamp to make it tight. Pull both ends together so that they overlap. Make sure the end with the teeth is on top.
- Latch the two ends of the band together. While stretching the band with your hands, hook the teeth to the holes at the position that will provide the most tension.
- Crimp the ear clamp in place with cv boot pliers. Now use boot clamp pliers to pinch and crimp the ear on the band to tighten it permanently.