Constant velocity (CV) joints use rubber boots to keep contaminants away from their gears and to hold the CV joints' grease reserves in place. A CV boot uses two 1/4-inch wide metal clamps to hold it in place. A small clamp holds the small end of the CV boot to the axle shaft and a large clamp holds the large end of the boot to the CV joint's housing. These clamps, often called ear clamps, use raised nipples to hold the tag end of the clamp in place and use CV boot clamp pliers to tighten and squeeze a locking tab, called the ear.
Align a CV boot clamp in one of the boot clamp's 1/4-inch wide channels. The boot will have two channels, one for the large boot clamp and one for the small boot clamp. The channels, located near each end of the boot, provide a place for the clamp to tighten around the boot without causing the boot to crimp.
Slide the boot clamp's nipple under the locking tab, the ear, and to the hole found on the tag end of the boot clamp. This will hold the clamp in place. The inner ear, found near the nipple, will slide into the outer ear, found near the hole, once the nipple has slipped into a hole.
Spread the handles of the CV boot-clamp pliers completely. This will open the jaws.
Place the boot-clamp pliers' jaws on each side of the outer ear. The angle-shaped jaws will grab the ear where it connects to the boot clamp's band, the part that encircles the boot. A metal bar, which connects to the pliers' hinge in between the jaws, will rest on the top-center of the ear.
Squeeze the CV boot-clamp pliers' handles until the edges of the ear depress against the metal bar. When tight, the boot clamp's ear will look like a human's ear, with a raised rim around a depressed area.
