Half shaft replacement....

Yes, that's possible, especially if the joint hasn't had enough time for dirt to get inside the joint. If you remove the half shaft, you can put a new boot and clamps on it, with new grease supplied with the boot. Only thing is, the joint has to be partially disassembled, it is very messy, and takes a couple of hours. An alternative is to buy a remanufactured half shaft with both joints (inner and outer CV joints) checked for wear and new boots installed. This half shaft is ready to install-the cost of these remanned shafts is actually less than the price of one new CV joint- about $70 for a chevy half shaft as an idea of prices.

A new boot kit will cost about 30-45 dollars. A reman half shaft, with both CV joints inspected, greased, and new boots on it, ready to install, is about double that. Last one I bought from Napa cost me 62.00.
Is your old boot torn? Unless you are sure the CV joint is still good, I would recommend buying the half-shaft. Just one CV joint costs more than the reman. jobs.

Drive axle in front

popping noise when turning is usually caused by worn CV joints. Inspect CV boots for tears. Torn boot will allow dust to get in and cause wear. If boot is torn, replace CV joint or entire shaft (usually easier). If boot is not torn, grab shaft next to each CV joint and see how much movement you can cause in the joint. If one CV moves more than the other three, that one is probably bad.

there or after market replacement boots that are split the length of the axie you cut off the old boot replace with new with out removing axle

They make what's called a split boot. If your car will go through tough inspection they may not pass, but they are easier to replace than the half-shaft and should last as long as the cv joint.

Removing/Replacing the cv shaft is not as much work as it looks.
Take the wheel off, take the axle nut (36 mm) off, undo the lower ball joint (21 mm) and then undo the 6 bolts on the inboard side of the shaft (12 mm 12 point bolts) and then pull down on the inboard end of the shaft. (it may be necessary to hit the end of the bolt with a hammer) remove the splined end from the wheel hub and remove from vehicle (it is possible if a bit tricky to get the shaft out without taking anything else apart, just don't give up too easily. It is often easier and cheaper to just buy a refurbed CV shaft than it is to replace a torn boot by itself. A new boot from the dealer is over $150, a remaned shaft from Pepboys is about $75.

Yes. Any parts store should have them.

front cv joints need to be replaced. look for a torn rubber boot. this lets dirt into the CV joint. Sometimes these are referred to as half-shafts.

on this type of vehichle, you have two axles in the front; one going to each side. Chances are that the boot at the axle joint was torn and that is why you are having problem. In teh past people used to replace the boot, this day and age its actually cheaper to replace the axle. So you would need to replace that side of the axle (the half shaft).