On a trip my sway bar end link snapped, it took off my cv boot clamp and made it fling out some grease. I can't find any tears in the cv boot, and I replaced the metal clamp.

When I get home I plan to do a large service on the front, replace both my original lower ball joints (and bolts), replace original brake hose, and reboot the oem CV axle. But between there is 900 miles of highway.

My options are to swap in a cheap CV axle for the drive home or to leave the old one on, and both options have pros and cons.

I think the benefit of swapping out the CV axle is obvious, but the downside is I have to remove the 4 infamous bolts that hold the lower ball joint to the caliper, and since I'm short for time I'll have to reuse these bolts.

The other option is to leave the CV axle on, but if it lost too much grease I could damage it beyond repair. This option has benefits, it's cheaper, and it guarantees that I'll have enough time at home to fix everything else before I go away for business in early June.

So what do you think? Can I get away with leaving it in or should I put the replacement one on? Is it safe to reuse the original ball joint bolts?

I took a photo when it happened, so that should give you an idea.

Attached Images

 

Personally, I would remove both links, strap the sway bar out of the way and drive home.
A swap is pretty easy with the right tools, but I'd rather do it in my garage than a parking lot.

I drove around with an missing OEM boot for like 900 weeks* and I finally re-booted it
and it's still doing great. That's winter, dirt, dust, mud, etc. for a loooong time and it held up.

eta: days!

Those boots are packed with a lot of grease. If only a bit came out and you don't think there was an opportunity for dirt to get into the boot then I'd say clamp it and move on. You can reboot some other time and be fine.

I already replaced the broken link so that won't be a problem.

I finally get to share my dirty little secret. I drove around on an OEM axle with a ripped boot for over four years until I replaced it. I just trashed it afterwards, but not once did I ever encounter any problems as a result of it being torn open and flinging grease the way it was. Your mileage may vary, of course, so do what you will with the above information. I’m not saying it’s a great thing to do, but that’s just my own personal experience!