Front Axle leaking grease

[karyins]

The grease in the kit is a soft grease, and there is a lot of it. My axle is leaking black grease. The boot kit I got has two tubes of it, one brown like peanut butter, and one black. This is exactly what I bought:
Amazon.com: Genuine Toyota (04427-60140) Drive Shaft Boot Kit: Automotive
You get two boots (inner and outer), two tubes of grease, clamp bands for the boots (I'll use the hose clamps I listed because I don't have a clamp band tool), and some snap rings.

There are two main seals. There's the steering knuckle oil seal that protects the wheel bearing. The service manual says that's a one-time use part for whatever reason. It's cheap enough to replace, though it adds some extra work because you have to press it in with something, maybe a block of wood and a hammer.

Then there's the differential oil seal. I don't know if that's the same as an "axle seal" or what the exact name for it is. It can be reused (just don't pull it out), but some people have had problems with them leaking after changing an axle. I'm thinking I'll take my chances with that one, but the dealership is a short bike ride away if I run into problems with it. If it does leak you end up having to do almost all the work of an axle swap again. But replacing it doesn't guarantee no leaks because you could damage it when installing the axle after installing the new seal, not just when removing the axle.

You can get rebuilt OEM axles from CVJ. CVJ Axles - CV Axles & Steering Racks for all your needs They use only Toyota cast metal parts, but even then they are not exactly the same as OEM because the boot material is different, the grease is probably different, and sometimes they paint the parts including the splines which should not be painted. For an extra fee they will build you one with Toyota boots, if you want, but then it gets kind of expensive.

Thanks for the detailed answer!

Wow I looked at your pictures. What does the rest of your truck look like? You've got much bigger issues if the rust is like that throughout.

Yeah...It's really rusty down there. That's why I'm reluctant to replace the whole Axle if I can just get by with it. The truck has been in New York for 10 years and the last owner said she just wash it 2 or 3 times each winter. So maybe we got really bad road salt here? When I changed the tires, I asked about the rust. The guy said yeah it looks like it's been on the beach but it's a toyota and pretty tough so no worries. hmm...

 

[m85476585]

I looked at mine more closely today and cleaned off the grease that had leaked out. It is definitely very black, probably filled with molybdenum.

It looks like the clamp is just a little loose; I couldn't find any cracks or tears in the boot. That's good news because maybe I can just put a new clamp on it and save a bunch of work

I was looking at the axle and the boot kit more closely, and it's weird how different the inside and outside are. It's almost like they were designed by two entirely independent groups in the company. There's probably an office pool on which design will last longest!

The inner boot is a thicker rubbery material. It uses narrower clamp bands. The larger clamp folds over and has tabs that lock it in place. I'm not sure how the smaller band that's installed now works because it has no obvious tensioning mechanism. The small band that came with the kit just snaps in place with no way to squeeze it tight. The inside boot appears to use black grease, based on what I cleaned off.

The outer boot is a thinner glossier material more like plastic or polyurethane. I think it's a fancy polymer that I can't remember the name of. The clamps are wider, and both are the style that need a tool to crimp them tight. I think the outer boot uses brown grease. It might make sense for the outer boot to use fancy polymer because it looks like it does all the bending when you turn the wheels. The inner boot probably just bends as the suspension flexes, but its range of travel is probably smaller than the outer boot.

The hose clamps from McMaster are 9.5mm wide, and they fit the outer boot perfectly. But they are slightly too wide for the inner boot. I haven't been able to find narrower clamps for the inner boot, but the wide ones might be close enough? Or maybe I'll grind a bit off one side of the hose clamp.

I'm not sure if I need to add more grease? It's hard to tell how much came out, but I guess there should be a lot in there. I would need a needle grease fitting, and I don't know if my grease gun works unless the grease is in a tube.

 

[m85476585]

I took the old clamp off, and it was about the same diameter when clamped as the new one that came with the kit. The boot was loose on the shaft under the clamp, so I decided not to use the new clamp since it wouldn't be any tighter, and it didn't look removable.

I ground down one of the 9mm wide smooth hose clamps to make it about 7-8mm wide. I rounded the inside of the cut edge with a sanding drum on my Dremel. I had to tighten it down a lot, so it looks like the ridges inside the boot that contact the shaft might be worn away somehow. Maybe it got just a little loose, then friction from movement wore it away fully. There is also a tiny crack in the boot near where the clamp goes. I suspect I'll have to reboot the axle eventually, but hopefully not for a while.

A better clamp to use for the inner boots, which have a narrower clamp groove, would be:

Small Inner Clamp (7.14mm wide clamp)
McMaster# 52545K81
Gap-Free Pinch Hose and Tube Clamp 1-3/8" to 1-1/2" Clamp Diameter Range, 9/32" Band Width (Oetiker clamp)

The large inner clamp should be a similar part about 100mm-101mm diameter.

It needs a tool to install , but it should be more balanced than a screw type clamp. If I notice any extra vibration I'll install another hose clamp on the shaft with the clamp part opposing the one on the boot. It won't serve any purpose except as a counterweight to the one on the boot. Other people who have used screw type clamps don't report any problems with vibration, so maybe it's not a problem.

 

[V4Ind]

If you turn the wheels completely to the right and left and you don't hear clicking while your driving, then I'd keep those puppies as long as you can. Don't replace them until you hear the clicking, (even then, you can drive those things for probably 15,000 miles after the clicking starts, sometimes longer) Cosmetically, you will start to get grease smears under the truck.

As for the rust, It looks like surface rust to me which is just fine and won't cause any issues.

Taping the boot sounds like a pain, I wouldn't. Putting more grease in through the hole will prolong the inevitable "clicking", but meh...

Start saving your pennies, if its not clicking, you've got probably 50,000 miles before you need to worry about replacing them depending on your drive style, weather conditions and salt amounts

Hope this helps!

 

[karyins]

If you turn the wheels completely to the right and left and you don't hear clicking while your driving, then I'd keep those puppies as long as you can. Don't replace them until you hear the clicking, (even then, you can drive those things for probably 15,000 miles after the clicking starts, sometimes longer) Cosmetically, you will start to get grease smears under the truck.

As for the rust, It looks like surface rust to me which is just fine and won't cause any issues.

Taping the boot sounds like a pain, I wouldn't. Putting more grease in through the hole will prolong the inevitable "clicking", but meh...

Start saving your pennies, if its not clicking, you've got probably 50,000 miles before you need to worry about replacing them depending on your drive style, weather conditions and salt amounts

Hope this helps!

Your post just did me a confidence upgrade lol!

 

[SkyGuy41]

Modified my lift today, approx 2.5-2.75 of front lift overall now, and now my cv boots look like they exploded... My one question is, if the boots are not torn but merely slipped off, will re-clamping and filling it back up with grease fix the issue? Or will I continually have this problem with a high probability of more cv axle "failures"? Ya'll who have had your lifts on and go off-roading etc, do you guys have to deal with this issue often? Or does your initial fix usually take care of it?