Leaking Axle Boot + Other Maintenance

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OlBlackBetty

New member
Hey Guys!

Glad the weekend is here. Went into Goodyear this morning for a routine oil change and they come back with "your front left axle boot is leaking" - thinking back on it I can remember that from a couple months ago.. I plan to give it fixed in the next week or two.

Wanted to check the prices on a couple maintenance items with you guys:
  1. Replace CV Shaft = $135 parts, $220 labor
  2. Spark Plugs = $48 parts, $110 labor <- probably do this myself
  3. Cooling system flush = $35 parts, $85 labor

Any of these seem crazy? I asked why they had to replace the CV Shaft and they said to remove the shaft then the boot and put it all back together would be more in labor than just a new part. I double checked pricing with another transmission place and they quoted ~$300
 
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Went thru this 2 years ago.

I choose to replace the cv boots alone with OEM Toyota boots. Bought the boot kit from Toyota for $100+. It was simple, wasn't easy. What sucked the most was the boot clamps. The small ones were easy the big ones sucked.

If you have some mechanical skill and time and tools and a garage than go for it. I'd 100% recommend going with stainless hose clamps though. The screw kind that tighten. Cost me $20 or so and it's totally worth it.

The only reason to use complete replacement shafts is that the boots are pre-greased and sealed. Remove the shock and hub pop it in.

The pre-packaged shafts from a big parts store aren't built to the same tolerances(so I've read on here) so the shaft might be slightly out of balance.

Good luck. Know the tools you need before you start. If recommend a chisel for the dust cover.
 
Don't replace the cv axle, just have it rebooted with oem boots. The quality of the reman axles is far inferior to the factory cv axle. Trust me I do a few sets a week. Have never seen a factory cv fail on your vehicle during normal use.
 
Where is the boot leaking? If its the small diameter clamp on the inside of the CV axle I'd just fix it yourself. A lot of people have done it and its a common issue on J120/J150 platform vehicles (4Runners in particular) it seems.

If the boot is torn at the small diameter clamp (like mine were) you can re-boot them (cheaper than a factory CV axle), but it is very labor intensive as the whole axle has to come out and be torn down (it is possible to to this at home)... though oddly enough I don't think I've seen a post on someone doing this.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
Where is the boot leaking? If its the small diameter clamp on the inside of the CV axle I'd just fix it yourself. A lot of people have done it and its a common issue on J120/J150 platform vehicles (4Runners in particular) it seems.

If the boot is torn at the small diameter clamp (like mine were) you can re-boot them (cheaper than a factory CV axle), but it is very labor intensive as the whole axle has to come out and be torn down (it is possible to to this at home)... though oddly enough I don't think I've seen a post on someone doing this.
Click to expand...


If someone has a link to a write up for re-booting I would REALLY appreciate it, been debating between re-booting and just replacing the whole thing with maybe NAPA axles since mine is leaking in the same spot!
 
If the boot is just leaking past the clamp but not torn, just remove the OEM clamps and install some narrow hose clamps. Very easy and cheap to do at home.
 
I rebooted mine a few months ago. I'm not sure why people complain about it be so labor intensive. I didn't find that to be the case. Sure it's easier to smack a new cv axle in there, but really it only took an extra 30 minutes to clean the old one up, grease, and reboot.

Maybe they just don't want to get their hands greasy. Slap on some latex gloves and get to it. Don't have a parts washer? Get a dang bucket and go to dunking and splashing. People make things way harder than they need to. Simple is effective.

Plus, I picked up the OEM reboot kit for $40.

Save yourself some $$$. And learn how to perform a job that, in my opinion, anyone who drives an IFS vehicle off-road anywhere near a remote location ought to know how to do anyway. Just sayin'.....
 
BRossman said:
Don't replace the cv axle, just have it rebooted with oem boots. The quality of the reman axles is far inferior to the factory cv axle. Trust me I do a few sets a week. Have never seen a factory cv fail on your vehicle during normal use.
Click to expand...

+1. This ^^^
Those cheap axles are a waste of labor.
 
I've replaced rear axles in Explorers and done boot jobs on independent rear suspensions on 4-wheelers - i'm sure I could do it myself if I had my garage. I'm in a condo right now and don't have the access to "fun" like I used to.

That being said, the guys that told me about it said it'd be more in labor to have the boot replaced than a new axle altogether. The rip is mid-boot and some grease has flung around in the undercarriage.

I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see what'd it cost to just do the boot. Will post back.
 
OlBlackBetty said:
I've replaced rear axles in Explorers and done boot jobs on independent rear suspensions on 4-wheelers - i'm sure I could do it myself if I had my garage. I'm in a condo right now and don't have the access to "fun" like I used to.

That being said, the guys that told me about it said it'd be more in labor to have the boot replaced than a new axle altogether. The rip is mid-boot and some grease has flung around in the undercarriage.

I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see what'd it cost to just do the boot. Will post back.
Click to expand...

My Toyota dealer said something like $1,200. I laughed at the service writers face then walked to the parts counter and bought the Boot package that includes grease.

Took me 4 hours probably, in a condo parking lot at night with not enough tools and no place to clean stuff. If I had to do it now that I have a house, probably 2 hours total.
 
txclimber said:
I rebooted mine a few months ago. I'm not sure why people complain about it be so labor intensive. I didn't find that to be the case. Sure it's easier to smack a new cv axle in there, but really it only took an extra 30 minutes to clean the old one up, grease, and reboot.

Maybe they just don't want to get their hands greasy. Slap on some latex gloves and get to it. Don't have a parts washer? Get a dang bucket and go to dunking and splashing. People make things way harder than they need to. Simple is effective.

Plus, I picked up the OEM reboot kit for $40.

Save yourself some $$$. And learn how to perform a job that, in my opinion, anyone who drives an IFS vehicle off-road anywhere near a remote location ought to know how to do anyway. Just sayin'.....
Click to expand...
Some people don't know how, some don't want to get into it, some feel it's easier and more cost effective to just replace than to repair. So to say what you said is unfair to assume. Like me mine were leaking from inner clamp. I can replace and reboot. I chose not to. I replaced them with new oem. My truck had 183000 miles at the time and weird vibration and drive line slack clunking.
 
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