My 4runner has grease leaking out the cv axle boot nearest to the wheel on the passenger side. I have a refurb cv axle on order from Toyota but it’s going to be a week or more until it arrives. How much is ok to drive the rig as is? Around town? How about 400 miles roundtrip on the highway (no offroad)?
Leaking cv axle question
- Thread starter Langcow1
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cl4Rk
Member
If you’re planning on replacing the entire axle, then 400 miles on pavement with a torn boot should be no problem, like [MENTION=696833]VogRunner[/MENTION] said.
You do however run the risk of damaging the cv joint itself since it won’t be properly lubricated and road grime will likely get in and act like sand paper. This is only an issue if you wanted to keep your original to reboot it.
Now that being said some members on this forum have driven 1000 miles on a torn boot without seeing real damage to the joint. So YMMV.
If you want to reboot your original and keep it as a spare after you install your replacement, Toyota sells a reboot kit: PN 0443835062 (Outboard: black grease, Inboard: tan grease)). You’ll also need a tool like Lisle 30800 CV Boot Clamp Pliers.
Best of luck!
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Bassturd
New member
This is definitely not a suggestion just my past experience. I drove on torn boots for just over 4 years. I drove the truck like I didn’t know it had torn boots. Took it off roading drove it through snow and river crossings. It got so bad that I developed this nasty shake slight death wobble if you will at any speed over 50 mph. I finally swapped them out with some CVJ axles and thought for sure they would be denying me my core. But somehow they were still good enough to rebuild. Just keep an eye on it. You’ll probably be fine driving it around until your new reman comes in from Toyota.
IronYuppy
New member
The boot may not even be torn. I had a loose boot clamp. For peace of mind you can try tightening that clamp, or even throwing a Home Depot hose clamp around it.
octanejunkie
Elite Member
Highway driving with a torn outboard boot will likely fling grease and can get pretty messy. Ask me how I know.
I wrapped a torn boot with a plastic bag, duct tape and long zip ties. The trick when wrapping is to wrap it with all the flex/slack it needs so it doesn't pull and tear itself open. The plastic bag hack held the grease in until I could fix the axle; but instead I replaced with extended CVs.
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I wrapped a torn boot with a plastic bag, duct tape and long zip ties. The trick when wrapping is to wrap it with all the flex/slack it needs so it doesn't pull and tear itself open. The plastic bag hack held the grease in until I could fix the axle; but instead I replaced with extended CVs.
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MCgrease08
New member
How well did this temp fix work for you?
Getting ready to do this myself because I have grease EVERYWHERE since doing the front suspension refresh with OME coils and Bilstein 5100s. One of the CV boots is visibly torn. The other doesn't appear to be, but I'm going to stretch and reboot both sides anyway for good measure. I'm the third owner and the truck has 283,000 miles so who how old the current boots are.
This isn't a daily driver, but hoping to still be able to use it for short trips over the next couple of weeks until I can get the reboot kit delivered and installed.
Did the plastic and duct tape just keep the grease from flinging out, or does it actually keep some of it in the boot?
mtbtim
Elite Member
You should reboot that CV axle and keep it as a spare. There's nothing wrong with it other than a leaking boot.
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octanejunkie
Elite Member
The second time I did wrap them using better material and yes, it did work; albeit only needed temporarily. The key is leaving enough slack to allow flex.
I now carry spare plastic, zip ties and gaffers tape just in case.
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MCgrease08
New member
Thanks. I just came in from the garage after trying to wrap up the boots. I used gallon Ziplock bags and just cut them open to wrap around the axle as best as I could. I used a combination of zip ties, duct tape and the silicone "Rescue Tape" someone recommended in an older thread I found. I wasn't too impressed with that tape because everything was so greasy it didn't adhere to itself very well. The duct tape worked slightly better. Zip ties seem to be the most secure method of keeping ends of the plastic bags closed, but none of it seemed all that secure. I'm sure there will still be some leakage, but hopefully no more throwing grease all over the place. Overall the process was a pain in the butt for what I suspect will be pretty mediocre results.
I'll reboot sooner than later, but there is a snow storm coming tomorrow, and I want to try out my new Falken Wildpeaks and see how they perform.
octanejunkie
Elite Member
Good luck and it's really just a temporary fix, once grease starts flying the damage is done - wrapping them just buys you a little time and slightly less mess
Have fun in the snow!
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