my foray into auto salvage yards

[hrt4me]

since I've owned my latest 4Runner for almost two months now, I've discovered there are a plethora of auto salvage yards in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, most containing at least one third generation 4Runner

many of these have the front CV axles, so I'm curious about two things: 1) is it worthwhile to pull these (some of the yards charge $25 each if you pull them youself, and others charge $35 because they pull them for their customers), and 2) if so, then how does one assess the quality of these factory oem CV axles to determine whether they are still good?

 

[ajonesnv]

Most likely if the boots are intact then they are good. And @ 25.00/each I'd get them even with considering the low risk they are bad.

 

[The4kbeast]

Not a bad idea!

 

[GSPRunner]

Is your truck lifted? The axles you'll snag from the yard are probably old, and the boots are probably old and dried out, so chances are the minute you put them on and drive it, you'll tear the boots. $25 a side is a great deal, but probably wouldnt be worth my time. Although, maybe grabbing a couple to use as trail spares would be worth it...

 

[hrt4me]

Most likely if the boots are intact then they are good. And @ 25.00/each I'd get them even with considering the low risk they are bad.

so would $35 each for factory oem CV joints be okay too?