Tan Grease Under The Driver Side

rpontbriand

New member
Just noticed a bunch of tan grease on the underside of my rig. Hard to see where it is coming from, but it may be the spring area. The Toytec springs look fine though.

Any thoughts of where I should be looking for? No lights on the dash have come on.
 
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I am thinking its the CV Boot per the pics. Not the best but the leaking seems to be coming from the area in the first pic well the second is the spray.

I plan on trying to get this in this week but how drivable is this thing and for how long?
 

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Take your skids off then take the pics. Every time someone has had tan grease (looks like puke) underneath the front it's been the CV boot so far.
 
Inner CV boot. Pretty easy to re-boot as DIY.

I figured the "4Runner-Man-O'-Wisdom" would have good feedback too. Did some research and I would say its the CV boot for sure. :)

Any thoughts on how long the dealership will take to fix/replace and the associated dollars. I would DIY but I am short on time this week and I know my limitations with this kind of stuff.

Much appreciated all!
 
Not sure if you are joking or not. I get a lot of grief here from some folks :music:

Anyway, Not sure what they charge. I would say a fair range is 200-$250. Think the boot kit is about $50 and 2hrs labor is more than enough. Any shop should be able to do it... Just don't let anyone replace the CV axle with one of those junk aftermarket ones.

The kit comes with inner and outer plus grease and clamps for both.. I would not worry about the outer unless you have a lot of time and miles on them.

You can also re-clamp and just shoot a little grease in if it is not torn... These clamps are super easy to install and work fine.

CV Axle Boot Repair Clamp Kit for Toyota 4Runner 84-2015 Set of 8 Clamps 4x4 SR5 | eBay

Your pic is not great.. but it looks like just the clamp is leaking.
 
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Not sure if you are joking or not. I get a lot of grief here from some folks :music:

Anyway, Not sure what they charge. I would say a fair range is 200-$250. Think the boot kit is about $50 and 2hrs labor is more than enough. Any shop should be able to do it... Just don't let anyone replace the CV axle with one of those junk aftermarket ones.

The kit comes with inner and outer plus grease and clamps for both.. I would not worry about the outer unless you have a lot of time and miles on them.

You can also re-clamp and just shoot a little grease in if it is not torn... These clamps are super easy to install and work fine.

CV Axle Boot Repair Clamp Kit for Toyota 4Runner 84-2015 Set of 8 Clamps 4x4 SR5 | eBay

Your pic is not great.. but it looks like just the clamp is leaking.

My comment was meant as positive for sure. :) Your info helps a lot. My truck is a 2015 but with only 25k. I did hit a very rocky trail a couple weeks ago but NOTHING that should have caused this ... who knows ...

I also does not look like anything is torn. Perhaps it came loose????

Much appreciated.
 
My comment was meant as positive for sure. :) Your info helps a lot. My truck is a 2015 but with only 25k. I did hit a very rocky trail a couple weeks ago but NOTHING that should have caused this ... who knows ...

I also does not look like anything is torn. Perhaps it came loose????

Much appreciated.

Might be covered under warranty if you don't have a lift.... IDK worth a try. Very common problem in technical terrain.
 
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Might be covered under warranty if you don't have a lift.... IDK worth a try. Very common problem in technical terrain.

It has a 3" Toytec lift but they installed it. Should be interesting to see that part goes.

It was a pretty technical trail with LOTS of smaller rocks and boulders you had to navigate through but I would not call it hard. Did it very slow but can see how that type of terrain could make this happen.

Much appreciate the input.
 
This seems to be a problem on about every gen. My 4th gen started puking on both outer boots after a simple 1" lift.

The grease, a new clamp, and the installation tool (special crimper) aren't much more than $30 on amazon. If the boot's not torn that's your best bet. If you haven't had much leakage you can probably just do the boot.

I had to do this exact repair on the wife's van a few months back. I got carried away swapping out the struts and lower ball joints. I ended up pulling the boot loose on the inner joint (oops). It's a pretty easy fix.
 
It has a 3" Toytec lift but they installed it. Should be interesting to see that part goes.

It was a pretty technical trail with LOTS of smaller rocks and boulders you had to navigate through but I would not call it hard. Did it very slow but can see how that type of terrain could make this happen.

Much appreciate the input.

Are you near Denver? Not sure, but CVJ Axles is based in Denver and they might be able to help with a re-booting...you could also upgrade to their boots.
 
Are you near Denver? Not sure, but CVJ Axles is based in Denver and they might be able to help with a re-booting...you could also upgrade to their boots.

They look to be an hour from me and are worth a call depending on the run around my local dealership gives me.
 
Dealer quoted me $800 year ago for new boots and clamps. When I said the boot is fine just replace the clamp I was given bunch of bologna about old rubber being stiff and won't hold the new grease etc. I told them to take a hike, bought new OEM clamps and Redline grease rebanded and regreased it in 30 minutes for each side. No leaks since. GL
 
Dealer quoted me $800 year ago for new boots and clamps. When I said the boot is fine just replace the clamp I was given bunch of bologna about old rubber being stiff and won't hold the new grease etc. I told them to take a hike, bought new OEM clamps and Redline grease rebanded and regreased it in 30 minutes for each side. No leaks since. GL

Appreciate the heads up. I have a good range now of what I should be paying and what is BS. It maybe torn but I looked around the thing the best I could and it seems intact. Maybe just the flex I did on a rocky trail loosed the clamps a bit. I won't buy the dry thing as the truck is only 2 1/2 years old with 25k.

Thanks.
 
Dealer quoted me $800 year ago for new boots and clamps. When I said the boot is fine just replace the clamp I was given bunch of bologna about old rubber being stiff and won't hold the new grease etc. I told them to take a hike, bought new OEM clamps and Redline grease rebanded and regreased it in 30 minutes for each side. No leaks since. GL
$800 LOL. Crazy, Not too surprised though. I took another car I have to the dealer the other day to replace a EVAP vent valve because I just could not do it with my shoulder hurt. They quote me $1200. $300 of it being the part. The part was literally $16 for the OEM part, but they claimed the entire canister also needed to be replaced (lie). I ended up at an independent shop and still got raped at $200, but what are you gonna do when you are hurt... I could have done it in 1hr on a lift. In fact, I almost did it on the ground, but just could not get the clearance needed without lowering the rear cradle.. Funny part is I handed written instructions to the independent shop and told them it would take less than an hour if they just did what i told them (I even had written down the bolt sizes and torque specs, LOL). Somone online had done a great DIY writeup.. and I knew it was correct since I had already followed it up to the point I could on the ground. Got a call later in the day saying the tech refused not to follow anything but the shop guide and it would be another day...It ended up supposedly taking them almost 8hrs LOL. The lack of independent thinkers in the industry is pretty sad these days. Most of this stuff can be done very quickly and cheap if you just use your head.
 
Just a quick update for those who may be interested. It was in fact a CV boot issue on the driver side of my truck. No tears, but the clamp came a bit loose is all. It was under warranty so it was covered even though I had a lift which they installed too.

I did look at the cost if it was outside of warranty and it was about $285 including taxes so that seemed inline to what others were speaking of. Job time was just over 2 hours.

Appreciate all the feedback everyone gave as it was very helpful. Nothing like seeing a bunch of axle grease at the bottom of your truck after what you though was a "moderate" trail.

Thanks!
 

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