Torn CV?

[ndjose]

Good afternoon

I recently purchased a 03 4wd limited and I changed my oil a few weeks ago. While I was down there I was looking things over and noticed that the inner CV boot is missing the clamp on both the left and right side (please see the attached picture). Im pretty sure that there should be a clamp there, but just wondering since there is no sign of grease spattered everywhere. Also wouldn't there be noise, or other indication that the joint is running dry since all of the grease escaped? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how long can I drive like this? My daily commute is 20 miles or so.

Thanks
Jose

 

[Prommy]

It should be clamped (just checked my '08 to be sure).

I actually have the same issue on my outer passenger CV, and have the parts to get it done, but since it's a bigger suspension project and requires the axle nut to be taken off and replaced, I'm waiting for when I go to replace the control arm bushings. (I do have a good amount of grease spattering, btw)

How long can you drive on it? Hard to say. In theory it's not as bad as it could be, I am assuming, since it's not under as much torque load unless it's in 4WD (as much, but not none). Certainly preventing a CV axle uni joint failure is easier and cheaper than fixing a CV axle uni joint failure. Best advice, built on a lot of assumption, is to plan the work as soon as you can and perhaps pack it with some CV boot grease to slow any wear.

 

[Morphyne]

Eric the car guy has a video on YouTube on why it's OK to run it like that until it start's clicking. Mainly the grease is there to prevent premature failure. But the fix for the boot is to replace the cv anyway. So I would say drive it until it starts making noise. Then replace. And the replacement really isn't that bad. I've done 4 of them.

 

[NinjaOne]

I've been running with a leaking inner passenger CV for about a year. Pretty sure it's empty at this point as I haven't seen grease come out in quite a while. Not really any noticeable noises, occasional clunk but I think that's my swaybar

So far no issues, keep meaning to reboot it but haven't got around to it. YMMV

 

[radlynx]

Good afternoon

I recently purchased a 03 4wd limited and I changed my oil a few weeks ago. While I was down there I was looking things over and noticed that the inner CV boot is missing the clamp on both the left and right side (please see the attached picture). Im pretty sure that there should be a clamp there, but just wondering since there is no sign of grease spattered everywhere. Also wouldn't there be noise, or other indication that the joint is running dry since all of the grease escaped? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how long can I drive like this? My daily commute is 20 miles or so.

Thanks
Jose

depends on your driving. do you offroad? do you want your oem axle? or any new axle would do. remember, the original axle is very expensive and very strong and very reliable. if you dont care about it, wait until it starts clicking and annoys you of the noise then replace it with the aftermarket.

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[metramm]

mine were torn like that. I replaced them with a pair from CVJ axles who was recommended here on the forum as an oem replacement.
Very good product. They use toyota axles and rebuild them.
Expensive though. I got the toyota boot upgrade for an extra $120 and my all in was about $400 for both.

Well worth it in my opinion. Don't bother to reboot the axle. It is a messy job and might as well replace the whole axle while you have it out of the truck anyways.

Good luck!

 

[derekl123]

I actually just replaced my driver's side boots last night due to a tear in the outer boot. It took about 2 hours time and a whole lot of shop towels (hardest part was getting the c-clip back on). I bought an OEM boot kit (04427-60140) for ~$45. You could get an aftermarket CV for a bit more, but I wanted to keep OEM axle and opted to reboot. So long as they're not clicking, you should be good to reboot.

I followed T2MFE's guide and this video.

 

[ndjose]

Thanks for all of the replies, especially the video link!

I am leaning towards a reboot. I'm going to try to find a junkyard set, rebuild that one, and then replace mine, and rebuild that one as a spare. If I cant find it, then I will just reboot mine. I guess christmas weekend I will be busy installing new suspension, and rebooting. :tea:

-Jose

 

[BMeister]

If it starts to click I would replace immediately.

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[ndjose]

So my junkyard axles have arrived. Pulled from a GX470 with about 75k on the odo. They look to be OEM since the boots have the toyota symbol and look identical to the OEM boot kit I purchased. Is there any other tale tale, other then pulling the ones currently installed and compare them?

Also looking for some opinions. The boots look fine on these axles. Should I still reboot these anyway? My original plan was to reboot the salvage axles thinking they would be beat up, and then install them and reboot my original axles to have them as a spare.

Thanks
Jose

 

[blackoutt]

Toyota axles have a tri lobe shape on the inner joint cup (round with 3 indentations around it, looks just like your OEM boot kit shape for reference).
Aftermarket axles have a round shaped inner joint cup, no indentations, just a circle.

I'd say throw the used axles in and reboot your stockers for spares.