jhomer42

Hi All,

Thanks you to Club Lexus Forum in all its infinite wisdom

The dealer tells me I need to repair the front CV Boot Joint because it is torn, and that the Power Steering Fluid line is leaking. The leak seems slow, so I am not too worried about that, but is it necessary to replace the CV Boot Joint? Will it help me in the long run or to prevent other maintenance?

Thanks

Arsenii

Hello,

It is likely the other way around the Joint Boot, not the Boot Joint.

Hard to tell without actually seeing the boot in question, if the rubber is indeed torn, then yes, I would replace it as quickly as possible, before either the contaminants or simple lack of grease would force you to replace the entire joint.

P.S. It is interesting that the dealership offers to replace just the boot itself, they usually default straight to replacing the entire axle, seems like you stumbled across a pretty fair dealership, that or the boot is completely intact..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

jhomer42

___________________

They are the boots that connect the axle shaft to the wheels right? Let me include photos here. I did not notice any cracks at all.

Does anyone notice any?

Thanks

Arsenii

The pictures you shared are for the Outer CV Joints, what about the Inner ones? Follow the Axle until you see the same exact joint on the other side of it, and take another picture, it's usually the Inner ones that fail for some reason, likely from exposure to heat from the engine.

P.S. You are also missing the Caps on the Bleeder Screws of your calipers, Part Number for them is 31478-30010, while not as critical in California, it is a good cause of consideration for people less fortunate..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

jhomer42

Thank you!

Here are the inner photos

Arsenii

Yep, those are busted alright, at least the Driver's side is, it's hard to tell the condition of the other one due to a leak in the Power Steering line, another common issue for those cars..

Replace those boots before it will cause more issues to appear, they are there for a reason, consider doing both at once even if the other one is intact so far, as it shall soon follow. You are lucky enough to not see any salt, so you won't have any of the pains related to hitting those axles out when they merge into a solid piece with the rest of the suspension.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

jhomer42

Thank you!

FromFL

How much are they charging for that work? When they say the boot needs replacing, they really mean the axle, but the end result is the same, a repair.

jhomer42

Hi there,

The dealer told me the boot was torn, but they didn’t mention any axle changes: my thought is they would’ve suggested changing the axle and tried to charge me for that too if they saw reason.

jhomer42

When you say “both” do you mean inner and outer?

Thanks

Oro

Yeah, pretty sure that’s what he means. if one side has gone, the other is likely near it due to age and use. A big enough job and the parts cheap enough, you do both. I just did that in fact doing that on my step-son’s Volvo. Inner one tore, but I am changing both boots. Caught it early so no damage, re-using OE axle.

IME it is far better to re-boot an OE axle as long as it is still good vs. getting aftermarket replacements. Much higher quality and longer-lasting. So if your mechanic said “re-boot,” then it’s the smarter play.