When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
An outer CV boot on my '04 is about to fail due to deep cracks. I always reboot with great success, meaning I have not ever had a CV joint go bad bc I catch them early. I've never really thought about its make-up, but I've read that thermoplastic is the only way to go; is that correct? Where is a good place to buy (NOT from the "stealership")?
Also: Am I the only one who does not remove the axle and just reboots while the axle is carefully supported in situ? I find it to be much faster and no need to worry about trans seal damage or circlip bending and not to mention dealing with the center support bearing (I think that's what it's called).
If you can catch a damaged boot soon enough, then you can save the cv axle every time. Especially on Toyota’s, I had to do one on my brothers Prius a few months ago and I bought a new one that was designed like a clamshell, so i could cut the old one off, and install the new without having to pull the hub apart or anything. It just slipped into place and then I packed it with fresh grease and then finished with some special zip ties that held it together like the original one. It only took me an hour to do while the whole job.
Well, this is a first. I got an EMPI boot from eBay but it came with 2 packs of grease (outer). Use both or was this an error? They are the size of a baseball.
Some kits come with two grease packets one for inner one for the outer joint. Are they both the same? 1 packet per boot is the norm. Here's a typical grease packet for scale
Similar issue on my girlfriend's 1996 ES300 - I was looking into replacing the boots, but in the end just realized it's faster / easier / cheaper to just install brand new half shafts. Here are the ones I went with and was really impressed with the quality. You've got to be super careful during installation that the ***** in the CV joint itself doesn't come apart (and when/if it does, getting things back correctly is sort of a nightmare), but outside of that it's pretty straightforward and results in all new boots, etc.
Not a concern for you but those rust very badly in the salt belt, in fact all aftermarket axles do I have to paint them. Yes it is a nightmare if you retract the joint too much. At least your car has 2-piece axles this makes the job far easier.
Yeah I could see where those might rust if not painted with tractor paint or something. And yes, when the CV joint comes apart, it's a straight nightmare. I had to reset the joints several times during installation despite my best efforts to keep everything perfectly aligned.
What bearings fall out? I've never experienced that and don't see how it's possible. If you mean the tripod, as found on the inner end, then yes they came apart twice on me but I just gave it love taps on the bench and it went in back without drama.
What was a "nightmare" was that no matter how hard I wailed on the (outer) joint trying to separate it would not happen. (Don't worry, I used a dead-blow hammer.)
Thank God for YouTube though: Just pull apart the inner tripod, after removing a snap ring, from the shaft and slide the outer boot from that end! I never would have guessed that as a solution.
Yes, this took more time than just slapping in an aftermarket shaft assembly, but where's the fun in that?
Most amazingly, the carrier bearing practically fell out of its housing.
The CV joint can slip apart and the round ***** are a nightmare to get back into place (inside the CV joint itself).
I will double check the allen cap screws. I reused the factory ones as the ones which came with that half shafts were junk. But I will definitely confirm they are all still tight, thanks!
07-06-24, 02:09 AM
CV boot composition (reboot choice)
