99magna

Hello Guys,
I Just found out my driver side inboard cv boot is torn and it's slinging grease to the frame. It is not making any noise or anything yet. I just wanted to replace the boot only, is there a DIY and where is to buy the oem boot. Thank you in advance

LeX2K

Boot kit is 04438-08080 (always verify parts using your VIN)

Do you really want to do this? It's an incredibly messy process to put it mildly. I have not rebuilt the axle in your particular car but they are generally all the same you remove one C-clip and the whole thing can be disassembled. See this diagram.
https://www.japan-parts.eu/lexus/us/...nt-drive-shaft

You'll need some C-clip pliers. I've been happy with the quality of EMPI boot kits, I don't use the supplied grease.

99magna

Thanks lex2k, I don't mind getting dirty if I can save some money. What's grease do you used ?, if you don't use their supplies.
Is there any particular things to be caution for while doing removal and installation of the drive cv axle ?. Does it need an alignment after ?. Thanks for the head up on the messy grease and the EMPI boot.

LeX2K

I've been using this stuff

I'm assuming your car is rust free so you won't run into the dreaded seized carrier bearing. Grossly simplified steps are remove axle nut, unbolt ball joint from control arm, remove carrier bearing clip and bolt. Remove axle. Seeing you are in the U.S. (OEM parts are expensive in Canada) getting the OEM boot kit seems like a good option.

BTW it is unclear if the part number I posted is for the inboard and outboard boot I would check with a dealer. The description is "Front Cv Joint Boot Kit, In Outboard, Right"

99magna

It's rust free, I am in Dallas Texas and we don't have much of a winter down here. I have seen some youtube but they only doing it on the passenger side so I was kind of wondering if it would be the same procedure as the driver side ?. That grease look like good stuff, thanks. I will definitely check with my vin # for the oem boot before order it.

LeX2K

LH axle removal is a bit different there is a snap ring that seats the axle end into the transmission you have to overcome (RH side doesn't have this). Usually I simply yank them out by hand but depending on the axle type this can pull the outer section from the tulip in the transmission.

IIRC on your car the LH axle could pull apart if you yank on it so you'll have to pry equally on both sides of the axle(safely) or in some cases you have to get creative.

Margate330

Driver side is a piece of cake, recommend getting new axle seals as mine were all dried out- new ones tapped in easy with no special tooling.

Passenger side was a ***** on mine in a rust free Florida car but I guess the rain spashing up rusted the bearing in pretty good plus
it was all original at 16 years old and had never been apart.

The auto part store rental slide hammers don't have jaws that fit and separating the axle and using the vise grip attachment trick
did nothing but wear me out and gouge the metal- had to use an extra-long chisel with sludge hammer on the back side
of the axle since I didn't have an air chisel.
FYI- I replaced mine with new Cardone Premiums from Rock Auto last year for under $100 ea with shipping if you think your axles are shot anyway.

Add- "Are you sure you want to do this..." from Lex2k above, I agree too.

99magna

Thanks for the advice, I was thinking about order the axle seal too when I am ready to do it just in case. Do I need an alignment if I remove the two bolts that attach the brake rotor assembly to the strut ? or just don't mess with them and remove the bolts from the lower control arm only.

Margate330

I didn't bother with an alignment on mine.
If the struts are oem the bolts go in the holes snug with no(almost none) alignment adjustment but some aftermarket struts will slot the upper hole for aligment adjustment and it can be hard to see until the bolt is pulled out.
When I did mine I put a scratch arond the bolt head just in case so when I put the bolts back in I had a mark for reference so it was perfect.

RXISGS

I swapped my CV axles despite never doing it before on another car. It wasn't too bad with rental tools for the tie rod puller and hub puller. The worst part was cleaning up the grease splattered everywhere.

My passenger side was toast and vibrating bad under acceleration, so changing boots wasn't an option. I just picked up local ones at O'Reilly's for ~$200/pair. I've heard others recommend against this, but they have a lifetime warranty and I'm pretty sure I could swap one in an hour or so now that I'm familiar with it.