Front axle boot replacements (both) - price?

[tlin]

Admittedly being lazy but also not much free time right now so I asked the local Toyota shop to give me a quote. Both boots torn/leaking - quote from dealer is $862 to replace both boots.

Is this in the realm of a "reasonable" price to replace them? Never done the job myself so just don't know how involved this is. Thx...

 

[Brake Weight]

Admittedly being lazy but also not much free time right now so I asked the local Toyota shop to give me a quote. Both boots torn/leaking - quote from dealer is $862 to replace both boots.

Is this in the realm of a "reasonable" price to replace them? Never done the job myself so just don't know how involved this is. Thx...

Having changed boots and axles I find this outlandish. It’s not a hard job, but it is somewhat messy and time consuming. On my 2.7l Tacoma I just run parts house axles with the lifetime warranty nowadays. It’s easier to swap the axles since they need to be removed to swap boots. For my wife’s mall crawler GX I replaced one axle with a parts house and then I swapped the blown boots on the OEM to keep as a spare.

 

[joabmc]

OEM boot kit is about $50 per side. Plus a few hours of labor to take them off, clean them up and reboot, reinstall. Their price is reasonable for the work IMO. You can do it yourself for much less but it takes some time and is messy. Plus you have to find the special crimping tool.
I bought cheap cardone axles, did a swap and rebuilt my OEMs for trail spares. You can buy those for under $200 for both sides. They aren’t as good as Toyota but will do the job.

 

[tlin]

You're both right, of course. I know I'll kick myself in the arse for not DIY'ing this but......right now just isn't the time to go do this one myself and I'm not skipping a camping trip with my daughter this weekend (need the GX back ASAP). I guess all the money I saved doing my F/R suspension myself helps mentally offset spending money this time on labor....wish me luck begging for some discounts.

Thx guys...

 

[Brake Weight]

You can also ‘stretch the boots’ to allow more room for increased angles caused from a lift.

 

[tlin]

Turns out the mechanic at the local T dealer (known him for years, got to know him pretty well when I had my '92 FJ80) didn't at all feel the current condition warranted doing anything immediately. Gives me some time to learn how to do this myself.....

Definitely want to go with the longer boots I remember seeing others use - anyone have a link?? (Trail Tailor from memory???)

I've already got the "soft edge" clamps so I'm good there.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Turns out the mechanic at the local T dealer (known him for years, got to know him pretty well when I had my '92 FJ80) didn't at all feel the current condition warranted doing anything immediately. Gives me some time to learn how to do this myself.....

Definitely want to go with the longer boots I remember seeing others use - anyone have a link?? (Trail Tailor from memory???)

I've already got the "soft edge" clamps so I'm good there.

CV Replacement Boot Kit

J

 

[GBinAZ]

Turns out the mechanic at the local T dealer (known him for years, got to know him pretty well when I had my '92 FJ80) didn't at all feel the current condition warranted doing anything immediately. Gives me some time to learn how to do this myself.....

Definitely want to go with the longer boots I remember seeing others use - anyone have a link?? (Trail Tailor from memory???)

I've already got the "soft edge" clamps so I'm good there.

I just put New OEM CVs in my GX. Not too bad of a job with an electric impact and a helper. Im local to you if you decide you want to take this on yourself and have any questions.

 

[tlin]

CV Replacement Boot Kit

J

Thx!

I just put New OEM CVs in my GX. Not too bad of a job with an electric impact and a helper. Im local to you if you decide you want to take this on yourself and have any questions.

You're not just local, we're neighbors. Might take you up on that....

 

[joabmc]

This is a great little tool to have for popping the axles out. You can make a strap of your own but this will give you an idea of the logic behind it.

CV Axle Removal Tool

 

[tlin]

This is a great little tool to have for popping the axles out. You can make a strap of your own but this will give you an idea of the logic behind it.

CV Axle Removal Tool

Yup, seen the "dead blow" solution before and planning on doing my own version of this - thank you for sharing.

 

[Max Nguyen]

I had a local Axle/Drivetrain shop reboot both axles. I purchased the boots (about $100 for all 4 with grease and clamps). The shop charged me $120 for the reboot and I did the install myself. Its a pretty straight install with the right tools. I even have 2 extra cardone axle as a spare just in case.

 

[GBinAZ]

Yup, seen the "dead blow" solution before and planning on doing my own version of this - thank you for sharing.

I was able to get both my CVs out with harbor freight pry bars, but having the "dead blow" option could speed things up considerably if yours turn out to be ornery. Using 1/2inch cordless impact, and the pry bars, I had the first side out in 20 minutes. The other side was more difficult and took 35-40 minutes.

 

[GXO]

Get CVJ high angle boots for the inners so they don't break.

 

[tlin]

Get CVJ high angle boots for the inners so they don't break.

I'm assuming these are the CVJ boots you mean, please confirm.

Do our GX's require the inners require any trimming as noted in that writeup I linked?

Thx Dan....

 

[GXO]

Those are high angle boots, but the CVJ are from CVJ lol: Off-Road - CVJ Axles: CV Axles & Steering Racks for all your needs They don't have online ordering. You can either get the boots normal and cut the tulip out of your old boots (like the link you provided) or order them preassembled for a few bucks more.