Questions about CV rebooting

[Leandro]

hi all
I recently found that my passenger side CV boots were both in really bad shape.
I ordered the OEM toyota kit.
It came with two grease containers, one is bigger that the other. Intuitively the bigger container would go into the inner joint which is bigger, but just to be sure, is that right?
Other question, i read on the forum that you're not supposed to clean up the old grease with brake cleaner. If that's the case, what can I use?

thanks in advance.

 

[Spike555]

Leave the old grease in, wipe up as much as you can with lint free rags, then fill with new grease.

 

[aging fleet]

Like @Spike555 said, I simply cleaned off as much grease as I could with shop towels, that way I wasn't worrying about whether I still had brake cleaner in the joint when I repacked.

As far as which joint gets more grease, it's actually the outboard that gets more. FSM excerpt below, don't forget that part about driveshaft length in section 5L.

 

[Leandro]

But how do you know that there's no dirt left inside?

 

[Spike555]

The dirt sticks to the grease. And I wouldnt worry about dirt anyway. Odds are there isn't any in there. You were not parked and pouring handfuls of dirt in the open CV were you?
Then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[aging fleet]

The inner joint comes apart while rebooting so cleaning it is no problem. If dirt got into the outer joint, then I'd do what I needed to do to get it as clean as possible. The procedure in the FAQ specifically uses brake cleaner to clean the joint so I'm sure it's fine as long as it's dried/evaporated prior to adding grease.

Have fun, it's a messy job.

 

[badlander]

I stood mine up on end and filled it with kerosene and let it sit over night. Work the joint around to stir up any junk inside then pour it out. Repeat numerous times until it comes out clean. Drain it all out and then clean with brake cleaner then let it dry. As soon as it is dry get some grease on it or it will start to oxidize.

 

[Riviera]

I just had my cvs rebooted last week at a Toyota dealership. The tech told me that the inners seldom have much contamination, even when left exposed for quite some time. He went on to say you need to spend your time making sure the outers are clean. I'm hoping these hold up with my lift and no diff drop. Time will tell.

 

[AimCOtaco]

I get all the old grease out and put all new grease in. The whole point of the kit is to end up with fresh grease of the right volume and new boots. Often when the boots fail you do get lots of crud in the grease. Break cleaner works fine, you just have to complete the job of getting all the grease out and let the cleaner dry before you re-assemble, you don't want semi-dissolved grease left behind.

 

[Leandro]

So, Abundant brake cleaner until it comes out clean and let it dry. May be blow some compressed air.

 

[DuckLN]

I used aerosol brake cleaner. Worked great. Then i used low profile hose clamps (provided by a member on here) rather than the crimp clamp.

 

[AimCOtaco]

So, Abundant brake cleaner until it comes out clean and let it dry. May be blow some compressed air.

Exactly.

 

[abuck99]

Leave the old grease in, wipe up as much as you can with lint free rags, then fill with new grease.

^DO NOT DO THIS^ You want to clear out any and all contaminated grease, and more importantly you also want the specific amount of grease designated for each tulip and nothing more. See the FSM page above for correct lube capacity of each tulip.

Disassemble per FSM- match mark mating components. Thouroughly clean everything until no old grease remains- then reassemble. Try not to leave the parts exposed/uncoated overnight.

 

[Spike555]

^DO NOT DO THIS^ You want to clear out any and all contaminated grease, and more importantly you also want the specific amount of grease designated for each tulip and nothing more. See the FSM page above for correct lube capacity of each tulip.

Disassemble per FSM- match mark mating components. Thouroughly clean everything until no old grease remains- then reassemble. Try not to leave the parts exposed/uncoated overnight.

Can you help me understand what happens if you put in to much grease please?
I never knew it was problem. I want to be educated, so please explain.
Thank you.

 

[abuck99]

Nothing against you Spike- I don't mean to challenge your way of doing things if its on your own rig, it's that your advice is sometimes counterintuitive the FSM procedure or best practices and noobs might take that as documented process.

Dealership tech or corner shop on flat rate might take your approach but since we're DIY 'ng here and taking the time to dig into rebooting CV axles the precedent is not to cut corners.

Anyway too much grease can cause the boot to leak or prematurely tear. Toyota is very specific about the volume of grease for each tulip.

 

[Spike555]

No blood no foul, it's all good man.

I am not one to follow the manual, the manual is meant for the tech to use the least amount of resources possible and get the car out the door as quickly and as cheaply (supplies used) as possible to increase profits.
There are things that the manual is required for, tourqe specs, wiring, etc. for me when it comes to things like amount of grease I'm not to picky.
BUT, I do understand where you are coming from and what you say makes sense.
Carry on.

 

[abuck99]

Cheers Spike- I get where your coming from.

 

[Spike555]

I've been in transportation for the last 26yrs, the name of the game is profits and the margins are small.
The ONLY time a unit goes to the dealer is while under warranty and for computer stuff that our mechanic isn't equipped to handle.
All parts and filters come from the NAPA, if NAPA can't get them then we get them from the dealer.
Factory Service Manuals are for dealers, we use All Data and "good enough" gets us 500,000 miles out of Ford Triton so "good enough" is what I do too.
I am not against doing it the dealership way, I just do not see the point on some items.
I'm not arguing, I'm agreeing.

 

[Leandro]

Thanks all for the great feedback.

 

[thegoodword]

I just had my cvs rebooted last week at a Toyota dealership. The tech told me that the inners seldom have much contamination, even when left exposed for quite some time. He went on to say you need to spend your time making sure the outers are clean. I'm hoping these hold up with my lift and no diff drop. Time will tell.

What did the stealership charge you? My rig is in for a wheel bearing pack right now and they suggested replacing the CV boots while they are doing that job to save 1 hour of labor cost. I was under the gun on the phone, so I told them to go ahead and do it.