Unpleasant surprise - reboot or new axle?

[Leandro]

I was doing the front brakes today and found that the right cv axle inner boot is completely teared. The outer boot has a small hole.

For tje price of two boot kits i can buy a reman axle.
Opinions?

 

[kelly saad]

Buy Toyota parts if you replace the axle. More money but install and forget about it.

 

[Leandro]

Buy Toyota parts if you replace the axle. More money but install and forget about it.

I know, no question about it, but the tight budget is predominant.

 

[seanz0rz]

Reboot and then plan on having to replace it in the future (IE save up for it)

Oh, and ONLY buy OEM Toyota. The remans are complete crap and you will be in the same spot in 6 months.

 

[Leandro]

Reboot and then plan on having to replace it in the future (IE save up for it)

Oh, and ONLY buy OEM Toyota. The remans are complete crap and you will be in the same spot in 6 months.

Good point.

 

[od4x4]

If you are not sure go buy a remanufactured axle and compare to yours. They are generally not the same style... not the same length... and certainly not the same quality. BUT I did find that my local napa had a source for remanufaxtured ToYota axles. I have one as a spare now but it is authentic toyota style just with aftermarket boots.

 

[sean2202]

CVJ axle in Denver, another good source.

 

[Leandro]

I saw some threads saying that if you don't have any clicks on your axle, no need to rebuild, just reboot.
What is the click is referring to? when spinning the axle? lateral movement? inward/outward movement?

 

[od4x4]

This would refer to driving and listening for a clicking sound while turning usually. With clicks you may be past a rebuild due to damage to the metal surfaces unless it just started. If there is no noise, then just pull apart... regrease... and reinstall.

Can you just reboot? Sure... but eventually it needs to be rebuilt.

Tom

 

[cwmoser]

Are you thinking about cutting off the old rubber boot and putting on one of those glue together boot covers?
I did it on my Isuzu Trooper CVs several years ago and still OK, no clicking, no problems.
My Troopers boot was split open like yours.

 

[Leandro]

Are you thinking about cutting off the old rubber boot and putting on one of those glue together boot covers?
I did it on my Isuzu Trooper CVs several years ago and still OK, no clicking, no problems.
My Troopers boot was split open like yours.

I couldn't find any split boot for the LX at a reasonable price. The only one I found was in AU and was very expensive.
I know Dorman makes split boots, but nothing for our trucks.
I'd love to put a split boot, it would be a lot easier.

 

[Shes Mad]

Toyota axles are around $500 each. I had split boots, needed to drive it, so I put aftermarket axles in mine, and they vibrate under heavy load. I kept the Toyota ones, and bought a reboot kit from Toyota.

I will reboot and reinstall the OEM ones. They had 150k on them. Others are going back

 

[abuck99]

Easier- but not the correct solution. Use the Factory boot kit, which includes the correct size inner & outer boot, correct type and volume of grease for each tulip, the correct type of banding clamps and new hardware(retaining ring and locking clip). Also the Toyota boots seem to be made of a superior and durable rubber and polymer composite.

I saw some threads saying that if you don't have any clicks on your axle, no need to rebuild, just reboot.
What is the click is referring to? when spinning the axle? lateral movement? inward/outward movement?

This is what the FSM suggests to check for "remarkable" play;

If you need to reboot- its a good time to assess the condition of the CV for "play".

As I am currently I'm in the process of replacing my CV's (183k) I thought I would post my results. While they weren't "clicking" while turning but I was getting some clunking noise under certain conditions, and the teeth on flanges and axle ends are worn enough to create a substantial free play which contributes to the F-N-R clunk. Also there is some minor acceleration/on-throttle vibes that points to being CV related. So while not completely shot, they are on their way out.

Inspecting the tulips on the bench the inboard tulip are ok(no rotational looseness and smooth in-out movement), the outboard tulip has some "lateral" in-out play, its minimal but enough to make a small popping noise, and under a load suspect that noise is more pronounced. I will check against my new CV when it arrives, but any play indicates wear, and limited life span.

 

[DuckLN]

Get the reboot straps from pfran or whatever vendor sell em. Mcmaster carr low profile hose clamp thing.

I did one myself and used brake fluid to clean all the old grease and gunk off and then applied the grease.

 

[DuckLN]

You have to be careful to get the inbound grease and outbound grease in their proper joints. Once you do its easy peazy.

 

[2001LC]

Rebooting is lowest cost option, provided they pass inspect as @abuck99 posted above. Most just clean with brake cleaner, not the best idea. I use solvent, water & HP air. It takes about 7 cleanings on outboard tulip until it runs clean (all old grease out). The booting itself is easy, the cleaning is a PITA time consumer.

CVJ is considered the best around for rebuilt OEM front drive shafts, all the Shop in Denver use him including Toyota / Lexus Dealers.

Best of the best is new OEM front drive shafts match with new OEM hub flanges and cone washers. They are very sweet. Check out Snowy in my signature, he got the work. So sweet! You see videos deep in the thread on used vs new OEM.

Easier- but not the correct solution. Use the Factory boot kit, which includes the correct size inner & outer boot, correct type and volume of grease for each tulip, the correct type of banding clamps and new hardware(retaining ring and locking clip). Also the Toyota boots seem to be made of a superior and durable rubber and polymer composite.



This is what the FSM suggests to check for "remarkable" play;
View attachment 1527312

If you need to reboot- its a good time to assess the condition of the CV for "play".

As I am currently I'm in the process of replacing my CV's (183k) I thought I would post my results. While they weren't "clicking" while turning but I was getting some clunking noise under certain conditions, and the teeth on flanges and axle ends are worn enough to create a substantial free play which contributes to the F-N-R clunk. Also there is some minor acceleration/on-throttle vibes that points to being CV related. So while not completely shot, they are on their way out.

Inspecting the tulips on the bench the inboard tulip are ok(no rotational looseness and smooth in-out movement), the outboard tulip has some "lateral" in-out play, its minimal but enough to make a small popping noise, and under a load suspect that noise is more pronounced. I will check against my new CV when it arrives, but any play indicates wear, and limited life span.

How can that be (no rotational play) we saw and heard it! That kind of thing doesn't correct itself, only gets worst.

Regardless you'll love the new...

 

[abuck99]

How can that be (no rotational play) we saw and heard it! That kind of thing doesn't correct itself, only gets worst.
Regardless you'll love the new...

if OP/Mod feels this is getting off topic please let me know and I'll delete the post. I think its somewhat relevant to the topic and for informational discussion on replacing CV's for vibration, lash, exceptional wear I'll continue:

@2001LC Yeah- we definitely noticed back lash-(rotational play back lash) but only while CV was still connected to the flange and diff. I'd attribute that to flange wear, outer axle spline wear and possibly some internal spline wear on the intermediate shaft. But with the CV axles removed, both axles and all four tulips don't exhibit any rotational bearing play; only a slight in & out <------> play in both of the outer tulips. I still think that minor play is the source of my popping sound. Its possible under a torque load that there is some rotational bearing play inside the tulip, but I'm not able to reproduce that twisting the CV in my hands which you could find on a severely worn CV. Definitely the flange splines and axle splines are well worn especially on the outer ends of the axles. Swapping the flanges from left to right and vice versa didn't have much positive effect. After I removed the CV's I noticed that slipping the flange onto the end of the axle to test the looseness the teeth/spline contact was really loose where the flange rests at the snap ring groove, but if you slid the flange down to the bottom of the splines, it nice & tight. So there is some added force applied towards the end of the axle and flange. The wear is not completely linear across the length of the splines. Could it be my 30mm spacers that contributed to that, could it be the lift, or normal wear- all of the above?