tc

If the boot is torn, your CV is toast, or about to be. If grease can get out, dirt can get in. Dirt will score the hardened parts in there instantly.

I consider myself pretty mechanically inclined, and I won't do a boot job because I would never know if the metal parts inside were truly OK. Plus it's just plain extra work over replacing the whole thing.

I run the remanned ones from AutoZone, and they work fine.

toy_tek

He hasn't driven on it. That was the question that was initially asked. A CV is not toast if the boot simply tears while performing other maintenance.

By this logic, nobody would ever rebuild an engine. We'd just drop a brand new one in.

AuburnRunner

I got new ones from Advanced Auto Parts when I bought my truck... Only one side was torn... but grease was everywhere and I knew that they had been on there since the truck was new. It was easier for me to just stick new ones in there than to get greased up and spend time tearing apart the OEM ones. They have a lifetime warranty and I've had no problems with them... so do whatever makes you happy.

tc

The cost differential is quite a bit less here. We're talking $10-$40 for a boot kit vs $50-$70 for an assembly... my time is worth something - for ~$20, it ain't worth messing around with the boots.

ovrrdrive

Exactly... I just don't understand the problem in this thread. We're not talking about a billion dollars here. It's worth $20 to just chunk the old CV and get one that not only has a new boot on it, but a lifetime warranty too.

I guess people will argue about anything on this forum.

92whiteyota

soooo....new cv's it is!!!

GSGALLANT

The argument isn't the money... it's the quality of the parts. If I get 100,000 miles on my OE cv's before the boots tear, and I take it apart to rebuild it and it's still in great shape, I'm happy because I know I won't be touching it again for 100,000 miles.

You give away a perfectly good axle for core charge and pick up your "almost free" aftermarket axle with lifetime warranty. That's fine, it won't cost you another penny in parts for that axle, but how many times are you going to have to replace it in the next 100,000 miles? What's your time worth now?

ovrrdrive

Right, because people never ever break OEM CV's right?

If that were true there wouldn't be a market for aftermarket versions.

runethechamp

The market is there because people either:

1) Drives it with torn boots so it breaks
2) Go offroading and put tons of stress on them so they break
3) Maybe put a ton of miles so they just plain wear out

I'm with whoever says it better to replace the boots and I have done it myself on both sides. I think the argument the quality of OEM vs aftermarket parts is what drives me here. I tore one boot and drove with it like that for a while, but in dry conditions all the time. When I changed the boots I cleaned it, inspected it and tested it according to the FSM and everything still seemed perfect. The joint wasn't toast is will not automatically be with just a small tear in the boot. The job is just enough of a PITA that I don't want to do it more than necessary, and if the OEM joint will hold up longer than an aftermarket one, I will always just change the boots.

Bear80

ovrrdrive -- Stop web 'wheeling. Go use your truck, find out what works and what doesn't. You're talking right out of your ass. -- Don't assume because your hear online about some -- You have no idea what the real situation is/was.

NO way in H**L I'd trust a dirt cheap outter birfield joint. Sorry but there just isn't anyway IMO that a complete axle shaft be sold for $60 and NOT have a strong outter joint that runs over the $300 Toyota price alone.

ovrrdrive

So, because my opinion is different than yours it not only means I'm wrong, it means I'm talking out of my ass?

I bet your girlfriend loves you to death... If you have one that is.

I say you should open your eyes to the fact that there's often more than one correct answer and just because people have different opinions than you doesn't necessarily mean they're wrong. There's always more than one way to skin a cat.

It takes 15 minutes to change out a CV... I can risk that. When yours fails you're going to take out a loan.

runethechamp

What is this post supposed to mean? I don't get what girlfriends and loans have to do with CV joints. And last time I checked it was still cheaper with the boot set from Toyota including all clamps and grease you need than a new cv joint. A loan? Please.

Claiming that a cv joint with a torn boot is toast is incorrect. Claiming that a cheap cv joint from autozone is the "do it once, do it right" way is also a bold statement. Time to relax a little bit.

drguitarum2005

just to put in my .02, ive had a torn and empty boot on my pass. side inner cv for over 10,000 miles now. i dont know when it happened, it could have been like that when i bought it, but a shop pointed it out to me. due to being on a VERY tight budget, i havent fixed it yet and i've wheeled it many times like that (every time ive ever been wheeling it was like that). i'm not saying its good to let it go like that, but mines lasted for a long time. i of course never go alone so that if it breaks on the trail and im stuck i can be rescued.

ovrrdrive

I couldn't agree with your pompous attitude more. You first.

tc

Why do you think they charge for the core? SO THEY CAN BE REMANUFACTURED.

ALL the steel inside a "remanned" CV WAS a Toyota factory CV at one point... you're just paying someone who does it every day with the correct, special tools and knows what to look for to do a boot job ...

The price difference is merely the Toyota name and dealer markup (which if you've ever compared trdparts4u or Northridge Toyota and your local dealer prices you know is BIG bucks)

ovrrdrive - I would like to see how you change a CV in 15 mins. I consider myself pretty good at it now, and it takes 45 mins with help, 1 hr by myself.

ovrrdrive

Did you knock out your studs and grind the flanges off?

15 minutes still might have been a slight exaggeration, but it wouldn't be much more than that if I was trying to prove a point. But then again, I wasn't the only one exaggerating in this thread to prove a point.

*cough* bear80 *cough*

tc

Actually, I replaced them with bolts. M10-1.25x30mm IIRC

Oh - and that 1 hr the other day was the driver's side - the tougher by far IMHO

kylextrisler

good thing everyone is flexing their e-muscles im so impressed by everyone
92white:
replacing would be smartest, but its not life or death yet
thats what i gathered