Was inspecting the 87 4runner after I got it and the front axle boots were torn with no grease in them so thats the first thing I want to take care of before something snaps. My mechanic said the whole front half shafts have to be replaced and the "book" called for 6 hours labor @ 92.00/hr. The parts themselves are roughly 80.00 each.. my question is if there is an upgrade for this particular part for off roading or just to replace with oem parts and eat the labor cost.. any cheaper or better options would be very helpful.

 

Just buy new boot, Pull your parts and clean thoroughly, regrease and put new boots on, put back in.

Unless there is extreme damage to the CVJ there rebuildable.
Rockauto has them for a good price.

 

They are a pita on the 87.Knock out the inner studs and take the lower bj loose. You can beat 3 hours a side easy.

 

1. To replace the outer boot, you have to also replace the inner boot (outer comes off in that direction.) The boot kits are $30 each; an Autozone remanufactured half-shaft is $63. You do the math.

2. To remove the half-shaft, it is NECESSARY to compress the suspension as though it were sitting on the tires. (I use a jack to lift the rotor until the weight just starts to come off the jack stands.) Then they come out easily. If you don't do it this way, you might get frustrated, and start doing things like removing the ball joints or shock absorbers or whatever, or even worse, taking a BFH to the precision studs on the differential flange. Obviously, Toyota didn't build a vehicle requiring you to do stuff like that. But it's your truck; if your favorite tool is a 5lb sledge, go at it!

 

I was told to replace the axle boots I have to dis assemble the whole hub assembly.. hmm im gonna get a second opinion. Any other suggestions to get the torn boots off would be great

 

Read the FSM. 6 hours is absurd. Shouldn't be more than 2.5...

Yes, you need to remove, the hubs, but you don't need to fully disassemble/reassemble them unless you want to.

You can leave the tires on the ground and should help w/ removing the axle... And should allow you to remove the axle with just unbolting and removing the sway bar end links.

Rockford CV makes the toughest boots I've seen. Easily twice as thick as OEM...

 

I am doing this same project right now on my 95 4runner. The bolts on the differential flange are really difficult to get around. I cant pull the axle out all the way for the life of me, no matter how compressed the shock is. I tried disengaging the sway bar, and i was really close to unbolting the shock. do I have to knock out the studs on the diff flange?

 

Honestly amirk I am going to pay someone to do this for that reason (not to mention im not very mechanically inclined--just a tire/wheel expert) im just providing parts and luckily I have a mech. In my family that knows what he is doing so it shouldn't cost me too much, I will ask/see what he does to git r done and post asap.

 

Folks seem to have varying degrees of difficulty with this. I haven't done mine yet, but it's in my to do w/in the next month.

From what I've read, the secret is leaving it on the ground as it leaves your suspension fully compressed...

 

That would be great, unless you have trouble getting the cone washers out (I did not). Then you might need to tap the hub on the side, and it will be difficult to get to if you have alloy wheels.

But give it a try; the worst that will happen is you'll need to remove the wheel to get the cone washers loose. Then you can put the wheel back on, sit it down, and swap out the half-shaft.

 

even with the car on the ground, I couldn't get the tulip around the differential flange studs. I think i'm going to resort to smacking a couple of the a studs out of the flange to drop it out

 

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