Hey guys.

Been awhile since i've posted here because I wrecked my 4runner a while back and just recently bought a new toy pickup



^

but anyway.... i can see in the front that both of the cv boots are torn... also i noticed when steering is at full lock in either direction, and espcially when one tire is elevated (say doing a u-turn and one tire goes up on a driveway) i hear a horrible crunching (i guess?) noise... my first guess was it's a problem at the c.v.'s... my last yota was sfa so i don't know much aobut the c.v.... if someone could tell me if this makes sense and then also if anyone knows the exact items i need to change them (with part numbers if you have them) it would be greatly appreciated... i understand i need the boots (2 per side right? i think only my outer is torn) and then 2 types of grease... i have read how to do it but if anyone has a writeup with pictures that would help...also if you have any suggestions on what else this could be then please reply

thanks in advance,
kelly

 

It may be easier and more prudent to get rebuilt axles and just swap the assembly. Depends on how long the boots have gone without grease

 

Nice little truck you got there.

Mossback is right. Depending on how long dem CV's went w/o grease will determine weather or not their worth rebuilding. You'll just have to tear in to em to find that out. Unless there real bad, there probably rebuildable. Can't help ya on the part numbers or a write up with pics but I did recently do this on a friends Tacoma and did a write up on it, it just don't have pice. I (think I) wrote it so it was real easy to follow. If you wanna read it just for a heads up, cause some things will be slightly different on your rig, you can see it here.

Re: the noise. It's not the CV's, that's the steering stops grinding. Sounds hellacious but it's more bark than bite. That's infamous among the first generation of IFS rigs. If you look, you'll see a curved/dished halfmoon lookin' piece welded to the lower control arm. Then just look correspondingly for the adjustable bolt that contacts it and you should see signs of it scraping and causeing the noise. You can go order the factory plastic bolt head covers but they wear out in no time. Some people gring and smooth out everything the best they can while others just live with it. It's rare that my Runna makes that noise (cause it's a street queen) but I'd fall in the "just live with it" category.

Hope this helps (hell, hope I'm right and not stearing you wrong...pun intended)

 

well then assuming that the grinding is what you said it is then im not too worried... how would i know if the c.v.'s arent good? if nothing else makes a noise and i put on a new boot and pack it with grease is there gonna be a problem?

 

That looks almost identical to the truck my girlfriend bought new back in '94;great truck,it's too bad we sold it.

 

anyone have any advice? what exactly would a bad C.V. cause. if everything works now am i safe to replace the boots and go on my merry way?

 

Boot breaks, grease goes out, dirt gets in. Metal on metal with dirt too means the joint will wear faster. It will begin to whine when driving and I suppose coulde seize up eventually. Chances are stuff would just break. But this is only if it's pretty toasted already. If you want to mess with the grease you should be fine just putting another boot on. It's just easier to get a Reman axle and swap them out and get core. Depends how cheap you can get it though.