I noticed last weekend that one of the CV axle boots on my 1991 Pickup has torn. Given that the truck is 30 years old and has gone 230,000 miles, I'm saying that a new set of axles and wheel bearings is certainly not a bad idea. I looked on Rockauto and there are many different brands of CV axle offered. Which ones are solid choices for long term reliable service? The truck is a nicely restored street-driven stock height and V6 drivetrain vehicle that is occasionally slipped into 4WD for splashing through mud puddles around the farm.

 

Any of them OEM Toyota parts?
After all, the original, factory, parts lasted 30+ years. Replace them with the same thing, you should get another 30+ years out of them. They may cost a bit more than the aftermarket, China cheapies, but IMHO, well worth the extra cost for the reliability and lifespan they have. Any time you can, go with OEM parts. It's always worth it.

There are a couple exceptions to this rule, to my mind.
I use Timkin bearings, wherever I can. They work very nicely for me.
Same for FelPro gaskets. I put a set into my 87 4Runner when I replaced the head a friend cracked by overheating it, and they're still going fine to this day, some 20+ years later. I am sure there are better out there, but heck, they seem to work good for me!
The OEM timing chain guide and tensioner are plastic, which always bothered me. There are metal ones available out there, so I would think they would be better, just in general.
Oil is another thing that is pretty much operator's choice. Just stay with the FSM spec'ed weight for your engine and driving conditions. Same for the transmission and differential oil.
The oil FILTER should be the Toyota one. The big one. Darned if I can recall the part number off the top of my head. EDIT: Got it. 90915-YZZD!
Plenty of room for a large size filter though, especially on the 22R type engines. Heck, there's so much room, you could fit some big-rig diesel type filter on there.
Like the Purolator Pure One, 300001. It's the size of the Fram PH8-A, and I've been using it for many, many years. The Toyota filter, though, seems to do the best out there of all, though, in independant tests, as far as getting the little teeensy bits and pieces, etc, out of the oil. I've recently switched to the Toyota YZZD filter, and it seems to be doing a great job.

Other than that, OEM is the way to go whenever you can. If you can't get OEM, go with Japanese made parts. They'll be much more reliable and longer lived than the cheapo China made trash. The stuff made for European vehicles. They may SAY the are as good as far as form, fit, and function, but they just don't get along with the Japanese systems in our Trucks. Things like Bosch parts. Definite no-no's.

Have fun!
Pat☺

 

If no dirt got inside, you could just reboot them............

Manual hubs or ADD?

If manual, they don't have 230,000 miles of wear on them.

 

The hubs are manual, and I didn’t think of that. They are probably close to new. The only previous owner is a buddy of mine who used the 4wd to drive through the desert sometimes but didn’t abuse the truck. Reboot is the way to go!

 

Hi Pat!

I like the Timken bearings too. I will replace them along with the oil seals. New cv boots should be all I need. The one boot just did tear the other day so it hasn’t gotten full of dirt yet.

 

There is no reason to replace front wheel bearings...... just because......
Wheel bearings on these trucks are large and substantially over engineered.
Cleaning and inspection will most often confirm that these bearings are still fit for service, and only need to be repacked.
New seals are always the order of the day though.

 

Every time I tried some aftermarket brand, the boots tore up after just a few trail runs. So in my experience nothing lasts like OEM, or rebuilt OEM CVs.I got my last set done by RCV Performance, which offers also a thicker neoprene option for the boots. Seem to hold well after several hard trail runs. .

 

This is the route I’m taking. I have a boot kit coming from Marlin Crawler to rebuild the OEM axles. Good ideas on this forum!

 

What I do is buy a spare, Toyota CVs seem to have more range of movement than the Napa. I pull the old then insert the new. Reboot the old with the Toyota kit and I always have a spare then.

Do the boot slide mod when rebooting. stretch the boot father down the shaft before clamping it.

 

I haven’t heard of that. Maybe an inch or so? I have the boot kit and hope to get going on the job this afternoon.

 

Which boot do you stretch?

 

I just looked this up. It’s for lifted trucks, and for the inner boot. Mine is stock height and just failed from age and sitting in one place for nearly a decade. The job didn’t happen today, though.

 

The inner boot is stretched so the fins don't rub on a lifted truck. The rubbing makes the boot fail and spin out the grease and lean to joint failure. If you have C/O lift like I do, I'd do it. A drop bracket lift like Fabtech may not require it I don't know

My main thing is buying a 3rd CV means you always have a spare to swap in. Once you've done it once its easy. I had to buy the proper socket first. I forget the size but it is always in my truck with my impact wrench.

 

Just to close the loop on the thread and thank those who contributed. I bought boot kits for both axles from Marlin Crawler and finally put them in this weekend. Man what a greasy job! It’s all done though. I rebuilt the hubs last year so the cone washers came out easily, which was nice. I did more disassembly on the drivers side (the first one). For the passenger side I supported the truck securely on jack stands and then raised the control arm one pump at a time with a floor jack until the cv axle was free to slide out. That seemed a better way to do it and much less invasive on the truck.