How To: Remove and Replace CV Axles on 1st Gen A.D.D.

How To: Remove and Replace CV Axles on 1st Gen A.D.D. ​

and Replacement of Boots​

2003 Toyota Tacoma 4WD with A.D.D. Hubs

Notes:

1) Apologies up-front. Somehow I lost dozens of photos from my camera and I had literally taken a pic of every step. I hope my descriptions are sufficient because I'm really hacked that I lost so many good photos. ​

2) At the bottom of this post I have attached some applicable documents from the factory service manual. However, the FSM does NOT mention the details I providein Steps 16 and 17​

3) All parts sourced below are from Conicelli Toyota via www.partznet.com​

4) Oh yeah, don’t do anything stupid. If you do, its your fault not mine. I make express no warranty for accuracy, safety, logic, or feasibility. Don’t forget to spay and neuter your pets.​

5) Please remember, re-booting CV axles that are popping during turns or anytime for that matter will not be resolved by following this procedure. If your CVs are making noise, this will not help. This procedure is to help someone understand the removal and replacement process and for those who have a ripped a boot and are looking to immediately replace the boot before any further damage can occur.​

6) In order to make clear the terminology of the axle components, below are the common terms associated with CV Axles:​

Inboard - Meaning closer to the differential​

Outboard - Meaning closer to the wheel​

Inboard Tulip Joint (or Inboard tulip)​

​

Inboard Tulip Housing​

​

Outboard Joint​

​

Parts:





Toyota Inner and Outer Boot Kit

P/N: 04438=04021

Qty: 2

Price:$31.11 each

Note:Includes inner & outer boots, CV lube, snap-rings, and boot clamps.



Toyota Differential Seal (Right)

P/N: 90311-47013

Qty: 1

Price:$12.87

Toyota Differential Seal (Left)

P/N: 90311-47012

Qty: 1

Price;$7.77



Differential Gear Lube

Type:75W-90

Qty: 1.25qts



Tools:

Jack and jack stands

36mm and impact or breaker bar

14mm socket and ½” ratchet

Chisel

6mm hex wrench

10mm hex wrench

17mm wrench

Ball peen hammer

Brass hammer

Scribing pen

Paint pen

Pry bar (8” and 18” or longer)

Needle nose pliers

Snap-ring pliers

CV Boot clamp pliers

Utility knife

Oil drain pan

Cleaning Pan (I bought a cheap Rubbermaid tube it must be atleast 25” long and 6” deep)

Scotch-Brite

1 gallon of degreaser

2 rolls of Shop Towels

2 cheap paint brushes or cleaning whisks

1 tube of Blue Lok-Tite


Step 1:

Remove skid plates using 12mm socket. There are 3 bolts on the front of the front skid plate, 2 at the back of the front plate, and 2 on the back of the back plate.

Step 2:

Ensure E-brake is set. Jack truck up, place jack stand under frame.

Step 3:

Remove wheel and remove dust cover carefully. Soak rim of cover with PB blaster or equivalent. Use sharp screwdriver or chisel slowly around the circumference of the dust cover slowly prying it open. Don’t mess up rim, this dust cover will be re-used.

Step 4:

Remove cotter pin. It may be most effective to use a pair of needle nose pliers to grip head of cotter pin and tap out pliers with a hammer for removal. Slip nut cover off. Use 36mm socket and breaker bar or impact wrench to remove axle nut.



Step 5:

Remove the four (4) 14mm bolts holding the spindle to thelower control arm (LCA).



Step 6:

Remove the sway bar end link with a 6mm hex wrench and a 17mm wrench.

Step 7:

Soak axle to spline joint with PB blaster or equivalent and gently tap out using a brass hammer or dead blow. Be careful not to damage threads.

Step 8:

Swing spindle out of the way. It may be helpful to use steel wire to tie the spindle toward the rear of the fender well to aid in the removal of the CV axle.

Step 9:

Use pry bar (minimum of 18”, but 31” recommended) to pry CV axle from differential where the axle enters the differential.

Step 10:

Place CV axle in cleaning pan and use chisel and hammer to carefully beat factory boot clamps off of each boot.

Step 11:

Use utility knife to cut old boots off. Seriously, don’t use some crappy old, worn out blade. Put a new one in.

Step 12:

With a scribing pen, mark the axle shaft and inboard tulip housing for re-installation purposes. I’m not sure why this matters, but the Factory Service Manual recommends it. Pull inboard tulip housing from the CV axle.

Step 13:

Fill cleaning pan with water and degreaser. I used Purple Power and it worked quite well. I used a cheap paintbrush to clean all of the grease off every surface and out of inboard tulip housing. Then use brake cleaner to clean the grease out of the outboard joint. I used an entire can per CV axle.

Step 14:

Using shop towels, wipe everything clean and free of grease.It can’t be too clean.

Step 15:

Proceed to bench vise and clamp axle in vise. Be sure to only clamp on the exposed (when the boots are on) portion of the axle. Do not clamp on any of the unexposed portions of the axle because some parts of theaxle need to be smooth to make a proper seal with the boot. Clamp the axle in the vise with the inboard tulip facing upward.

This is a good time to mark the top of the inboard tulip and the axle splines to tulip.

Step 16:

Using a pair of snap-ring pliers, slide exposed snap-ring down the axle shaft.We will be removing and replacing it later.

Step 17:

Place a large socket (25mm works well) on the top of the inboard tulip and gently tap it down until the inner locking spring is exposed. Using a pair of pliers, pull the locking spring out. We will be replacing the locking spring later.

Step 18:

Using a brass hammer or equivalent, tap inboard tulip up the axle shaft until it comes off.

Step 19:

Using snap-ring pliers, remove the lower snap-ring. Take your time and don’t damage the splines. We will be replacing this with a new snap-ring later.

Now is a good time to take some Scotch-Brite and clean up the axle between the joints. Be sure to wipe all of the debris clean.

Step 20:

Unclamp axle assembly from vise and set axle in vise jaws with outboard joint facing upwards. Take gray/black grease blister pack and slowly begin squeezing grease into every crevice as you rotate and rock the axle assembly back and forth. Continue doing this with both blister packs.

Step 21:

Spray WD-40 on the small diameter end of the outboard boot.WD-40 specifically seems to help allow the boot to slide over the axle. Slide the large and small diameter clamps onto the boot.

Step 22:

Lay axle on workbench. Using boot clamp pliers, clamp both the small and large diameter clamps.

Step 23:

Clamp axle in vise with outboard housing down. Take small diameter clamp and place on inboard boot. Spray slight amount of WD-40 on small diameter end of boot. Slide boot down axle until it butts up to the the other boot. We will be sliding it back up later, but it must be down this far for convenience.

Step 24:

Take new snap-ring and slide it down from the inboard sideto the appropriate snap-ring groove.

Take new inner locking spring and press it on by hand.

Step 25:

Take inboard tulip and align it with your alignment marks previously made. Using brass hammer and large socket (25mm still works well) tap the tulip joint down until it touches the lower snap-ring. There will be a small amount of wiggle between the snap-ring and inner locking spring.

Step 26:

Take inboard tulip housing and set it upside down in vise.There is no need to clamp it. Take the light brown grease from blister pack and use one pack of grease to fill the bottom of the inboard housing.

Step 27:

Place axle down into inboard housing. Use second light brown grease blister pack and fill the rest of the inboard housing full of grease.

Step 28:

Slide inboard boot down and into its final place. Be sure to pay attention tothe radiuses that align with the radiuses of the inboard housing.

Step 29:

Lay axle on work bench. Using boot clamp pliers, clamp small diameter boot.

Note: I could not find any tool to clamp the large diameter factory-supplied Toyota boot clamp. Believe it or not, 1 of the 4 clamps is different and the clamp tool will not work on it. After exhausting the internet, I could not find a tool to work with the the one odd clamp. Instead, I ordered a pack of 15” Stainless Steel cable ties (zip-ties) and used it instead.

Step 30:

With axle lying on workbench, using snap-ring pliers remove differential snap-ring from inboard housing spline. Install new snap-ring. Don’t skip this step. I had a very difficult time by trying to re-use the original snap-ring. I highly recommend replacing it. It comes in the Toyota boot kit.

Step 30:

If you are replacing differential seal, now is the time to do it. I ordered thes eals, but the seals that were installed were in near perfect condition so I elected not to replace them. I did however take some gear lube and wipe them clean.

Step 31:

Slide axle into the differential. This can be a bit tricky, but take your time.I gently used the axle to tap itself in.

Step 32:

Reassemble in reverse order starting at Step 8 and working backwards through Step 3. Be sure on Step 5 to clean threads of four (4) 14mm screws and use adab of Blue Lok-Tite on each screw.

Step 33:

Once all assembly has been completed and both axle have been re-booted, the truck level on the ground, use a 10mm hex wrench to remove the fill plug on the differential. Yes, the fill plug. Always remove the fill plug first.

Step 34:

Place drain pan under differential and remove drain plug with 10mm hex wrench. After gear lube has finished draining, replace drain plug.

Step 35:

Using gear lube pump, pump 1.25 qts into differential or until fluid begins coming out of fill hole. Install fill plug.

Step 36:

Finish by reinstalling skid plates.

 

This is a nice write up explaining the process of installing new boots.

From personal experience and not having a lift, the pry bar is sometimes a PITA in step 9. I've found that using a small metal wedge and gently tapping it between the inner axle shaft and the differential housing will get it popped out in the matter of seconds instead of trying to fit the pry bar the right way when your truck is not that high off the ground. I always seem to hit the ground or some piece of frame is in the way to pop it.

Let me ask you this to play devil's advocate. This is a long process and anyone who has done this probably knows it can be messy. You put 91 dollars into parts when you could have gotten two brand new axles from somewhere like Advanced for 120 + tax (using the 40 dollar off 100 coupon code). These are their best axles and have a lifetime warranty. At step 10 is where you would start reassembling and be done in about 20 steps total with little to no mess. Don't get me wrong, the write up is great for anyone thinking of this, but why go to great lengths? The only reason I could see is if someone wanted to say the aftermarket Advance axles are not factory, but I've seen what weather and off road does to the Toy axles just the same and I'm happier to run aftermarket and keep replacing them under warranty. Maybe there is another reason to convince me otherwise?

 

Thanks for the comments.

Regarding the pry bar, I used a 31" pry bar, had the skid plates off and truck jacked up. I had no interference and literally it felt as if it took 10 pounds of force to pop them loose. Thanks for the other tip. It may provide handy when I don't have a gi-normous pry bar with me one day.

Pertaining to your comments regarding the "juice versus the squeeze" on re-booting versus Advance Auto rebuilds....I wrestled with it. Here's why I did what I did:

1) Truck has 207,000 miles. I rarely ever do any wheeling with it. Yes, I have a winch and a lift simply because I like having the capability if I need it, not because I'm Mr. Weekend-Wheeler or anything. To each his own I guess. So, my point in that is that my axles have received no additional abuse other than driving to and from the trash dump and towing my boat.

2) My CVs were not popping, clacking, clinking, and clanking. My boots only tore because of their age and my lift.

3) Upon removal and inspection, there was no noticeable play at all in either the inboard or outboard joints. Everything looked great. I found no shards of metals. Nothing.

4) I'm a big proponent of using Genuine Toyota parts. The thought of putting Advance Auto rebuilds on my truck turned my stomach. I understand they have a lifetime replacement warranty, but I still don't prefer the quality (or lack thereof in my humble opinion) and having the constant nagging feeling of "when" are they going to go bad.

5) My truck is no longer my daily driver. I drive a piece of crap Honda back and forth to work because of gas mileage and it is cheaper to maintain. My truck may get 5,000 - 8,000 miles per year now (as compared to a few years ago when I was putting 20,000+ per year on it). I plan on buying a newer, larger truck in two years (diesel) for towing my boat. I'll keep my Tacoma for hunting, canoeing, backpacking, biking, kayaking etc.

6) I knew the minute my boot tore. When it did, I was on my way home where I parked it for a week while I was awaiting all of the parts to arrive. So, it saw no additional grease loss, rain damage, etc. I felt confident that the axles were good and just needed new boots. The next time, I may need new axles.

7) After beating my head against the wall on removing the inboard tulip (the first time), I was able to remove, re-boot, and reinstall in about 2 hours the second axle. Not too bad, nor time consuming.

8) As a part of this weekends festivities, I also installed the Toytec differential drop kit which should help my new boots last longer.

9) The money wasn't really the issue, it was more of a quality factor to me.

I hope this helps explain why I chose the re-booting route rather than the half-axle rebuilds. These are all of the things that went through my mind as I debated on what/how to address the situation. If my CVs do go, I'll probably look at someone like RMD or something for a rebuild.

 

Good points. I think they are all valid and worth weighing if someone else is wrestling with the idea. I'll just point out for anyone else that may read this the 99.99 Advanced axles are new and not rebuilds. The 59.99 ones are rebuilds, and I looked at one, and it was junk. I quickly handed it back and went with the new ones. I had to change because of rust and not boots, but seeing the quality of these it's worth considering.

I've read a lot of conflicting things about the diff drops....use them, don't, they don't do anything.... I just pulled mine off my Taco since I went with a skid row plate...time will tell how they hold up being non-Toyota, but new.

 

If anybody needs boot kit ive got one that I never used haha not trying to thread jack

 

Thanks for the write up, parts list & tool list! Getting ready to do this myself and hate when you get half way in only to find out you need something…
Question, did you do the ECGS bushing?

 

New Guy here, regarding the boot pliers, would these work?


http://www.oetiker.com/en/Products#/?l0=7E7E8805A4BF4A339521A056825944D9

 

thanks very detailed and helpful,my outboard right side was missing the circlip

 

Took my old axle apart a while back and got a little fuzzy on reinstalling tripod joint.2002Tacoma.There are two snap grooves on.that end of axle.If I.Put one the furthest from the end the tripod wont go on far enough to install a snap ring to retain it.If I just put the snap ring on the end of axle the joint slides up and down about two inches.Diagram just shows one snap ring on the end is this correct.Thanks for any help.I put a new aftermarket axle in it but would like to reboot old one for when the Chinese plays out.

 

So... The OP hasn't been seen around here since 2015(according to his profile)

Maybe try this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-change-a-cv-axle-on-an-01-04-add-tacoma.21192/

Or this by @turbodb might be helpful
https://adventuretaco.com/how-to-rebooting-a-tacoma-cv-axle/

 

Happened to be passing by this thread & thought I'd add this Timmah vid Just in case
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...FAB845ECB8230EDEC678FAB&view=detail&FORM=VIRE