HELP: Ruptured CV Boots

'10 TRD 4X4. I noticed grease on my fender wells yesterday. I felt around the outer CV Boots and both of them have apparent punctures. I use this truck for Land Surveying and have been working around corn & cotton fields lately. I'm pretty sure corn and or cotton stalks are the culprit. Questions:

-Are the boots replaceable? If so, what level of effort is required? If not,, should I run as is and wait for the joints to wear out, then replace the axles.

-After I resolve the issue, are there any sort of guards made to keep this from happening again? I had the same problem on a 4 wheeler. I bought some guards from "Ricochet" and they seem to work well.

 

If they haven't been torn for too long, take the CV's in to a shop to be repacked with grease and rebooted. I've never done the job myself but I heard it can get pretty messy if you do it yourself.

Never heard of people running guards for CV's on Tacos, so can't help you there.

 

http://vimeo.com/3089355
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/157805-cv-boot-tear.html

 

I feel your pain!

If you don't think you can do it yourself have it taken to a shop. Havent really heard of CV guards because of IFS articulation

 

Boot kits run around $40, you can get the entire axle assembly for a little more from a auto parts store. Rebooting is a messy pain in the ass but not hard to do. I recently replaced both my axles with EMPI axle assemblies. $100 each on autopartswarehouse, no core. Kept the oem axles and will reboot them in the future for spares. If you think this will be an ongoing issue due to your job/truck use, having two sets might be your best bet

 

Thanks for the help. I read where several guys had Toyota replace them under warranty. I'm going to give this a try, but I don't expect it to work. I'll probably end up replacing the axles with aftermarket ones. I still want some sort of guards or something to keep it from happening again. Any help on this is appreciated.

 

Rebooting them is cheap and not too difficult. I would do that. Aftermarket CV axles are nowhere close in quality to the OEM Toyota axles.

 

I agree on both points here. I have replaced a couple of CV boots in the past and it's a filthy nasty job, but relatively quick and easy.

I've also read lots of horror stories regarding aftermarket CV axles on many Toyota forums. With such a critical component, why take the risk when your axles likely just need new boots and grease?

Dan

 

As shady as it sounds, I would at least try to play the dumb card at the dealer.

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