CV Joint Issue. Please help!

Hey everyone, I am new to this site and was hoping to get some advice from some people who know Tacomas well.

My truck was leaking grease in my driveway!! So I looked under it and the boot on my CV joint is ripped open. The problem is, I need to use it to drive to work the next 5 days! Will it harm anything if I drive it the way it is? The boot is ripped on the part towards the motor side, not the wheel side. This is the second time it has happened on my truck.. so I am not sure if lifting it is the reason it does that?

I have a 2001 Tacoma, 4X4 V6 with a 2 1/2 spacer lift in the front and an add-a-leaf in the rear.

Any advice would be tremendously appreciated since I need to get it figured out fast.

Thanks!

 

My taco is burnt ^ isn't that a small problem?

 

You'll be ok driving it for a lil while.... just replace the cv when you get a chance.

 

Wow... thanks for the quick responses guys!

Will I be okay just replacing the boot?

 

If your going to go thru that much trouble to replace a rubber boot $40 plus all the time...Just buy the whole Damned CV joint new from Auto Zone for less than $80 bucks...You have to remove the same shit to do either job.

 

X2.............in the long run......better off replacing whole shaft. I got mine brand new from advanced auto for around $75.......lifetime guaranteed.

 

I have never replaced the boot on my older Toyota, although I'm sure I should. I just periodically pack grease on the splines.

 

There is a good chance that it is the lift that is causing you to tear boots. High axle angles can cause the boot fins to rub. If they rub too much a tear will occur. This does seem to happen more often on the inner boots, if it happens.

Was it the same boot both times? If so, how many miles did you get on the replacement boot before it tore the 2nd time?

 

I tried putting on high angle cv boots last night and it did not end well. I decided to instead get set some remanufacturered cv axles from autozone. They come with a lifetime warranty so any time I rip a boot or somehow break the axle I just have to go over to autozone for a new axle. Oh and you can drive it the way it is with the torn boot.

 

I would agree about replacing the whole axle instead of just the boot. Been there done that. And if you're worried about driving it like that, your biggest problem is moisture. What you can do is go to the parts store and get a lil thing of speedy boot, that's what it's called, it's green grease specifically for cv axles. Squirt that in the cv and then duct tape it shut. I would suggest cleaning surfaces with some sort of solvent before putting on the duct tape so you get maximum adhesion. You gotta put the duct tape on a certain direction so it doesn't come unraveled driving down the road. Easieast way to do that is to jack the truck up, spin the wheel in the direction that it would travel when driving forward and spin the duct tape on that way. I had an old subaru that had your problem and I did that, and never had a problem with the axle after that. You can even go anther step further and zip tie the ends of the duct tape to keep a seal. Good luck, and if you need advice wit swappin out your axle, well c'mon back.