Drivers side Inner CV joint shot - tips for replacement?

My 2016 TRD Off Road (access cab) has loud clicking coming from front drivers side INNER CV joint. I had the front end with both wheels up. Went under and spun the tires. Sound coming from inner CV joint. I also had a look at all the front end components, no apparent leaks from the CV joints and everything else looks tight and dry. That is odd, but the loud clacking from inside the inner CV joint points to that being the problem.

Note - truck is second hand. Had 6,000 miles on it when I bought it, and had some type of minor accident with minor repairs. Nothing big.

On fast acceleration, front end badly shakes like a maraca, then shaking stops when I let go of the gas pedal drop it by 30mph less.

Front end just feels loose and sloppy.

Normally when it shakes on acceleration like that, it is inner, not outer CV.

No play in either tire, so it appears the wheel bearings are ok. Won't know for certain until a shop gets a look at it. No noises going around corners. I have tested it extensively in parking lots, circling endlessly and working the front end hard. Only noises heard are what I hear under the lifted front end.

My brake pads are also very thin, so likely doing that at same time. Cost...

Had 3 other 4x4's prior to this one. All used quite heavily offroad.

It has 45,000 miles on it. About 8,000 miles are off-road, and these are very bad washboard roads. The kind that kill your kidneys and you really don't want to drive, by my remote fishing lakes are where they are. I do 30 off-road trips every spring to Fall.

Truck is not lifted per se, but does have Bilstein 5100's front and back. I put those on about a year ago, and did put the fronts at the 1 inch lift position. I only did that due to the sag in the stock coils. None of my 4 trucks have ever had a lift.

I have driven it hard on maybe 80 trips now through a shitload of teeth rattling deep washboard roads. That can definitely do the inner CV.

1. So my thinking is if I need to replace the inner CV, I do outer as well, and do the same on passenger side as well. Thinking I do this given how hard the truck is driven, and that I am solo remote on my trips. Less breakdowns the better.

2. Any suggestions on what else might be worth looking at that Taco's might have issues with?

3. Any suggestions on quality of CV joints to look at, or are the stock Taco CV joints the same as after market?

Thanks for any tips....

 

I've always trusted Napa's new CV axles, not the reman, on my older cars. Not sure how that'll translate to our Tacomas.

 

These are what I will be going with very soon

https://sdhqoffroad.com/products/ul...rent-tacoma-05-current?variant=12278468706339

 

Not cheap but I do like (not so much limited)

"No Questions Asked limited lifetime warranty"

 

While you're at it , get and install the ecgs bushings too.

 

CV's get replaced all the time, they are practically a consumable if you offroad. OEM is better quality than anything you'll frind from autozone or whatever but for the price it's hard to beat. I think an OEM CV is like $300 and you can get one from Autozone for $80.

I wheel the shit out of my truck on 35s and the aftermarkets have held up the same as OEM.

EDIT: Damnit why are people refreshing old threads that died

 

That price is for a set of front axles. Still a bit harsh though.

 

My fear would be if the axles and CV's stop being the weak link in the drivetrain, then what will break? Most of the places where I wheel are rocky and it's very easy to wedge a wheel and break an axle or a CV, which sucks. But it sucks less than breaking a front Diff.

Also, personal preference here but if I'm spending that much $$ for axles, powdercoat them red or something so people know LOL!

 

Yep, ring gear or spider gears becomes the next weakest link, blowing a diff up is far worse than cracking an axle.

 

How hard is it to blow the front diff on these trucks? Just curious how big of a concern it is when using beefier CVs

 

You’ll get anecdotes mostly, but most people aren’t wheeling hard enough to blow a front diff. It’s usually power+abuse=failure. We don’t have a lot of power so it usually requires some abuse.