CV Axle Boot Leaking

Hey Yall!

I unexpectedly noticed a spot of something underneath my truck today. Upon further inspection, I noticed the boots on my CV Axel were very leaking. It looks like I need to change my CV Axels - just wanted to confirm this on here first before I ordered parts. This was on both sides of the truck. Let me know what you think - all opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

You might be able to just replace the boots. A little more work, but way less $$.

 

Get a couple of auto parts store CVs and put new boots on your factory axles and boom! 2 spare axles

 

I have changed boots before as well as replaced the whole CV axle.... I would much rather replace the entire CV axle, it takes a fraction of the time and is a cleaner job. If you replace the CV axle, try CVJ out of Denver CO, they remanufacture OEM Toyota axles. I have heard aftermarket axles are bad, but have no experience with them.

 

I just replaced my drivers side cv axle last night. I originally ordered a reman OEM from Toyota, but they are on some long backorder and couldn't give an exact date for when it would arrive. I ended up buying a new axle, $420 with tax and core charge. I'm going to keep the old axle to get rebooted and keep as a spare. The hardest part was actually getting the skid plate back on..

 

Your truck is lifted and the CV angles are causing the boots to flex more.
My advice is buy the best axle with the best BOOTS you can afford.

I have heard CVJ makes good boots for lifted trucks.
But I have also heard they are no better than OEM.
I don’t know, i have no real experience with them.

I do know that I have never heard of a quality issue CVJ, and that I would feel 100% running them.

 

CVJ has many options for lifted/non-lifted/long travel trucks.... I have run them on 3 different trucks (2005 Taco, 2015 Taco & 97 4runner - all moderately lifted) with only 1 issue , shortly after installing on my son's T4R, the passenger side outboard clamp disappeared, I band-aided it and CVJ sent more clamps and grease asap. While it was a bummer, their customer service was apologetic and quick to provide what we needed to get it taken care of.

 

Good to hear.
I bought a New NAPA HD.
I decided to just reuse the OEM and never even took the NAPA one out of the box.

I still have. There was a 20% restocking fee on the return. So I kept it “just in case” for later.

 

CVJs are repacked and rebooted for about $200 and up each but basically used CVs inside.
OEM from McGeorge Toyota are discounted to $312 each plus tax and $44 to ship 2 to you as I am ordering them now. Cheaper than any local dealers.
New axle seals would be a good thing to do also about $22 each.
ECGS bushing (drivers side) replacing the roller bearing that allows that CV to wobble all over is about $60.
Install tools are you can borrow on this site or buy on ECGS.
Now you have more options. Depends on your finances and if you are keeping it and go offroad.

 

I just rebooted one of my OEM CV axels and I have beginner to moderate mechanic skills. There's a detailed write up somewhere on here on how to do it. Just make sure you don't skip out on ordering the specialty pliers/tools to do the job. They aren't expensive, but due to the two different style clips the OEM reboot kit includes, you need the two different pliers.

 

Curious…what exactly would be leaking from the boot that would be so runny?

If it was just a torn/damaged boot wouldn’t the worse case be thick grease leaking out? I’m wondering if it’s more likely the axle seals.

 

Wouldn't it smell like diff fluid then? It looks like the grease in the first couple pics, maybe he attempted to wipe it up or something.

 

The OP doesn’t say anything about how anything smells…

If it was grease I don’t think the entire boot and surrounding area would be wet.

 

Boot rips water gets in and the grease is a runny mess.

 

Let me give it another sniff but it didn't really have the nasty diff fluid smell. It kinda looks more like grease. I did hit my upper control arms with a good bit of moly grease but there is no sign of leakage.

 

The fluid has to be coming from the boot in my opinion I'm not sure where else it could come from to land exactly and perfectly on my axel boot.

 

Great Advice! I'm likely going to do this myself and from everything I have read, it's not too hard of a fix - easier to replace the entire axel than just the boot.

 

CVJ's seem like they are the way to go! I'm in Denver so it makes a lot of sense to just lean towards them and get it done right. I have read that they have some pretty good customer service - I am going to reach out to them today!

 

I lifted my truck about 9 months back and this is likely the result of a good amount of driving and offroading during hunting season. Time to upgrade to some CVJ's!

 

look up tacomaworld cv boot mod to prevent this in the future

it prevents fin touching