CVJ axle boots toast

Welp, both of my outer cv axle boots are toast. These are CVJ rebuilds with upgraded boots all around. Not sure how many miles are on them, maybe 20,000? (using how many oil changes since swapping them) and just shy of two years. The axles are still good (good cores/rebuild parts I suppose), but there has got to be a better boot (bold because I'm not bitching at CVJ) option- are there any other options?

 

From what I've heard most people just reboot them with the kits from Toyota, is your CV angle really bad or something? That seems quick to blow through them. How much lift do you have?
Somebody more helpful will be along shortly I'm sure, but I'm curious of the answer too as I just replaced both mine with OEM spares and will be rebooting my stockers soon.

 

My lift is pretty moderate, I didn't even adjust the Icons, I kept them at the factory/pre-configured lift they came with, I even have an OEM like rake by having 1.5" aals in the back. But, the fronts are mid travel/extended droop, so when I'm romping around they are allowing a lot of droop.

I'm thinking of going with CVJs again, but with OEM boots this time.

 

How much were the CVJ's? I think reboot kits are like 30-50 so pretty cheap just messy to do

 

$397.00 shipped with core charge- if you send your old ones into them, then $247. I'm thinking mine are blown or close to it with how long the boots went undetected, and will order a rebuilt set, then send in these ones not for the core, but to be rebuilt as back-ups.

 

Well, it's about the same amount of work to pull the axles out and completely replace them as it is to pull the axles out, repair the boots and return the axles.

Considering the outer CV joint could have been exposed for some time before you noticed the damage and the joint is almost certainly contaminated, you're going to need to clean the joints, re-grease them, install new boots and then return the axles to the truck. While that is the less expensive route; the bulk of the work is still removing & replacing the axles.

I agree that 20K miles is awfully quick for the boots to fail but I think I would just pull the axles and put new ones in. It's a little more money but about the same amount of effort. Plus the fact that the boots failed so quickly would make me worry about the quality of the rest of that axle and CV joints.

 

Wow that's spendy. Still cheaper then new OEM ones I think but that's a lot. If I were you I'd reboot them yourself and see if they last. After that keep an eye out for used OEM ones for spares. Or even though they suck, buy a cheap auto part store one to keep as a spare
Edit: spelling

 

True, not that much work to pull them though. It would just suck to spend the money on brand new ones and have the same thing happen again

 

CVJ will reboot them. You pay for the boots and the labor is nothing. Plus you gotta ship them as well.
I ended up rebooting mine with OEM boots and did the boot slide mod.

 

$400 dollars for two Tacoma axle shafts ? Dude, you can get them for way less than that.

 

I've watched a few vids on how to re-boot and re-greese them, and I do not give myself the credit or work ethic to do it. My free time is really valuable, I'd rather do like last time, have fresh ones ready to swap out- I go as far as swapping them out myself vs going to a shop, but to do the huge amount of hassle to reboot and re-grease them only to have them fail due to contamination- I'd be pissed. I'd spend much more money if there was a solid reliable option- its not that I'm made of money but this is not cool- I don't want my cv's to be like extended oil changes.

 

I'd probably just call the manufacturer and ask their opinion then

 

OEM? Lots of threads here about cheap $60 Autozone/napa/etc ones that do not cut it on the trail. CVJ comes recommended on this forum, they apparently only use OEM cores and high quality rebuild components so that you get maximum angle and reliability. One thing they come up short on is boots I guess. Not that much CV angle boot innovation from any shop it seems like.

I had read about that mod before getting the CVJs and asked them if they do this mod, their email back was they simply do OEM, or the red/blue "upgraded" ones that seem to survive more aggressive angles longer than OEM (so they are told). The boot slide mod looks legit- reliability of OEM material, and angle rubbage mitigated. I sent an email out to CVJ asking if they have any new options.

 

When I reboot my stock set I'll be looking into the boot slide mod as well, jury is out on how long the used ones I just put in will last, but I don't have the highest hopes haha

 

You have to request the outer boot for Oem from cvj. I did the second set because I noticed the first set the outer boot’s started cracking.

 

$400 for OEM or comparable quality CVs isn't outrageous...would probably pay more than that if you bought them from Toyota. You can get them from Vatozone for as little as $60 per side or ~$90/each from Napa...that's where I get my spares. Still running OEM but have Napas as backups for if/when they fail. At least with most cheap CVs you get a lifetime warranty...even though having one fail on you and having to repair it on the trail kind of sucks.

Seems odd that a place like CVJ would use low quality boots that would break like that in only 20k miles...my OEM boots see some abuse and have lasted longer than that. When my old ones tore the just got a little crack in them...They didn't pop off completely like yours did. Weird

 

Mine popped completely, but at the small end of the boot

 

I think I'll go OEM boots this time, and request they do the boot slide mod- and if they haven't done it before, to try on mine.

 

Way, way back in the day, the only economical option on front wheel drive vehicles with CV joints was to rebuild the joints and re-boot them in the process. The ONLY time you replaced axles in the old days was when the original one was damaged to the point that it couldn't be re-built.

Then some time after those dark days, inexpensive replacement axle shafts became available. From that point forward it generally became less expensive to just replace the entire axle shaft rather than to rebuild them yourself.

As for the alleged superior quality of the expensive axle shafts verses the economy replacements - I'm calling BS on that. Most replacement axle shafts are nothing more than OE shafts and CV joints that have been rebuilt. I don't think $200 ones are any better than $100 ones.

I've seen many $100 Napa replacement shafts that out-lived the vehicle they were installed in. I'm not sure if anything makes those expensive shafts any more costly other than a really fat profit margin for the distributor.

 

I think Napa makes good quality axles from what I hear but I've read enough accounts of cheaper Autozone and Oreilleys axles breaking often to have little doubt that they're of lesser quality. I'd be willing to bet they're made out of cheaper material than OEM. If I'm proven wrong I'll eat crow on it, but I think they're cheaper for good reason.
But you do get a lifetime warranty with them which is nice and can essentially just keep replacing them as needed for little to no cost after the initial purchase.