Possible CV boot leak ???

I was under my truck yesterday doing the trans drain/fill and noticed my passenger side CV boot to the wheel had a little grease on it. I cleaned and felt around for cracks or damage but felt nothing. Anyone else have this happen ?

truck has 103k.. is it normal for boots to leak around this mileage ? Driver side is fine. Just would like to remedy this before it gets worse.

 

Yep…..that’s a leaking boot

 

Yes totally common especially if lifted or you off road at all including fire roads, cvs are generally a weak point. Passenger side usually goes first

 

Not sure if that's a crack or just grease. If you clean it and only find a pin price you can clean it and put some silicone then leave it to dry. If you need to replace the boots its actually pretty easy to do, hardest thing is removing the axles. You will need a secured large vice, mini sledge and medium/large snap ring pliers if memory serves, also a willingness to get rather greasy.

 

You have a leak. Best option is to reboot the OE CV joint with another OE boot. Don't replace it with aftermarket junk.

 

^ Problem is OEM boot kits are 400$, CV axles reman are 200$

Quote it out anyway, but most of us recommend cheap axles, and you can warranty them if you get a bad set.

 

OEM axles/boots seem to be better then aftermarket unless you actually pay for heavy duty axles, I'd you install aftermarket cv axles at least keep the OEM axles and reboot them for when the aftermarket fail.

 

You are way off. Genuine oem boot kit including inner and outer boots are under $40 then another $36 for the bands. A brand new Toyota CV axle is $315.

 

Yup I paid 50bucks for my oem boot kit

 

Thank you all for the feedback I really appreciate it. I definitely would like to install heavier duty axles so maybe now is the time to do so…

 

They are bonkers at my dealer last time I checked. Maybe its run away markup.

 

Called the stealership just to see what they would quote for a boot replacement they said $570 . 500 labor 70 for part Because have to do inner and outer boot since they come in a pair… absolutely insane ..

 

It’s not terribly difficult to pull the CV and reboot even first time. Plenty of YouTube vids. The only variable part is how easy or difficult it is to get the CV out the diff. Depending on how the circlip is oriented on the end of the shaft, it can be a pain.

Lots of people though like to just swap in a cheap axle and take their time rebooting the old OEM one to then keep as a spare.

 

A brand new OEM CV is $340. I would probably buy that and a boot kit, install the new and reboot the old. That way you have two that can or should last a while again.

 

Heavier duty cv axles might not be cost efficient. You didn’t say your current ones failed and heavier duty ones (eg RCV are very expensive and might transfer the failure point to your differential which is potentially even more expensive.