CV Joint Life Expectancy?

"mjc13 @verizon.net>"

Oops... Forgot the rest of my post... Aside from them taking you to the bank, you should easily get another 25k miles if there are no noises indicating damage yet. I drove a car for 25k WITH the damage... :)

I replaced the boots on all 4 joints on my 94 v6 wagon 3 years ago at about 120k miles, after I noticed one of them was cracked. I removed the balls and cleaned them and the holders thoroughly before repacking. I saw almost no wear on anything. I guess this is very hard steel. I expect to get 250k plus easily on my car without any major repairs. I would advise to only let a Toyota dealership do this. Actually, it's not that difficult to do yourself if you're mechanically inclined. Boots and grease kit was about $100.

Jim

Are you anywhere near CA, AZ, or NE? I'vegot contacts in those states that could help ya.

Upstate NY - Albany - Troy area. Thanks anyway!

Bummer. No contacts up that way! ...Although I did take a ride to Florida, NY today on the motorcycle from my home in Northern, NJ... 140+ miles round trip of brrrrr.....

to add to the discussion....if you're handy with tools, you can (fairly) easily remove and replace the boots with the split type boot, which lots of people dislike, saying they don't last, etc. In my experience, I replaced the boots on a 1986 Camry with split boots and they held up fine until I sold the car much later. Other mechanics will tell you that if a boot is cracked and allows dust and crap into the area of the cv joint, it's done for. Well, it all depends on where you drive. I repacked the joints after apparently some time when the boots were cracked, and no harm ensued. I'm beginning to believe that these stories of bad stuff happening are often predicated on how much the mechanic wants to sell you a complete replacement of the joints AND the boots.

I don't care much for split boots but I have driven around with damaged boots for months without problems. That said, I would recommend that most people do not attempt to do this at home - I'm a trained professional.

If they disassemble everything (outer joint) and clean everything properly (or even slap rebuilts on there) then $500 would be in the ball park for dealer service. Independents would probably run $300-400. I'm not sure about some shops' ability to properly repack. Some just add grease and put the new boot back on if there is no clicking. So if you use one consider getting a NEW halfshaft, like NAPA or Cardone Select with lifetime waranty for $80 each.

Beck Arnley boot kits are about $20 online for each halfshaft (inner and outer) with grease packs and bands. I like to use Redline CV2 synthetic grease and just give away the included dino grease packs. I can pack both sides for about $80 and a few hours of time. Cleanliness is important in repacking. Some shops don't disassemble the outer joint, so that's a crapshoot if they can get all the grease and solvent out.

Autozone has free loaner boot band tools.

Yeah, there are two camps for the split boot. I just use Beck Arnley standard boots and repack with Redline CV2 synthetic grease.

For most people it may be best to get NAPA MaxDrive or Cardone Select NEW halfshafts and pay to install them.

Thanks for the detailed response, but I'm just not physically up to doing the job myself, and as I wrote we've found it hard to find consistently good independent mechanics. For that matter, the last

*dealer* we used 'went bad' on us. We'll get one quote from a mechanic who did ok on a specific job, but got lost and expensive when he had to diagnose something. If he's much less then we'll use him. Otherwise it's another $500 dropped at the current dealer...

"mjc13 @verizon.net>"

"mjc13 @verizon.net>"

The rough range in these messages for a mechanic to touch the halfshafts is about $300-500 labor and parts. But understandably not all owners can work under the car.

But if you can find a place that's willing to slap on split-boots and give you a 1yr/12K-mile warranty, then it may be good enough. These don't require taking the halfshafts off.

Then next it's where you can have NEW halfshafts installed (like the NAPA MaxDrive or the Cardone Select for about $80 each). In fact, some dealers are willing to do this. So do call around. Cardone is a reputable rebuilder now going into new parts and has a lifetime warranty on the new halfshafts.

Hopefully you can come in on the low end of the price range.

My advice is drive it until it clicks, then install remanufactured driveshafts. You may even make it 10K or 25K before the clicking gets bad... I drove a Mercury Topaz for YEARS with ripped boots (eventually they clicked so bad I became afraid they would seize up so I finally replaced them). My VW Rabbit has had ripped boots for about a year now, they didn't click yet but I just rebooted them last night anyway. Only one joint was damaged on one bearing surface -- I simply swapped the left and right joints so the damaged surface will only get used in Reverse now.

This advice will not be applicable if you live in a sandy environment or if you ever drive on dirt roads.