CV BOOT

When I got my car serviced at Toyota back in November 2021 for an oil change at 30k miles. They came back to me with a CV boot leak and needs to be repaired. It was covered under warranty and everything was fixed. Now my 4Runner has 41k miles and I see grease leaking out. As you can tell I hardly drive my 4Runner, is this problem common? I don’t go off-roading or do all those crazy things. Should I replace it myself ?? They also said it will be $1700 to replace the whole front axle since it needs to be fully replaced.

 

Stock or lifted?

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! What do you mean by "whole front axle"? Do it yourself if it's the shaft and CV's/ boot. No way I'd give them that kind of money for that job.

 

It is stock.

 

They said the warranty ran out. Only 1 year, this is coming from Toyota. I noticed the leak 1 year and 3 months later.

 

They wanted to replace the front axle rather than replace the boot.

 

Thank you guys for the feed back.

 

1. Did they replace the axle when they "fixed" it the first time in 2021 @ 30k?
2. If they did, axles and boots last a lot longer than 11k, so no matter that your warranty is up, they should stand behind their repair for a certain amount of time longer than the 1 year before it started leaking again, would remind them of that, and ask why they're not willng to do so.
3. Where exactly is the leak? Any photos?
4. There must be something else going on, axles & boots don't generally start leaking on their own, even if one "does all those crazy things" (goes off road).

 

This is exactly what the dealership said to my daughter in Glendale, Ca over the summer. I had her take it to a mechanic a block away to replace the boot. Quote went from $2k at Toyota to $600 the other shop.

 

One hour labor min charge for replacement of metal clamp. Look at youtube "the car care nut" about leaking axle.

 

They replace the boot not the axle, it was through warranty, 11k miles later boot leaked again. Buying this car brand new you would think everything is solid, I don’t think I need to replace the axle at 41,000 miles right now.

I just feel that Toyota Service Department wants to make extra money on the side to rip people off. Just spoke to this mechanic outside of Toyota and he said that he can do it for $360 and that is with the new axle which also comes with the CV boot.

Once again thank you guys for the feedback.

 

CV boot is a pain in the ass, but it's not a $1700 pain in the ass. Watch the Car care Nut video before you make a decision.

 

If you replace the axle, make sure you tell the mechanic to give you your axle back. Dont throw it away! If you dont want it….well, I guess I can pay you 20 bucks for it

I’m joking….no, but seriously.

And it would probably be good to figure out why you had a leaky boot to begin with. I do crazy things with my 4runner I guess, have the same mileage as you, and they still look new. Actually, that’s not true… they look like crap because of all the mud staining and stuff, but they dont leak and they dont have any rot or anything. The cv boot materials used by most OEs are really long lasting.

I’ll also say to watch the car care nut vid on rebooting an axle, and why that’s preferable to just tossing the axle when re-booting. Main reason is tht OE axles are very good, and aftermarket are not by comparison. So unless you ran the axle dry or damaged it, it’s preferable to keep it.

 

Dealer won't do it, but most of times regressing it and reclaiming does the trick.