torn cv boot 96 camry

[Mickyblue]

What brands do you recommend for 96 camry le (5sfe) automatic? I need a new front left axle pretty soon. And toyota wants 177$ just for the part and that sounds rediculous. I like partsgeek.com they have a cardone brand or something for 45$ that's brand new and not remanf.

[Chris Crash]

for the drivers side, the cardone should be fine. I would go OEM for the passenger side though, so you get the right bearing/clip.

[peshwa]

NO cardone please! I went through 3 cardone axles (reman+new) and am back on a salvage yard OEM axle. Its holding up really well for a 17 year old axle.
I highly recommend EMPI or Raxles. Former are a great value for money, latter are more on the performance/money side.

[iovaykind]

You COULD just replace the boot if that's the only problem with it.. that'll save you lots. I got a cv boot axle off fleebay for cheap, and it's been holding up for a good 4 years now. No problems yet.

[Mister_Perkins]

remanufactured axles = Crappy

[LynchburgCSI]

OEM ONLY. Please.

[Frodo65]

Originally Posted by Mickyblue

What brands do you recommend for 96 camry le (5sfe) automatic? I need a new front left axle pretty soon. And toyota wants 177$ just for the part and that sounds ridiculous. I like partsgeek.com they have a cardone brand or something for 45$ that's brand new and not remanf.

What are your durability expectations? What sort of shape is the rest of the car in? While top quality is good for keeping the 'creampuff' running its best, for a beater on its last legs, low cost can trump. If the rest of the car is in sad shape the 'cheap-out' brand can get the job done for a long-enough while. If the rest of the car is sharp, and you expect to keep it > 2 years, shop around for the OEM-quality replacement.

[Kitto]

Advance Auto brand new GSP axle may worth a try. Combine with Advance Auto coupon they are not expensive. Initial installation was good, don't know the longevity though...

[Mickyblue]

Okay. Well its not making noises yet. I just had a mechanic 2 months ago tell me it'd need to be replaced. The whole axle he said. But at same time he prolly wamts money ofcourse. Can the rubber boot just be replaced if the axle is fine? I dunno the state or condition yet

[bronzemaxell]

i have good experience with just replace cv boot, as soon as i see grease came out on the cv boot, before clicking, i took out the axles, went to toyota, and buy the oem cv boot kit, i think around $40 for whole kit, not the $4 one from pepboy, took the old axle with toyota geninue cv boot to my mechanic friend, and then gave me back the old axles with new cv boot on, and that axle will last another 5 or 6 years,

i have bad experience with replace torn cv boot with aftermarket new/re-manufactured axles, twice on my 94 v6, the cost different of buy a new aftermarket/re-manufactured and goto toyota buy the cv boot is very minimal, but my bad luck, huge difference in quality, where oem axle is still the best, even if it is oem re-manufactured, and save me money and headache in the long run.

[Mister_Perkins]

like I said the re-manufactured axles are crappy. Its like a roll of a dice.

My last axle I replaced I broke down and got a Remanned. After installing it, I drove about 5 miles and it blew apart. Got it to the shop, took it off and they gave me an OEM Axle for free. Haven't had a problem with my axle since

[jtex2717]

Yeah I had an Autozone axle and it only lasted 2 years before I had to replace it....def save the money up for the OEM Yota Axle...

[ghettosled]

i love parts from napa - they always hold up well for me. i put in an axle from them 5 years ago and its still holding strong.

[BMR]

^+1 on Napa. The counter guy at the one near me told me they don't even sell rebuilt CV axles because they got waaaaaayyy too many returns on them.

[JohnGD]

The NAPA axles should be the same as the new Cardone Selects - the same kind that carries lifetime warranty at all the parts stores. That said, the remans now also carry lifetime warranty.

Anyway, IMO the best is to periodically replace the boots on the OEM joints (like belts and hoses) before they fail. I use Redline CV-2 grease. This is really good stuff and recommended for CV joints (not all synthetic greases are, including Mobil-1!). It's a real hassle however.

The reman joints may have been ground. This cuts into the case-hardening portion. I wonder if this is a reason for the increased failure rates.

I don't know where Toyota source the rebuilt joints. I wonder if Cardone has a special line for them.