Struts & CV Boot

[pstone]

Hiya folks,

I'm here with an 89 3S-FE and I need 4 new struts and a new CV boot on my front driver's side. The boots on all my struts are wasted too. I believe these are the original's.

I have thought about upgrading to a better spring and better strut, but I'm not sure if that's what I really want to do. My questions are like this:

1) Should I just replace everything in the strut area (strut, spring, boot, bearing plate, etc.) due to the age?
If so, where can I find a listing or better yet an engineering diagram listing all the parts?

2) For the CV boot, is it standard practice to replace the whole axle or just the boot?

3) Finally, where could I find a reliable, knowledgeable place to buy these parts. Internet suppliers are okay.

I'm just getting in to repairing this camry. It's been in my family for years and everyone wanted to get rid of it, but I decided to keep it as a project/learning car. Any advice from anyone here is greatly appreciated.

The cautious home mechanic,
Pstone

p.s. thanks to Red Phoenix for the pics on his strut replacement

[89SV21]

I drive an 89 3sfe equipped camry as well and i'd recommend replacing everything due to the age of the car. when i replaced my struts and springs, i made the mistake of not replacing the strut mounts and now my car squeaks like the upstairs neighbor's bed. i went with kyb gr-2 struts and intrax springs. as for the cv boot, it depends if the axle is clicking when you are taking a turn or if your car is vibrating at certain speeds on an incline, before my axle went it used to vibrate like a bastard around 65 mph up a hill. if the boot has been ripped for a while just go ahead and replace the axle just to be safe. be weary of remanufactured axles from the dealer cause i've gone through 4 sets in the last year.

[500KCamry]

Originally Posted by pstone

2) For the CV boot, is it standard practice to replace the whole axle or just the boot?

Not sure for a Gen2, but for a Gen1 you could replace the CV boot and the CV joint, without changing the axle. For a Gen 3, they don't sell the CV joint, you have to get the whole axle.

If the boot tear is just new, it won't click when you turn, so you can just replace the boot. If the grease looks dirty, you can pull the axle out of the CV joint, clean it and then repack it.

If it clicks, may as well replace the CV joint (if you can buy it separately for a Gen 2) or the half axle if you can't.