well, the boot is put there to keep grease on a fast moving cv joint, so i'm going to say it won't last long without grease. i think the question might be, when you fix it, do you want to replace the entire half shaft or do a universal boot replacement. you can see vids on both procedures to see which one you want to do but i the latter if i can as it's easier for me anyways.
tony

 

universal boot? you mean something like this:

i just googled this and it came up. this would be ideal, but this company doesn't sell in the states apparently. i just quickly looked on amazon and they have some similar ones, but the reviews are sub par on those.

 

seems you've confused quick boots (worthless) and silicone universal boots.
tony

 

well, where do i find those? all i see is the Dorman brand with crappy ratings. are the silicone boots also split boots or do i have to take apart half the axle?

 

silicone are not split and dorman are the ones i use and they work fine. probably should just leave them alone and when they start clicking at wheel lock on opposite direction, then replace the half shaft.
tony

 

oh so dorman makes silicone ones as well or do you use the split ones? i'd rather fix it now than later.

 

You can sometimes go VERY LONG time on a torn CV boot. Depending how bad the boot torn is.

If it's torn on the edge like that, while the grease will come out, it should still have enough surface grease to lube the ballbearings that is in the joint. It might last a few years like this without any issue. If the boot is completely torn and is completely exposed to the water/dirt, you can expect the joint to start clicking 4-6 months, if not a year. Again, depends how much you drive and the road condition.

For what it is worth, my friend's 95 is driving on a bad outer CV boot for about 3 years already. It's torn in that similar location like the OP, on the axel side. It's been clicking on wheel lock started from last year. CV joint boot failures will cause the joint to fail quicker on the outer than inner side. My 1998 has a torn CV joint on the inner boot for the last 3-4 years...still no clicking.

 

I wouldn't drive it around with a tear or leak...every time I've encountered this, the hot, fluid grease flung all over and created a mess that's very annoying to clean up

 

I only replace boots on cars if I can't get new axles for them...otherwise, for $65 I can get a new, high-quality aftermarket axle, so why bother. Especially if you have to take the axle out to do the inner boot anyway

 

Replace the half shaft with a remanufactured or new unit. No sense putting all the effort into removing the axle to just replace the boot. Regards

 

fyi guys, i don't ever pull the axle to replace the boot. they just slip on over the cv joints. that's why i do that instead of pulling the axle. if i have to pull the axle, i replace it. ;-)

here's one video showing how it's done. i don't use their product. i just use a long trans fluid black funnel from autozone.

(much quicker than pulling the passenger axle out of that bearing carrier when it's rusted in.)
tony

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZMR6G5zoco&t=108s

I wanna get a couple of those for my '87 the axles are original the boots are cracked up but not torn yet.

 

you a funny man kingdom....hot mess....maybe we need a hot mess thread?
tony

 

i just get the doorman silicone (not neoprene....too difficult to stretch) universal boots at autozone. they're grey instead of black. then get a long black trans fill funnel and cut about 3 inches off the top of the big end to where the funnel just fits over the cv joint. grease up the funnel and place it over the cv joint and slip the boot over it onto the axle. you will have to turn it inside out if you're doing the outside boots btw, and then put it rightside out on the axle. i use zip ties to secure and they seem to work well.
tony

 

dunno bout those...i use these ...
http://www.autozone.com/drivetrain/quick-boot-cv/dorman-quick-boot-cv/491375_0_0/

 

thanks i'll look into those

 

Just found out about leaking "CV BOOT"

Dealer did a reasonable priced front brake job on my 09V6 with 97,400 miles. So as I watched, I was shown all the grease coming out of the passenger side "cv boot."

I thought "no problem" at the worst maybe $100. The problem looked so minor but the quote to fix was $300. Did my dealership turn into a Stealership since they changed my service writer ????

 

Dealer did a reasonable priced front brake job on my 09V6 with 97,400 miles. So as I watched, I was shown all the grease coming out of the passenger side "cv boot."

I thought "no problem" at the worst maybe $100. The problem looked so minor but the quote to fix was $300. Did my dealership turn into a Stealership since they changed my service writer ????

Is that a reboot? A reboot is very labor intensive IMO. An axle replacement would mean that's a great price. Toyota dealer axles are around $800.

 

'"nickle-dime" you do death car'?
if you're gonna keep taking an 8 year old car to the dealership for simple stuff that you can do yourself, it will get expensive. that's why this is pretty much a DIY forum.
tony

 

I'd reboot the axle if the joints are still good and you don't mind the mess. You really can't beat OEM axles, although I've sourced new Cardone Selects, about $70-80 with lifetime warranty. Buy locally for ease of swapping later on. Then you can take the time and repack the OEM axle if you like.

Or, give Toyota of Cool Springs a PM, and see if a Toyota reman works for you.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...en-1992-1996-1997-2001-1st-gen-solara-1999-2003/1484602-reman-parts-toyota.html

$300 is about right (dealer price) to put in a reman axle. Indies about 1/2 of that.