Kevlar

Today I was happy to change my struts to Koni Yellow.
One side went fine.
The second side I ran into a problem.
Trying to align the strut to the lower suspension arm to bolt the two together I had the wheel assemble falling forward making the axle pulling out of the transmission. This happened a few times. When I had it all moving around I heard a pop come from the c/v boot.
I look at it and I see it's poring out transmission fluid.
about a 3/4 of a cup of oil came out.

It got late so I borrowed a car to drive home.
What did I do wrong?
Could I have damaged something
is it normal to see some oil escape into the boot by pulling the axle in and out?
What should i expect to find when take the boot off?
Yikes.

MrBurrito

iTrader: (2)

cv axles hold the trans fluid from coming out if one of the axles came loose and the tranny was filled with fluid then yes tranny fluid would come out. Try to put the axle back in right and fill the tranny up with oil

Kevlar

Thank you for your reply.
I will do that.
Thanks

Kevlar

So I went at my problem today.
Because I ripped my boot I figured I should replace it. I ordered one from Toyota, but it won't be in until tomorrow.
I wanted to do what i can.
So I first drained and filled my transmission.
I attempted to take my boot off.
This is what stopped my.
How do I remove my cv joint. There's allot of little bearing in there.
I was afraid of messing with it and creating another problem.
Any Ideas on how to go about this?
I looked through forums and couldn't find anything.
All I want to do is replace the boot.

Kevlar

I've never tried to replace a boot before.
I'm sure once done it would be easy to do again.
I just don't know how.
At the end of the axle I think it's called a 3 roller knuckle.
The question is.
How do I remove it?
It looks delicate. I feel If I bang on it I'll send a hundred bearings all over the drive way.
Am I looking at replacing the boot the wrong way?
Somebody step up and help
I'll post my progress after my third attempt with the new boot.

MrBurrito

iTrader: (2)

i think that part of the axle is pressed onto the shaft so you could try taking it to an axle shop to remove that part so you can put the new boot on. i know that when i had a friend had a boot rip toyota just replaced the whole axle, but that was a tc

Kevlar

I put the boot back on temporarily until I get the new boot in from Toyota. It's back ordered and won't be in for a few more days.
I packed more grease in the cv joint before I closed it all up.

Having the Koni shocks on are amazing.
I live along the northern california cost line. The roads are very windy with lots of hair pin turns that have hard dips in the turns.
With these Koni's I have so much more control than I thought I would have.
I have these set at two full turns and they work like a dream.
I want to put my summer tires on to feel the full potential of these bad boys.
Once I put on the new boot I will still post my method of doing it to maybe help others in the future. Us noobs need all the help we can get.

A special thanks to MrBurrito for replying to my panic attack.

MrBurrito

iTrader: (2)

my pleasure more people need to help each other out on this forum instead of just bashing each other

Kevlar

I finally replaced the boot.
I ordered it from Toyota and still today it hasn't showed up.
I think it's all because of the earthquake/tsunami they had slowed everything down.
I ordered one online.
To remove the boot is actually really easy.
I did this while I put on my Tanabe's df210.
While I had the strut off I then remove the old boot that was held on by a hose clamp I put on so I could put more grease in it until this repair.
Once I had the boot off I pulled the shaft and cv joint out the transmition and cleaned it off with a rag.
At the end of the shaft is a "C" clamp that holds the cv joint in place. I just popped the clamp off and slowly worked the joint off.
Once it is off the new boot goes on.
Then I simply put the cv joint back on.
Put in the new "C" clamp.
then buttoned the rest up and done.
Much easier then I thought.

BManAmericae

Most people just replace the whole axle. It's easier and faster than doing the boot. It's only about $70 bucks.