Hi - first post, mainly to confirm for a neighbor lady the safety of her car. Its a late '90s Camry, auto trans with about 90Kmi on it. I'm handy on cars and MC's, but have no direct experience with Camry's.

This woman took her car for an oil change. They found the axle boot by the wheel on the driver's side was torn and told her it needed to be fixed right away and was a dangerous problem.

I drove the car. Its a real cream puff, drives great, makes no noise turning corners, and does not clunk going into drive or reverse. She literally only drives the car to get groceries and go to the Dr.s office.

I told her that, eventually, dirt would cause wear and the half-axle would need to be replaced. Since it seems OK for now, and she doesn't have a lot of money, I told her to drive it until it starts clicking.

Now her daughter has talked to a Toyota service person who said that the wheel might fall of if this isn't fixed. These ladies don't know much about cars, and unless there's something about Toyota CV joints that I don't know, I think they're being taken advantage of.

Can any of you confirm if it is likely that the wheel will fall off because of wear on any part of the half-axel??

 

If there's still grease around the joint area and it's not making a noise- simply replace the boots. Boot kits are available from Toyota which includes the inner and outer boot, clamps, and grease. That way you can keep the factory axle and not have to worry about cheap rebuilt units sold aftermarket. No- the wheel will not fall off.

JJ

 

im glad i dont work at that shop.........sounds sketchy...

 

I have never been a fan of replacing a boot because since you don't know how long the boot has been torn you don't know how much grease has been lost or contaminated. Also the repalcements I have seen require the removal of the shaft anyway. There may be another type repalcement boot I am not familiar with that does not require shaft removal. There is nothing worng with a reman half shaft and the cost is not too much. I just bought one at shop cost of about $50. Find a tire/alignment shop (some place that does more than just install tires) and get a quote. Actually the job is not that hard or labor intensive. Drive it a bit and get it replaced. The wheel will not fall off but the problems should not be ignored if the car is as nice as you say.

 

The wheel would not fall off even if the CV joint completely came apart. If she drives as little as you say she does, then just let it go until it gets worse. It will either start clicking like you say, especially when turning and accelerating, or it will start vibrating when driving.