jasanders

I am wanting to replace both of my front axle assemblies. Anyone have any advice? I posted a link below.....can someone tell me if that is the correct parts I need?


​​​​​​​http://www.lexussouthatlantaparts.com/products/LEXUS/2003/GX470/JOINT-ASSEMBLY--FRONT-DRIVE-INBOARD--LEFT-JOINT-ASSEMBLY--FRONT-DRIVE-INBOARD--RIGHT-JOINT-SET--FRONT-AXLE-INBOARD--LEFT-JOINT-SET--FRONT-AXLE-INBOARD/5687753/4340360020.html

shyguyF

You can buy this Cardone 66-5235 ones. It's directly fit, just take the old oem ones out and put the new part in. I did replace it for my truck last week, very happy with the result. Good luck !

jasanders

That is very good to hear. I have seen so many people swear that the only possible way you should go is OEM. I rarely off road so I don't think I need the OEM ones. Even though they aren't that expensive. It is much cheaper to buy the whole assembly than to redo your boots because the labor is outrageous.

jasanders

On parts geek I see they have an axle assembly, but they also have a CV axle assembly. What is the difference in the 2?

shyguyF

I chose the regular boots bc I don't go off road my truck. If you don't go off road like me so you don't need the havy duty boots. Just Google the part # above that is completely plug and play ones. Some webs they show 66-5235HD it means Havy duty boot.
Maybe you need the inner oil seal replaced too. This oil seal attached to steering knuckle, mine is broken so anyway I have to have the new ones.
You can order on Rockauto for both axle and the oil seals and get 5% off from them on google. The seals i ordered is National 710573. It's only 8.99$ for each and o'reilly sells 21.99 for each.
National made the oil seals for Toyota so it's identical to the OEM. Hope this help !

jasanders

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...1424&ppt=C0362

That is the one I am looking at. Do you think I should go ahead and buy the oil seals also? I plan on getting a shop to do both axle assemblies.

LoneHiker

I just did mine a few weeks ago, I used these:


Toyota really made it easy to change these, so if you have some mechanical inclination you'll have no problems. The 2 bolts on the bottom ball joint allow you to disassemble everything without having to split apart any ball joints or tie rod ends.

jasanders

Did you buy any oil seals with this? Maybe I will just get a friend to help me out and do it myself. I got some replacement shocks also. I have been noticing a shake in the vehicle that resonates from the front. I am hoping with the new axles and shocks it will get rid of the shake. I did notice quite a bit of grease coming from my CV boots. I believe they are the original boots and axles so it is time for new ones.

JLee50

Look at CVJ as well: http://www.cvjreman.com/axles.php

$108/axle plus $95 core charge for remanufactured OEM.

shyguyF

We have a lots of choice right now bc so many companies make the aftermarket cv haft shaft. I chose Cardone 66-5235 bc i saw many good reviews from guys in IH8MUD forum, they had chosen this for off road so i think it is good to go with. I"ve put about 1k miles on it,so far so good no complain at all. The option is up to you and i think you should order the new oil seals for a peace of mind.

LoneHiker

No I didn't need the seals, no leaks so far. There is a seal that I need to replace though, but it's not related directly to the CV axles. When you get the GX apart and move the steering knuckle away, you can look at the back of the knuckle to find a seal that fails often. It fits between the wheel bearing and cv axle and is supposed to keep crud out of the wheel bearings, but if it is worn out (it will be obvious by looking at it), it can allow stuff to get into the wheel bearings and they'll start making noise.

Replacing that seal requires more work, because you have to take off the brake caliper/rotor and unbolt the hub/wheel bearing assembly. I'm going to do that in a separate job but this is the part that's needed:

The front end is easy enough to take apart, that there's no reason to be replacing seals just because some people say they might fail. If those seals in the axle housing fail, just take it back apart and replace them at that time. It's an easy enough job that it isn't worth messing with unless you actually see it leaking.

jasanders

I called around to a few mechanics to see how much labor they would charge to get my 2 front cv axles, 2 front strut and coil all in one assemblies installed. One gave me 700, one said 900. One guy said 490 plus alignment charge. Is this really that hard of a job?

burtoncr

Not a hard job. The hardest part for me was getting the inner CV out of the diff. Stupid snap ring wouldn't give up easily. Tried the "CV noose" method and it didnt work. Eventually used my slide hammer and a hose clamp to secure the puller onto the lip of the inner CV. A couple of slide hammer whacks and it was out.

LoneHiker

Those prices show why it's worth doing yourself. They are typical though for the amount of work you're asking.

Ya the clip is the hardest part. It's just a matter of finding a tool and an angle that will work. What worked for me was a tire iron. I got it loose by levering a tire iron up against something (like one of the underbody shields), adding a piece of fence pipe for an extension onto the tire iron (creating a 4-foot long lever), and prying. I tried hammering, but the hammer did nothing to help. Prying was the answer. Once I figured out the first one, the second one came off in about 5 seconds.

This youtube vid shows the process I used, with one exception: I did not separate the tie rod end. Instead, I took off the sway bar end link. This provided plenty of room to get the knuckle out of the way for removing the axle and was a lot faster. I also had an air impact wrench, which this guy didn't have:

jasanders

Thanks for the info and advice to everyone. I think I will get with my friend and tackle this. Very good video here with good step by step.