Title pretty much says it. Took it in for 20K tire rotation and got a video from technician who did the usual checks. Rigth CV boot is toast. The tear is completely around it ( all 360 degrees). They don't replace the boot but the whole CV joint - which is back ordered. I wrapped some duct tape around the tear and am waiting for the part to show up. Luckily under warranty. Anyone else have a blowout like this?

 

Pretty isolated I suspect. Road hazard perhaps.

 

I would suspect that perhaps. Extremely odd. 150k miles or more and 15 years before this typically happens.

 

Yep, that is boot is toast. But, you should be fine driving it until the parts arrive for replacement. Golly, the boots on my 1999 RX300 lasted as long as I owned it. I had it 14 years and for 175k miles. I hope quality isn't slipping at Toyota/Lexus.

 

I agree it is an isolated case - especially since the new part is hard to get. Not road debris damage for several reasons
1. The tear is completely around it - 360 degrees
2. The picture doesn't show it but the boot is fairly high up and has some protection. No damage any where else
3. Service manager agrees it isn't debris so it is covered under warranty

 

So how do you continue driving that? I thought once the boot tears, the grease leaks out and the joint fails within fewer than 50 miles.

 

I guess I will find out. Grease was being slung out the top and really not much of it. The tear is on the inside of the bellows so it is not really open. Plus I wrapped duct tape. I would assume the service department would have said something if they thought it would fail in 50 miles. Failure isn;t a big issue since the whole CV gets replaced. It may be a major inconvenience depending on when/where. The tech mentioned that it probably had been there a while since the grease he saw was old. I put 250 miles or so a week
on it so 50 miles may not be applicable. Of course this probably means it won't back out of garage this morning

 

^^^ Duct tape fixes anything, right?

More seriously, I have had road debris puncture (not tear) CV joint bellows, and some RTV on the hole has made the CV joints last a LONG time...YEARS.

The picture of the torn boot reinforces my habit of spraying silicone on all the rubber underneath my cars while waiting for engine oil to drain. Gotta keep that rubber SUPPLE!

 

Silicone is not a bad idea but in general these boots seem to last 10 plus years. Obviously I got one with a defect to say the least.

 

You are misunderstanding how boot tears originate and propagate. A small tear will spread with continued use - that’s the normal progression. Very easily this is caused by road debris, and is in fact the far most likely case, unless the boot was damaged at another service (possible)>

 

@LeX2K insists spraying 303 is great on them and prolongs flexibility and life. I believe him and have started doing it; no long-term personal experience yet. Silicone would be a great idea too, of course. Wish I’d learned this trick years ago.

 

Both 303 and SuperTech silicone sprays are sold at WallyWorld.


The house brand is half the price of 303. Both contain silicone....

 

1/2 price to do 1/4 the job isn’t always value though. I can get a lot more length out of 303 than armorall, CRC, and other silicone sprays I have and use. I put some this late summer on these chairs as a test, to see how it did with early winter storms and rains in the PNW. Far outlasting other protectant - shed an 1” of rain in the last 24 hours alone and impressive after months. I don’t get that with other things.

I’m definitely value-conscious, and when I find something equal to 303 and cheaper, I’ll try it out, for sure.

 

That’s not what an explosion looks like.