1. Welcome to Tundras.com!

    You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.

    As a registered member, you’ll be able to:
    • Participate in all Tundra discussion topics
    • Transfer over your build thread from a different forum to this one
    • Communicate privately with other Tundra owners from around the world
    • Post your own photos in our Members Gallery
    • Access all special features of the site

Do I need to reboot these CV axles?

Discussion in '1st Gen Tundras (2000-2006)' started by BigTuna8695, Sep 7, 2025 at 5:58 AM.

  1. Sep 7, 2025 at 5:58 AM
    #1
    BigTuna8695

    BigTuna8695 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    May 24, 2025
    Member:
    #135416
    Messages:
    37
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    05 DC Limited 4x4
    Hey, all. Apologies for being a noob when it comes to basic knowledge on vehicles. I recently bought a first gen. When I took it for the initial inspection when I got it back to NY, I noticed there was some grease that had kicked up under the truck from the CV boots. I took some photos this morning. The outer boots like fine, but the inners look a little dicey to me.

    Couple questions.
    1. Do the inners look like they need to be rebooted?
    2. If so, is it fine to just use reboot the inners with these high angle inner boots and keep the original outers on? Or should I just replace all 4 boots at once?

    IMG_2221.jpg IMG_2222.jpg IMG_2223.jpg IMG_2228.jpg IMG_2229.jpg IMG_2224.jpg IMG_2227.jpg IMG_2230.jpg
     
  2. Sep 7, 2025 at 8:09 AM
    #2
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe Slacker

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Member:
    #50004
    Messages:
    1,365
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Chris
    Sun Valley, Idaho
    Vehicle:
    06 Tundra DC TRD 4WD
    W.I.P - FOX 2.5 with DSC, SCS F5 wheels with MT Baja ATZ 285s
    I don’t see anything crazy but it wouldn’t be a bad ideas to have it on your radar. It looks like you slung some grease from a lift; or at least new springs raising the truck compared to old worn out springs? I see new coils in the pictures indicating this.
    I would clean the areas around the clamps to get a good look at the area and look for cracking.
    There’s some slight cracking in the areas circled in this picture.

    IMG_4598.jpg
     
  3. Sep 7, 2025 at 8:56 AM
    #3
    Jack McCarthy

    Jack McCarthy It’s always the fuel filter

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2020
    Member:
    #54409
    Messages:
    10,999
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Bill
    North of Boston
    Vehicle:
    02 Tundra AC SR5 V8 4x4
    I would clean the inners as recommended and see if they’re still an issue. They may just need new bands which would require the purchase of the correct band clamping tool so they’re not half assed and leak even more.
     
  4. Sep 7, 2025 at 9:14 AM
    #4
    bfunke

    bfunke Tundra Curmudgeon

    Joined:
    Oct 13, 2019
    Member:
    #37321
    Messages:
    2,726
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Bryan
    South Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2018 SR-5 CM 5.7, 2000 SR-5 AC 4.7L
    Looks like a little slinging on the pax side. Clean it up at the DIY car wash and watch it. May only need the clamp tightened a bit.
     
    chugs likes this.
  5. Sep 7, 2025 at 9:50 AM
    #5
    Tundra Texan

    Tundra Texan New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2024
    Member:
    #127669
    Messages:
    1,543
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Todd
    Vehicle:
    2016 Tundra
    None at this point.
    If it were me I'd go ahead and replace both.
    I might even go as far as to replace all four on both sides.
    But then I'm kinda anal about Shi..Stuff like this.
     
  6. Sep 9, 2025 at 4:15 AM
    #6
    Dook55

    Dook55 RCLB Guy

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2019
    Member:
    #36150
    Messages:
    350
    Gender:
    Male
    Montana
    Vehicle:
    2004 4x4 V8 RCLB 2006 4x4 V8 RCLB
    They look a lot better than mine. I wouldn't replace them. They look like factory boots/axles. Mine are NAPA axles (don't buy them) and the Chinese boots are cracked in several places. They use cheap neoprene, probably mix clay in it to increase profit. Not leaking yet and no significant slop in the axles yet. I bought NAPA's "lifetime warranty" axles and twice I have taken them back and had them give me new ones. They last about 60K miles.
     
  7. Sep 9, 2025 at 8:20 AM
    #7
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe Slacker

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Member:
    #50004
    Messages:
    1,365
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Chris
    Sun Valley, Idaho
    Vehicle:
    06 Tundra DC TRD 4WD
    W.I.P - FOX 2.5 with DSC, SCS F5 wheels with MT Baja ATZ 285s
    Ya that's another thing. @BigTuna8695 those are OEM axles and are hard to get anymore. If you're able to and up for it, I would reboot those axles rather than buying aftermarket. If the truck being down is an issue I would buy a cheap NAPA axle and swap it in while you reboot the OEM axle and then swap that into the other OEM axle; reboot, and then replace the NAPA axle.
    Reboot kits are $60 each and the OEM style tool $20 plus the earless too is $20. I say OEM style tool because you just need to buy a knock off from one of the big websites.
     
  8. Sep 9, 2025 at 9:01 AM
    #8
    M14 EBR

    M14 EBR Oh No, Rex Kramer!

    Joined:
    May 20, 2025
    Member:
    #135248
    Messages:
    163
    Gender:
    Male
    Avoid aftermarket axles, use the OEM reboot kit and party on.

     

Products Discussed in

To Top