Since i am not THAT MUCH mechanicaly inclined, i dont know what the hell is wrong with the front brakes of my car. I am ASSUMING its the brake. All you see is OIL on the driver side rim. I am attaching the pics. Please help me out since i am taking it to nissan tomorrow.

Pic 1

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Thanks ;-)

 

CV boot needs to be replaced...... I think there generally 35-40 bucks.. cheap part but ***** to put on.

 

don't bother replacing the boot replace the whole axle and joint it will save you a headache

 

not if there is nothing wrong w/the "joint" itself just get a new boot put on and while you are at it visually check for anything wrong w/the joint then grease it real good and put it back on the car..

 

As stated above me, that's the CV boot. Get it replaced as soon as possible.

 

Thanks all, i guess this weekend is dedicated to this now :-)

 

You cannot visually inspect a CV joint. As soon as there is a hole in the boot, the grease inside gets contaminated with dirt and water. The dirt and water begin to corrode and wear away the joint as soon as they are present. If you only replace the grease and the torn boot, you are putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. You will end up having to replace the axle/joint eventually because it will destroy itself.

You save time and money in the long run by just replacing the whole axle.

Don't cheap out and get re-manufactured axles. Get axles with brand new joints from www.raxles.com

They have good prices are and are great company. Many ORG memebers have dealt with them, including me.

 

That's gotta be expensive! How much are new axles?

 

$125 shipped each

 

That's pretty cheap! It seems like an axle R&R is a much better solution than the bolt/glued on CV boots. But, if you're going to pull the axle out anyway, it won't take long to disassemble it and inspect the parts for wear.

Why fix something that isn't broken? Granted, just swapping out the entire axle will save you time and dirty work, but $125 is a lot of money to be spending on something that isn't broken.

I guess it doesn't matter much for Max4Speed, as he is bringing it into the dealer. They'll inspect the joint, and replace the boot.

 

There is far more labor involved in inspecting and replacing borken parts on CV axles than just replacing the axle.

Ossamah, I would recommend NOT taking it to the dealer. As I said, replacing the boot doesnt fix all the problems, it just covers them up. That joint will die soon, then you will have to repalce the axle anyway. Just get the one axle for the side you need and replace it yourself. It's about an hour's work total.

 

Yea i think i will go ahead and order the axle. Ramius and Nelson have already offered to help me out on sunday at ramius's place. I have emailed that shop in florida to request total with shipping to atlanta before saturday. Lets see how it goes. Thanks alot everyone for your contribution :-)

 

This is very true. A lot of people have more time than money, though. The $100 that you could save (if the CV joints are still good) would be worth it to some people. Myself, I would probably dole out the $125, but I have more money than time.

Is there any difference in quality between the $125 axle and the $550 axle from Nissan?

 

Nope there identical.. Just Nissan charges more cause its Nissan.

 

The Nissan one doesnt come with AMSoil synthetic grease...

 

I went to Nissan since axles are covered under nissan warrenty. 185 is my total and i pay a 50 dollar deductible =)

 

saying that the CV is automatically shot is pure idiocy! I've replaced CV boots before and never suffered shortened CV life. This is precisely why it is important to inspect your boots everytime your under the car or near the brakes. Ignoring the problem is what causes worn CV joints.

 

Actually that is not idiocy.

Of the three places that I went to, they ALL said to replace the axle for the same reason, the grease is contaminated.

1) Labor wise it's just as easy if not easier to replace the axle.
2) If you've driven around at all since the boot ripped, the grease is indeed contaminated and those contaminates cause the joint to be degraded. Who knows, maybe yours werent contaminated too bad.

 

If you check on them regularly, then you might be able to get away with boot replacement. But, for most of us, the first sign of a problem is grease all over the wheels. If you dont know how long the boots have been torn, or how much grease has been lost, it's a gamble just replacing the boot.

 

Raxles uses Amsoil? Interesting, I did not know that.