Took my '95 Rodeo to the dealer for something else, and they noticed a leaking CV boot on the front left. The vehicle has 86,000 miles on it and the boots are original. The leak has developed recently (i.e., last 6 months or so.) The dealer wants $600 to replace it.

Questions: How critical is it to replace the boot? (I never use 4WD.) Are there cheaper alternatives?

Just remove the half-axles and CV joints if you don't need/want 4WD. If you may want to keep 4WD, take it to another shop, you don't need the dealer to rob you for a CV boot repair.

Eh, remove the axles? I would suggest simply don't use the 4wd. Although, the torn boot will accumulate all sorts of gunk, crap and dirt and the cv joint will eventually rust until its seized. But the front axles don't turn when its not in 4wd. Replacing the CV boot is pretty much an all day job. You could try a split boot kit, but it might be difficult to install with the axle being in a constant curved state.

But the front axles don't turn when its not in 4wd.
They DO!!!! Unless you have manual hubs, the axles are always turning. The disengagement of the front wheels is not made at the hubs on a rig with auto hubs.

Unless 95's are different than my 94, they do not turn when the hubs are disengaged, auto hubs or not. I've seen them not turn for myself.

Besides, if your gonna go thru the trouble of removing the shafts, why not just replace the torn boot and reinstall?

Ah, I see you have a 2000 Rodeo. YOUR Rodeo has shift-on-the-fly. Your axles on your 2000 ARE always turning, but my 94 has a manual transfer case (I think 95's do too) so thats the difference. Manual transfer case = axles do not turn when not in 4wd. SOTF transfer case = axles do turn when not in 4wd.

My bad Cat Fuzz..... learn something new every day. :)

Here is a link to a thread with good info on changing these CV boots:

http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=517791&Main=517697

In the process of having the boot and axles replaced on mine. :-( $8xx. 2.9 hrs of labor per axle