front axle replacement

I have a 1996 rodeo, and when i took it to get aligned, i was told that i needed my front axles replace, as well as shocks. I could afford to buy new axles, but not the labor to fix them. i am pretty good with cars, and was wondering how much of a pain in the ass it is going to be. is it easier or harder than a set of front wheel drive car axles. like honda cars for example. any input would be great.

How many miles you got on that Rodeo? Why do they need replaced?

I can see shocks needing replacement, and maybe CV boots and the like, but the whole front IFS system?

How many miles you got on that Rodeo? Why do they need replaced?

I can see shocks needing replacement, and maybe CV boots and the like, but the whole front IFS system?


I think he means just the CV axles.

Replacing the CV axles in a Rodeo is a little different than your average front wheel drive car. You have the hubs to mess with and you need to seperate both upper and lower ball joints to get the clearance needed and then the inner CV joint is different in that you only take the innards out and leave the outside of the joint in the truck. Theres a large wire clip that must be removed after removing the inner boot.

Anyway, they may or may not need to be replaced. Your mechanic probably found torn boots and just assumes that you've been driving around with torn boots for awhile and that your CV joints are fried. If you have unlockable hubs (not sure what years have drive flanges) and you havn't been using your four wheel drive, then the CV axles in the front havn't been doing anything but sitting there and will probably be ok with just a good cleaning, repacking and new boots.

Yep, if it's just torn CV joint boots and the truck doesn't click, grind, humm, etc.. on tight turns you can get away with a good cleaning, re-grease and reboot. I've seen vehicles go until they fell apart with just that. Thing is- even a boot changeout is labor intensive on a 4x4 rodeo which is why most replace the half-shafts as well.

Joel

thanks for the info. i actually just bought the truck, and have no idea how long the boots have been torn. it does actually make noise when i am in 4 wheel drive and making a sharp turn.

If you hear a clicking while turning, the CV's are probably toast.

It's not a difficult job to do yourself, it was actually one of my first major jobs on my rodeo. Be warned, for the first timer it can be long and messy. But, if you remind yourself you are saving many hundreds of dollars, it's worth it.

Here is a tutorial for changing just the boots. The CV's themselves aren't that much more work. http://www.4x4wire.com/isuzu/tech/CVboots/?

By the way, if you bought it from a dealer, I would try to make them pay for it. It's worth a shot.