CV Boots Preserative

[rimfire,22]

Hello to all,

I was wondering if anyone's sprayed silicone oil on their Camary's CV "BOOTS" to help keep them as fresh as possible? Is this noraml procedure when having one Camary serviced?

rimfire,22

[Brian R.]

I recommend using it on the boots, but that doesn't make it normal or even useful. My boots last a long time though...

[rimfire,22]

Originally Posted by Brian R.

I recommend using it on the boots, but that doesn't make it normal or even useful. My boots last a long time though...

Brian,

Thanks for your imput. I recently had a service performed on my Camry and they let me look at them from they're service bay. Really nice guys. Anyway they were dry and in good shape. I was wondering if it was part of Toyotas service to spray some preserative on them during inspection.

In the future I'm thinking about buying some form of preserative and trying to keep them in good shape as possible. For a little money spent I could save big later on. All I need is to wiggle underneath and do it. Kinda hard at my age. Sure would be nice if the dealership would do it for me.

Thanks again,

rimfire,22

[Daniel M. Dreifus]

Originally Posted by rimfire,22

Hello to all,

I was wondering if anyone's sprayed silicone oil on their Camary's CV "BOOTS" to help keep them as fresh as possible? Is this noraml procedure when having one Camary serviced?

rimfire,22

Silicone grease would last longer than silicone spray (which rinses off almost immediately the first time it sees water), but you need to lift the front of the car to reach the axle boots.
If you're so inclined, first clean them with a rag, then smear a thin layer of the silicone grease - readily available at low cost as "dielectric tune up grease" in a small tube at AutoZone. Kind of like finger painting if you enjoy that sort of thing. Recently replaced both half shafts so I'm not sure this is necessary anymore as the new boots are some sort of copolymer plastic. With the old boots though, they turned a nice shiny black. (I'd thought I was the only one that would even consider doing this). Took to smearing this grease on everything rubber like from the dogbone suspension mount to the incipient cracking I observed at an edge of the ball joint cover when replacing the left side axle.
Not sure you'll be able to get the dealership to do the axle boots for you, but you could ask. I suppose if you're willing to pay, they probably wouldn't object. Doesn't hurt anything, not sure how much it may help.
First place I heard about silicone grease was from them. They use it when replacing sway bar (aka stabilizer bar) bushings to minimize squeaking, and were kind enought to give me some. They get larger quantities but the only source I could find was the small tubes, yet a little bit goes a long way.

[rimfire,22]

Originally Posted by Daniel M. Dreifus

Silicone grease would last longer than silicone spray (which rinses off almost immediately the first time it sees water), but you need to lift the front of the car to reach the axle boots.
If you're so inclined, first clean them with a rag, then smear a thin layer of the silicone grease - readily available at low cost as "dielectric tune up grease" in a small tube at AutoZone. Kind of like finger painting if you enjoy that sort of thing. Recently replaced both half shafts so I'm not sure this is necessary anymore as the new boots are some sort of copolymer plastic. With the old boots though, they turned a nice shiny black. (I'd thought I was the only one that would even consider doing this). Took to smearing this grease on everything rubber like from the dogbone suspension mount to the incipient cracking I observed at an edge of the ball joint cover when replacing the left side axle.
Not sure you'll be able to get the dealership to do the axle boots for you, but you could ask. I suppose if you're willing to pay, they probably wouldn't object. Doesn't hurt anything, not sure how much it may help.
First place I heard about silicone grease was from them. They use it when replacing sway bar (aka stabilizer bar) bushings to minimize squeaking, and were kind enought to give me some. They get larger quantities but the only source I could find was the small tubes, yet a little bit goes a long way.

Dan,

Didn't know the "Boots" were co-polymer material. I don't know if mine are of that materials but they looksed pretty good shape wise. Perhaps I'm making a big deal outta nothing. Thanks for the imput. The grease you mentioned I'll remember for future reference.

rimfire,22