I started a thread months ago asking questions about replacing the original
driveshaft boots on our '99 Tercel's original left-side driveshaft. The
outer one was beginning to crack, and I didn't want to be like everybody
else and let it split and wreck the joint. Plus I was masochistic enough to
want to do the replacement myself. I've done a number of timing belts,
suspension rebuilds and brake rebuilds, and had driveshafts out before, so
I thought "how hard could it be?"

I promised an update when it was finally done. Since that thread's so old
now, I'm starting a new one.

It's done, with all OEM Toyota parts, and it seems to work. No binding, no
roughness, no noises, no leaks. But it was a long time getting there (most
of an afternoon and part of an evening). I'd never done a boot replacement
before, so this was definitely a voyage of discovery.

I have to say one thing: You pro's in the business really know your stuff.
With your skill and experience, you probably whip through a boot
replacement in half an hour or less. And you never pull the inner joint
apart accidentally (like I did) and have to yank the shaft back out again
and fix it before things will all go back together again properly.

To all you people who think you're getting "ripped off" by the local garage
or the "stealership", just try doing things yourself. That's when you
discover just what the pro's can do and what you can't.

I was working with the car about a foot off the ground, which gave me
precious little leverage. To get the shaft to pop out of the diff, I had to
wedge a pry bar against the tripod housing and diff, sit the bar's handle
against a wooden block on the driveway, and give the handle a sharp kick
with my foot. To get the tripod housing to re-seat afterwards, I had to
place a large screwdriver against a lug on the tripod housing and whack the
screwdriver with a 2# hammer. This was hard to do on account of very poor
access and lots of stuff in the way. But I did it.

I was surprised to discover that the inner joint's "grease" was really
runny, like a heavy syrup. The outer joint's grease was more what I
expected, a non-runny grease. The Toyota kit came with two tubes of grease,
one for the inner joint and one for the outer. They were just about
identical in color and viscosity, so I guess the the stuff for the inner
joint must get runny after it's in use for a while.

Thanks very much to all who offered help last time I brought this up.

--
Tegger

news:Xns9CB6CA0FA8DC2tegger@208.90.168.18...

Everybody has done that at least once, Tegger ;>)

"hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote in
news:f_ednU5DCI5sR3PXnZ2dnUVZ_jKdnZ2d@giganews.com:

I managed not to do it on our MR-2, and I managed not to do it on my
Integra. But I did it here. Getting distracted trying to feed the nose of
the outer joint into the hub was what did it. It seems I couldn't
concentrate on two things at once.

When this joint pulls apart, the corrugations on the boot slip between the
tripod and the inner joint housing, so I couldn't just push the joint back
together again. Fixing this meant undoing the outer band and removing the
inner joint from the boot.

After the fight I originally had trying to get the shaft out of the diff,
this development was dismaying to say the least. But by then I knew how to
arrange the pry bar and just what to do with my foot, so the shaft popped
out of the diff on the first try. Then I had the shaft reinstalled in a few
seconds afterwards. Experience counts!

--
Tegger