Help! CV axle problem!

1. You may find that the price of a new axle shaft is not that great compared to remanufactured [especially if you buy from one of the Toyota dealers that sell discounted parts over the web, such as toyotaworld.com (Champion Toyota - Gulf Freeway) and metrotpn.com in Ohio]. I recommend that you call around to determine labor costs and the willingness of your local repair shops to do that repair.

2. Regarding the left-side CV boot cover, it appears from the photo that the cover has a slit in it. If that is true, then the cover needs to be replaced.

3. How many miles on the odometer? I'm very surprised to see this on a 3-year old vehicle.

4. If you wish to DIY then you really should download the repair info at techinfo.toyota.com

The hardest part is going to be removing the axle hub nut, and using a slide hammer to pull the old axle shaft out of the transaxle. Disconnect the 12V battery negative terminal before starting work, so that you don't induce skid control ECU DTC, or have a disk caliper piston come flying out when the brake pressure accumulator pump starts to run. Good luck.

 

you sure the joint is bad or is it just the boot that's shot? one does not necessitate the other.

 

I think picture #2 is actually the boot that covers the end of the steering rack. You should replace it soon to prevent problems with the rack.

 

I would assume that all of these boot problems are due to the accident? It certainly is not normal for a 3-year old Prius with 50K miles to have split boots.

Since your driving safety depends upon the joints that are hidden by the boots, you might want to replace them all now rather than hope that they are going to be OK.

Regarding separating a ball joint, if it doesn't come loose when you remove the nut then you could use a ball joint separator. This is a standard tool available at auto parts stores. For example:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00996404000P

or

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00994120000P?mv=rr&i_cntr=1288560921091

The latter tool may damage the ball joint boot so it is better for use in a situation where you are replacing the ball joint.

 

1) If you are not going to reuse a suspension part then you can try hammering on it. However that might damage the part so this is not a good idea if you need to reuse the part.

2) Given that the steering system ball joints are so small and don't carry a substantial load, a puller may not be needed anyway.

 

This pic looks very bad to me. Looks like the lower control arm is bent real bad and possibly the spindle too. She got whacked real hard there huh? Does not take much as you can see the undercarriage on a Prius is very tiny. Slightly bent control arms will drive you crazy as they can make the car pull in one direction or the other even though the front end shows its aligned.

As far as boots when you get new ones in there I spray Silicon spray on all the boots every 5K miles. Spray inner & outer real good and then wipe off with shop rag. Keeps the boot rubber like new.
Spray it good...wipe it off as the dirt comes off easier with lubrication and then spray it again. Cracked boots suck as they eventually let dirt in the gear lube and prematurely wear out the CV joint.

 

I am guessing by the picture but sure looks bad there to me.
The spindle does not articulate like that as you can see the lower ball joint is at a very bad angle. They don't bend over that far.

And not sure what you mean by will it cause serious problem in the future? Its not driveable now is it? Does the trans work ok?

As far as the future I would imagine the lower control arm and maybe the spindle and possibly the strut is damaged also. Is the frame smashed there too or just limited to suspension components bent up.

Also check the top of the shock/strut mount area (that has the 3 bolts through the frame area) and make sure thats not bent also. That area takes a beating when the wheel is pushed back into the frame.

We need alot more pictures please. Show us the damaged area in detail. Explain the impact area please.

BTW, are you doing the work yourself?

 

Ok thanks. Sorry about my last post but it sure looks bent up to me.

What was the original damage that resulted in salvage title?