Good afternoon yesterday I went to a shop and they stated that I needed new CV joints and rear shocks. In their own words "Both front axles are slinging grease and both rear shocks are blown out" and quoted me over $1200 to fix it. Say I need two CV joints left and right along with an axle. How do I diagnose these issues to check if these issues are real. How serious are these issues because I've been driving my truck for years and I haven't noticed any issues. Also is this something fixable I can do my self or for much less money. Also I am eyeing in possibly getting a lift kit would getting one help alleviate any of these issues as well. I'm sorry for so many questions I am not the best at being able to diagnose things as I don't know what to look for. I really love this truck and would love to keep it but living in the mountains on curvy roads safety above all is my priority.

 

If you have little or no experience in mechanics, I’d recommend just to get a second opinion on the cv joints because it is a fairly decent job to rr.

Regarding the shocks, when they are truly “blown out”, each time you hit a bump the rear of the truck will continue to oscillate up and down on the springs with no damping from the shocks to prevent that. Occasionally this can be observed on other vehicles traveling down the highway, they hit a dip in the roadway and the car/truck/van/whatever pos continues to bounce up and down while the clueless driver continues to motor along 😂

 

I change both my cv axles at the same time I did my lift kit. One was leaking grease everywhere. I was able to do the job myself in my driveway.

for the price, if that's parts/labour and all in, I think it's about right, could chop the bill in half if you do it yourself.

 

If the CV boot covers have only recently come off and still have grease in them, you might be lucky and you could actually clean out the grease, put new grease in and install new (and improved) covers. NAPA has the grease packets and boots. A C-clip retainer tool is required. Next time mine come out, I'll be doing this.

It is a job that someone with a complete set of hand-tools and perhaps a couple free rental tools from an auto parts store could do in their driveway in a day or two at most.

If you don't want to do it yourself, go get a second opinion and ask how much of the price is labor and how much is parts.

When the CV joints on the CV axles lose grease, eventually, they will start to have metal on metal contact and they will make a clanking noise as they wear out. It might be a repair that could be delayed if you want to spread out the cost.

 

On Monday or maybe tomorrow I plan to get a second opinion from a local mechanic and not a dealership or big business like recently. I am very inexperienced but I am able to get parts at a discount for various reasons so maybe if I supply the parts it'll be cheaper. It used to make a slight pop sound when I turned but that has since stopped. So maybe just repairing can do the trick. So is this something worth fixing especially considering I have strongly been considering a lift kit and want to keep this truck for at least another two if not more years.

 

If you want to keep the truck, yes you will want to replace the CV axles.

If you are going to do a lift, this will make the CV joints run with a larger angle yo them. This stresses the CV joint boot making it more likely to come off.

This is what happened to me for the inner seals of the inner boots. The newer neoprene boots are more flexible than the originals with harder plastic.

 

Ok, I know the CV joints with a lift is wonky. So you think if I went with an aftermarket one and not a GM certified part it would be fine still?

 

When I was looking for aftermarket CV axles, I could not find any that were not specified as any different than the OE ones. What was different was the boots. My original ones have a harder plastic boot and the new ones can come with a more flexible one. So I would doubt this will be an issue with any new CV axles as they will likely come with the more flexible boots. If you have a choice, go with the the more flexible ones.

So here is more detail on my experience: When I saw that the drivers side inner boot had slipped off, I gambled because I was in a rush and bought an aftermarket axle from O'Reilly's. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not get it in to the differential body. I then looked at the original one and decided that since the boot had only slipped off recently and that the original grease was still in there, that it was worth disassembling it to install fresh grease and a new softer boot. It has worked great since. It was also a literal 'snap' to reinstall.

I had a similar problem with the inner lip of the inner boot slipping off on the passenger side but I was able to fix that with a hose clamp. When ever I am underneath I'll do a quick look at all of the boots to see how they are doing and so far so good. The new boot has been on for 18 months with no apparent issues. I'm looking for an excuse to do the other side but it seems to be working fine.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/CTD6...wordInput=boot

 

corniecharles: here what is involved....
1. Replace rear shocks: fairly easy in the driveway task, can be done with tires on ground, using hand tools.
If you have the spare tire under the rear bumper, remove it.
There are three bolts on each shock, two at top, one at bottom. Simple to remove these bolts IF they are not corroded!
Matter of removing the bolts and replacing the shock.
If replacing with gas charged shocks....probably would have to use a floor jack to compress shock in order to get lower bolt in.
If bolts are corroded, then simple is gone, requires various techniques to get bolts out and not destroy threads.
If not corroded, takes only an hour.....corroded......could take days.

2. CV axles: requires pneumatic or electric impact wrench or a large breaker bar, 36mm socket. Front has to be raised, tires removed, brake caliper moved to side, rotor removed, upper ball joint separated (requires special tool) or spindle bolts removed. Drain front differential fluid, get fill plug loose
The CV axles come complete. Matter of prying the old ones out without damage to the seals, once the axle nut is off and either the upper ball joint separated or spindle bolts removed.
(I found removing the three spindle bolts easier and gives more room to remove/replace axle.)
Then re-assemble, torque all bolts correctly.

Dealership usually charge the highest $$$ If you can find a non-chain repair shop, probably get a better price. Most shops will not let you bring your own parts.....they up-charge the parts.

I can easily do this in an afternoon. But have done before and have all the tools.