Just had to replace my upper ball joint on the driver side. Yes, I know I should have done both sets of uppers and lowers, but don't really have the time or money at the moment. I need my truck back on the road to get to work. While working I noticed something that I finally decided to ask your opinion on. I was told by a mechanic when I took it in for an exhaust issue that my CV boot was not connected. I finally got a good look at it while fixing my ball joint. Question for the knowledgeable folks here is, how bad does this look? And is it safe to drive?


First shot



A little closer look

 

Yep, thats bad. You`re gonna get dirt in the bearings and they be shot, if they`re not already

 

The grease in those is usually a pale yellow/grey. As that looks black, I would say very bad...

 

Well the cv joint is royally screwed and will have to be replaced. There's no doubt about that.

As far as being able to drive it it's taken a long time to get the grease to look that bad. Given the truck isn't a Bravada or otherwise has the all wheel drive option and you don't need to rely on your 4WD to be reliable then you should be fine and safe driving it like you already have been until you get the opportunity to replace it.

 

Thanks guys, your answers are pretty much what I figured. Guess that will be my next project. Just no 4 wheel driving until then. Good thing it's the summer time!


*edit* I didn't think about it until I posted this, I should have taken pics and documented the replacing of my ball joint, it was a learning experience for me.

 

Doing the axles on these are pretty simple for the most part. I tried to do my driver side front this past weekend and couldn't get it out of the transfer case. You will need to rent this. And this if you don't have a slide hammer.