Discovered a bit of a leak

[tom_kauf]

Subaru dealer for the CV shaft today. I have no doubt that independents can do it cheaper. Good independents will do just as good a job, but it's a very mixed bag.
Not sure who I'll go with for the Centre Diff. I bought the part from Tuspeed who ordered it from Japan.
And apparently my lower control arms are worn. That'll be $451.55 fitted yay

[Bezzza]

Had just the boot replaced and regreased on Friday, was a lot cheaper then what you were quoted, was done for $140.
Caught it early enough for there to be not a huge mess underneath and no other damage internally.

Still a touch smelly while the excess grease burns away but all good now

[boofbuscus]

I have the same issue with my drivers side CV Boot ripped



I'd like to get an OEM boot to replace it and as you guys said Repco and other aftermarket one's were not as high quality.
Where can I get an OEM boot? I can walk to subaru docklands down the road, would they have it and would it be at a rip off price?

[tom_kauf]

Best place would be Subaru themselves. I usually find the dealer surprisingly fair with their prices. I'm sure other places can source genuine parts as well, but they all come from Subaru originally. And by the time that company puts their markup onto it, you might find it's not any cheaper (even if they do get a trade discount).

I don't think the rubber boot itself should cost much. What cost a lot was getting the whole CV shaft/joint replaced (like in my case). That was mid $300 for the part. But the rubber boot itself should be pretty inexpensive.

With really expensive parts, it's worth sourcing from overseas (Subaru in the US, or JapanParts). They are cheaper, but the postage can be a killer though. So with my $900 centre diff it was worth it, but paying $20-$30+ postage on a rubber boot that may be less than $75 (maybe even under $50), it's not. And you don't want to be waiting 2 weeks, since you could do damage to the CV joint driving around with little lubrication in the meantime.

[boofbuscus]

Thanks mate, yeah good point I'll head over to subaru docklands today and pick one up.

Would you recommend not driving with it in this condition? I picked up the car a couple weeks ago so I'm not sure how long it's been like this, it wasn't until I changed the oil on sunday that I saw it wasn't just loose but it was torn.
I won't be able to get a mechanic to look at it for a week or so.
If you recommend not driving with it how it is, I can use my other car to get to and from work till its fixed.

[tom_kauf]

Yeah, hopefully it hasn't already done damage. The longer it goes, the less grease will be left for the CV joint. But you can't be sure until they inspect it. My mechanic said my joint was still ok when he inspected it. So I was given 2 options (and 2 prices). I think I wrote them up in an earlier post. But for me, the high labour costs made it worth getting the whole CV shaft replaced. But that's up to each person to decide. It's definitely still cheaper to just replace the boot.
So yeah, the less u drive on it, the higher your chances you'll still have an ok CV joint and be able to just replace the rubber boot if u want to.

[bigBADbenny]

Thanks mate, yeah good point I'll head over to subaru docklands today and pick one up.

Would you recommend not driving with it in this condition? I picked up the car a couple weeks ago so I'm not sure how long it's been like this, it wasn't until I changed the oil on sunday that I saw it wasn't just loose but it was torn.
I won't be able to get a mechanic to look at it for a week or so.
If you recommend not driving with it how it is, I can use my other car to get to and from work till its fixed.

A1 Driveshaft in Collingwood or Statewide Driveshaft Services are competitive on parts and or labor

[boofbuscus]

Yeah my friend/mechanic got me a new driveshaft from a1 and installed it for $260 (total price including parts and labour).