[rsf]

Hi everyone...I've read through all the articles I can find about removing and replacing the CV joints and boots, and have finally been able to remove my axle and have pulled a part and cleaned up the inner CV joint has/had the ripped boot.

After pulling it apart and cleaning it, there looks to be little to no wear on the ball bearing or any other components. The ball bearing have no scratches on them and look to be in perfect shape...as does the other components. I'm thinking I might have noticed the ripped boot before all the grease came out any contaminates got inside.

My question is, is there any advantage to replacing the entire inner CV joint, or should I just replace the boot? This is not a fun job, so I don't want to have to pull it apart again for a while...but also don't want to replace it if there isn't any advantage to doing it. As well, I'm only planning on replacing this one joint/boot at this time. I don't have the luxury of time and space to do both sides.

The outer boot on this side is not ripped and looks to be in good shape as well. Is there anything I can do to keep the outer boot from drying out and ripping/cracking? Os should I replace it as well since I'm here and the axle is out of the car.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

rsf