Exposed CV joints...replace or leave?

I recently found out my Samurai's been driving around with no CV joint boots whatsoever there's CV joint grease all over the place, of course. I've been driving like this while wading through water and mudding (all part of my daily driving, BTW). They're not making any bad noises or anything but there's a good chance they're full of crap by now. Should I replace the CV joints or just clean them up, re-grease them and install new boots?

Clean, regrease, new boots. There are universal boot kits. Unless you suspect the joints are bad, then replace the axles with new, not rebuilt.

No don't replace them.

Fwiw, I ran a bone dry open CV joint for many years on my CRX before it ever got around to making clicking sounds. Many years later when it finally started to make the cracking sounds at full turn I finally replaced the axle.

The current truck has an exposed CV joint as well. Only a year old. No noises or problems either.

I'm a new Samurai owner, myself. Where are these CV joints? Since it's a live axle (Straight axle) setup...are we talking about the outboard "knuckles" of the front end?

Just something else for me to check out on my "new" Samurai...

Clem

Yep that's what I'm talking about...

Here's something to check: Suzuki used a speaker-type slip-on connector on the positive wire for the starter motor. Not kidding. Clean both connectors properly so it will give trouble while cranking less often.

Also removing the front bumper is a great thing to do. The engine doesn't heat up so quickly in traffic and it will give you better offroading ability, and that eyesore of a benchy bumper will be gone You can mount the stock indicators on the bull bar behind the bumper using fence wire, you just have to put some kind of removable connector on the ground wire to each indicator. I'll update my sammy's pic this weekend so you can see.

Heh...

on the bumper, I pretty much took care of that just as you described two days ago. It was a result of riding a fallen log into its stump and pushing the whole bumper to the side far enough to interfere with the tire on that side (stock tire).

I didn't have my safety wire at the place where the Samurai is, so I used some duct tape to hold the turn signals to the bar for now ;). I don't have a separate ground on them though...

I do have some wiring to fix. The positive battery cable clamp bolt is broken and there's two wires shoved under the clamp/terminal...yuck.

This little thing is a BEAST though. It's got more problems than I can list (or have even found yet) but the drivetrain seems to be surprisingly solid!

I think I'll go play with it this evening!

Clem

[thread creap]

Hey all...what's that bar that runs from the rear bumper surrounding the license plate on a Samurai?

I ask here because I figure you all will have mercy on a newbie.

It doesn't look strong enough to be a hitch or tie down...but I can't figure what else it could be besides a sod-stripper.

Thanks, Clem [/thread creap...but not really, because hopefully I'll get an answer ;)]