I know this is to long but I feel some history is important to the subject. I just bought this trooper about 3 weeks ago. I have another 89. I am kinda restoring it for my grandson someday. I am replacing the upper balljoints rebuilding one upper control arm. The left (drivers side) CV joint is ripped also. I have the history of this truck back to 1999. the right axle along with the CV's were replaced in 2004. So the left must have been good at that time. I have read a lot of info on this subject but still have ?s. How do I tell if the actual joint is bad. It is the outside boot. I have removed it, cleaned up the grease. Everything looks fine, lots of grease still there but the tear was bad. The previous owner is a downtwon Seattle guy. He said he never drove the truck in four wheel and stayed on city streets. I believe him. If I do need to replace the half shaft. Can I take the the axle out without removing the hub. Seems I read I could but the vehicle may not have been a four wheel. I like the Mecatech system I have been reading about on the forum. Thanks for reading this. Stan

If the truck was never driven in 4wd with the ripped boot and everything still had a lot of grease on it, it is likely fine. Check all of the ball/cage surfaces for scuffs, rust, or pitting. The traditional way of changing boots is outlined on the main page:

http://www.4x4wire.com/isuzu/tech/CVboots/?

If you go with the Mecatechs and get the whole kit with the 'pop cone', you can do it differently. Just take off the face of the hub and remove the snap ring holding the axle in place. Break loose the tie rod, upper and lower ball joints, and remove brake caliper and the entire spindle/hub assembly comes off as one piece. Obviously this needs to be done with care since the thing has some weight and wouldn't be very friendly to a shin or foot. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />