The Toyota dealership I work at mostly uses the factory boot kits that come with boots, grease, and all factory style clamps (which there are two different styles and require two different tools) we also have one of the universal "band-it" kits. while the factory kits work great and look nice, and personally I think are more manageable, the "band-it" style work fine. you could also get by with a rather large hose clamp possibly.

So all said and done I went with the universal band for the CV boot. Called the local Toyota Dealership and got a tech on the phone who told me that's all they're using now. They were using the fancy special tool needed kind, but have since switched. I'm assuming for the simplicity of it. I gotta tell ya just getting that damn boot back on was a huge pain in the ass!!! I finally figured out that by slowly rotating the shaft I could get it completely on. What a greasy mess!!!! Once I got that done I could go about the easy part, repacking and reassembling the front end. New ball joints, new wheel bearings and seals, resurfaced the rotors and new brake pads. So far nothing has flown off and the braking is much improved. I'm still a bit apprehensive though because I couldn't get my torque wrench in to the upper ball joint nut. So I just used my calculated hands to get it close. How have you all got around that issue? Thanks for all the suggestions and tips!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />