I’m not a car expert or anything but I was looking at under my 1999 Toyota 4runner the other day and next to the front wheels I noticed rubber coverings that looked like CV boots. This confused me because I thought that my RWD 4runner did not have constant velocity joints in the front and so now I am wondering what those rubber coverings are. They have ridges like CV boots and they are connected to the front wheels, so if they are not CV boots what are they? But then again, if they are CV boots, why would my RWD 4runner need CV joints? Thank you all for the clarification.
Is the 4-Runner 4 wheel drive? If so there are drive shafts to each front wheel. If it is All-Wheel drive it remains in 4x4. If it is 4 wheel drive it can be shifted to rear only. If the 4 wheel drive operates with the rear as primary mover it is considered a rear wheel drive 4x4. Front wheel drive 4x4s such as Subarus are considered crossovers. Is that confusing enough?
HAHA wow that was quite confusing. But no, my 4runner IS NOT a 4-wheel drive. It is simply a 2 wheel drive (rear wheels are driven) 4runner and I was wondering what those CV boot like things were at the front wheels.
Excuse me…
They’re the steering rack boots.
Yup, I agree.
On a side note, I was just wondering what kinds of joints drive the rear wheels. Are they cv joints at the rear wheels? Universal joints? I guess what I’m wonderig about is what is the cv joint equivalent of rear wheel drive vehicles. Thanks.
On a 4Runner, the rear drive is a solid axle w/o need for c/v joints. If it were independently sprung on the rear, there would be, as in many car based SUVs. There are universal joints in the drive train that are exposed and subject to wear in much the same way as a cv. These are much better protected by their location in the center line of the body and tend to have fewer problems if maintained. No boots here as they are exposed on 4Runners.
Are you guys sure it is not 4 wheel drive? It sounds like CV joints to me.
The OP said it was a two wheel drive, rear wheel.
Both the rack and CV joints use convaluted rubber bellows boots. They look just like one another.
He said it was RWD but he didn’t say it was 2-wheel drive. I would think anyone could tell if it was the steering rack. I always figured a 4 Runner was 4-wheel drive, hence the name.
I think they were originally all 4-wheel drive, but in the 1996 update, Toyota started gearing them more towards on-road use and so you got both a 2-wheel drive version and rack and pinion steering (hence the boots).
I would bet they all had rack and pinion.
They used recirculating ball until '96. A much more robust setup for an actual off-road use, but less responsive on-road. So I was just quipping that it was the same marketing decision that led to both the avaliability of a 2wd version and the presence of steering rack boots (on all of them).
!990…For the first time, 2-door and 4-door 2WD and 4WD models are available.
It’s officially now a mall rat in some versions.