Originally Posted by 90CRXTC
Your CV joint boot is nothing more than a dust and debri cover which simply helps to keep the joint itself clean. It plays litle to no role in keeping the joint full of grease! If there is no clicking at this point you can just replace the boot. If there is noise, you'll need to replace joint ASAP. But I have yet to hear of a cv joint falling off or causing an accident by itself. Just drive cautiously!
Ice
So if we lived in a completely sterile environment and there wasn't a boot on the joint, the axle would still operate properly indefinitely? I'm kind of doubtful of that seeing as how the boot logically seems to keep the grease contained.