*sigh* how much does a CV joint cost to replace..

[sudo]

So my car turned a 100,000 miles and as you can tell from This thread some shit got fucked up.

Needed a new ground wire = $400 (with labor)
Needed new brakes and rotors = $80 (without labor did it myself w/ a buddy)

Now, it looks like I need a new CV joint. When I go in a straight line, my car makes no sound, but as soon as I turn it starts to make a clunking noise. Looking on the Internet, it looks like it is a bad CV joint - and it says they have a life of about 100,000 miles - which would make sense.

So my questions to you humble automotive enthusiasts are these:

1. If I'm replacing one should I just replace both? Because it's only the driver side one that is messed up.
2. How much would labor be to put these on?
3. I got a price for my car from advancedautoparts for 59.99 per side, does that sounds reasonable for my car: 2001 Chevy Cavalier Z24?
4. I have an uncle-in-law who is a mechanic, who will do it for free.. but I might have to wait a week or so. How long can I drive on this thing? I have heard that you can let it go for a little bit.

[Sir Bifford]

Depending on your driving habits you probably have 5k-10k miles to go if it just started.

[Harner]

1. Yes, you could do that but that's extra money. I never replaced them before, I usually just deal with it.
2. Well, on a lift it wouldn't be bad. Maybe a couple hours of labor + cost of parts.
3. Yeah that's not bad.
4. It'll be awhile, just watch curbs and potholes.

[Anonymous D]

I changed one on my old truck and it was a huge PITA. So Im willing to bet labor will be expensive. But mine was a little more complicated because of the 4WD.

[Harner]

It shouldn't be as bad as a wrong wheel drive car. For someone who has done them before and has all the tools and a lift available, it shouldn't take long at all.

[wanabedriver]

Is it really that cheap? I thought my parents said it was fking expensive to replace a Honda one, so they got rid of the car before they had to (granted the car had like, 200k miles).

[Harner]

Foreign stuff is generally more expensive, including the precious Hondas and Toyotas.