As I was changing my oil the other day I noticed a dust cover boot torn to pieces. It is not the axle though. It attaches to the control arm behind where the axle comes out. Question is, what is this piece and why is there a dust boot on it, and is it easily replaced? Any pictures and/or advice is greatly appreciated. This is the best way I can describe it.

 

With out a pic, I can only guess that you are referring to the outer tie rod. It has a dust boot for the same reason all the other greased joints have them. To keep dirt out and allow them to articulate freely.

They are not hard to replace. Remove the wheel and take a look. It's one castle nut. Remove the cotter pin, remove the nut and separate the Tie rod from the knuckle. You may need a pickle fork to separate the tie rod from the steering knuckle. Then twist the outer tie rod from the inner tie rod using two open ended wrenches. Other than that you will probably require an alignment when your done. It is a fairly simple procedure.

 

might want to check first to make sure the tie rod is still good if you are going to go threw all that first. jack up the wheel see if there is any play in the wheel other than from steering