Manioca35

I posted this as a response to an old thread in the offroad tech section, but that area seemed pretty dead, so I'm reposting in here (also I wasn't sure how relevant it really was in that section anyway).



I just had to replace an axle assembly on my 3rd gen because the inner CV boot split (mind you, the truck has less than 70K on it). The word is that it's likely related to my OME884 Front Coil Springs , N140S Front Struts, N142 Shocks, OME895 Springs, which gave me 3+ inches of lift (less than 2 years old). The guy at the shop told me that he didn't know what the remedy would be, and that I'm likely looking at eventually replacing all of the boots/joints at some point. What about a diff drop? Shouldn't that fix the problem? How much does a diff drop cost (assuming I pay a shop to do it)?

Localmotion

you should of bought the diff drop with the lift. anything over 2" requires a diff drop. Get the diff drop and throw it it. change the boots and be happy!

OME 884s? Ive never heard of those on a 3rd gen. arent those a 4th gen spring

you can go with the following:
www.4crawler.com
www.sonoransteel.com

if you put your lift in yourself you can do this on your own.

if not, i would get around 80 to install?

Crux

Diff drop is like $25-30

Takes less than an hour to install.

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/DiffDrop.shtml

ecchamberlin

IMO anything over 2.5 inch of lift and the CV's may be damaged if they are constantly spinning( non manual hubs, AKA ADD) Even with the diff drop 3in of lift will probably show premature wear.

This is why many do a 2.5in suspension lift and then a body lift. The diff drop is so increadibly easy to do that it would be a real waste to pay someone unless you are simple not physically capable.

JHupp

Wow, 884s???? That is huge for up front! Most go with 881s, or 882s. You definately went too high up front. The diff drop is easy, but I'm not sure that would fix your problem. I would bump down to 881s, and a 1"spacer or a tundra lift. The diff drop is easy enough, the skid plate has to be notched out along the runners, so everything goes back on right, that is easily taken care of with an angle grinder. You must have like 4" of lift up front???? Even with the diff drop your still going to have problems. I would get rid of those 884s ASAP if you ever want it fixed IMO.

Manioca35

Woops! I just copied the specs from sleeoffroad.com without paying attention - that's the kit for a 4th gen. The 3rd gen kit is:

OME881 Front Coil Springs
N91S Struts
OME890 Springs
OME N86 Shocks

ecchamberlin

I don't really understand how you got 3+ inches of lift with those springs. Did you add spacers to the coils?

Localmotion

I got about that much when i was running the OME 881 w/ bilsteins.

Make sure the coils are seated properly.

Mr. Bob

If you had a torn inner boot why did they replace the axle???

midiwall

I'm guessing someone sold him a bill of goods and he didn't quite know enough to say "WHOA!".

...he does now. I hope.

Tanto

Tacomas also need the skid plate holes drilled out a little bit to fit after installing a diff drop. Just FYI.

PO2SIMS

Last weekend I just replaced both cv axles. One side actually ripped the inner boot shooting grease everywhere, and the other side was starting to tear. I have the diff drop and 2.5" of lift. I have 65k miles, but being 7yrs old the boots were hard, leading to the ripping. I replaced both whole axles so that in the future its free to replace one because their under warranty. It only takes about an hour to do one side. The thing w/ the diff drop is it only drops the front of the diff, putting the cv's at an angle. I was looking at what it would take to drop the rear a little bit as well. The driveline has about 1" to drop before it hits, but the diff case has about 1/3" before it hits. I was thinking maybe grinding down the case (outer seam at a bolt) so that it could drop and then modifying the rear mount to make it drop 1/2". This would help the cv's more and take away some of the forward rake that my cv's have.

Localmotion

I dont understand this logic.

Why would you need to drop the rear of the diff/ how would it lead to less stress on the cvs and resulting in a lower cv angle?

shoot, after all that work, why lift it anyways. Mind as well just do a BL

PO2SIMS

Why drop the diff in the first place??? Because it puts the diff closer to the hub, so that the cv's have less of an angle down. But only lowering the front does give less down angle, but it creates rear angle (r u seeing the logic?). Let me paint a picture for ur brain. U lift the suspension, now the cv's have more down angle (on the boots, fins are closer or touching on the bottom of the boot). So u put the diff spacer in the front. Now on the bottom of the boots the fins are not as close, but now the fins are closer on the back of the boot than the front of the boot. By dropping the rear of the diff u r making the diff sit more level making the cv angle more level. Have u seen the bigger IFS lifts for the Tacoma??? They drop the whole diff down putting the cv's at stock angles, which kills clearance, but makes the cv's happy. So ask those guys why they just don't get a body lift, instead of buying the expensive Fabtech lift. I mean all that work to move the diff down w/ all those new crossmembers, it would be easier to get a 6" body lift. (-sarcasism)

Localmotion

alright ..go grab a beer and on the way back grab some midol.. No need to be condesending about it. But i guess you are one of those guys.

I was simply asking a question b/c i didnt see the logic. I know how a diff drop works, as I have one.

I guess you are a genius with all the ideas...go ahead, do it and post back.

PO2SIMS

I'm not trying to be mean, but if u just said u didn't see the logic I would just have explained it to u. But u implied it was stupid to do work to my rig to make a suspension lift work at its best, and just use a body lift.

Mr. Bob

hey P02SIMS, that would explain why you replaced them.... Most places I deal with offer a "limited lifetime" warantee on their axles... all of them void warantee if the CV boots are torn open....

Also too, my time is free.... It also helps that I have a beautiful heated place to work with 3 hoists and 5 big tool boxes full of tools to work from.... I dont know the cost of axles for 3rd gens, but at $10 a boot, I can do a lot of boots for the price of 2 axles.... But thats me.... Im cheap ... it leaves me more money for mods

PO2SIMS

The thing is I would have to buy tools just to properly change the boots. Unless autozone has the right c-ring pliers. But even so, it saves time just removing and reinstalling the whole cv axle. It seems like the majority of people on here do what I did. I'm going to spray boots w/ tire clean, shine, protectant foam once in awhile to keep the rubber moist and clean.

MTL_4runner

CV clamp pliers are cheap.....if the axle is still good then I would have just replaced the boot like Bob mentioned. I have done alot of them too and they really aren't that hard once you get the hang of it. I am surprised you got 3" off your 881s though mine were more like 2.25-2.5" but then again I bought them used from someone else so they had fully settled.

xcntrk75

Just wanted to chime in here as I’ve dealt with a number of high-whp CV axle issues in my past…

You guys do realize that once the boots are torn and the grease escapes the joint is no longer lubricated and eminently prone to failure. Simply repacking, rebooting, and rebanding doesn’t help the joint if it’s already damaged from the lack of lubrication. Once those boots tear, the centrifugal force slings the grease out pretty rapidly so there’s only a limited amount of time to catch the issue and repair the boot before damaging the joint. And the thing is, you usually don’t know the axle is damaged until you begin to hear the clunking and binding from the joint which means the damage is already done and the entire axle must be replaced/rebuilt.

Routine inspection of your axle boots is the only way to verify their condition which could lead to failure. Once you hear one clunking it’s too late.