About 2 months ago I put on 2 new front Bilstiens Gas SportWagon's. The lift was very noticeable. I knew I'd have to get the back ones soon for the front was higher now.
I measured the space between the tire and the fender flare. It was 7 inches.
Could this of stressed the inner cv's rubber to breaking and leaking. Both are leaking pretty bad and probably for 2 months. the leak on both is the outside end just before the clamp. I noticed a driver side rumble and oscillation getting worse and finally got on the ground and found them leaking today.
At this point I'm for replacing the half shafts and not just do a boot repair. Who
makes the best aftermarket half shafts? Should this boot breakage of happend?
Runner is a '98 and has 119k miles.
Any feedback would be appreciated.

BJ

 

If they are stock replacement shocks, and you used stock springs, then it shouldn't have raised you much. What size tires you running? If you look at your cv boots and the fins are touching then you have a bad cv angle and that might have caused you to start leaking. I am leaking in one cv, but it started that before i lifted, and I am waiting to switch over to manual hubs.

I would just take your cv to oreillys or something and get ones with the lifetime warranty.

 

do you have a diff drop?? Lifting without one can really make it hard on those cv's. I wouldn't think you'd need new half shafts. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. If you do, I'd just get the entire cv from oreilly's. It's like 60 or 70 a piece for the whole thing.

 

None of the fins touch but I can see where the lift has altered the angle.
Just plain old shock replacement and nothing else. Will look into just replacing like you have mentioned. The replacement looks straight forward.

 

Is 7 inches from fender flare to the top of the tire allot of lift? What is normal?
BJ

 

What tire size are you running? Does your runner have reverse rake? On my rig its 37" from the ground to the fender flare, and i have 31ish" tires, so thats 6"s for me.

 

What vehicle are we talking about here?

 

His post says 98 4Runner

Are sportwagons something other than just a normal shock? Are they air lift shocks (the ones hooked up to a compressor)
If not, I dont know why the proper shock would lift your vehicle.
Also without knowing the size of tires and even the type of flares you have, your fender to tire measurement means nothing.
However, if the boots are just leaking, try to tighten the clamp first, since this is a common occurance when altering front suspension height.

 

Thanks to all for the replies. I'm running Bridgestone Duellers A/T 265/70's. I measured the height from the ground to the bottom of the stock fender flare and it is just shy of 37". It is a stock runner that has only seen the curb as a suspension work out. I bought the Bilstiens(Sportwagen zum Einbauen) on the box. Made in Germany. Color is Yellow and a hell of a gas charge on it. Nice firm ride but the road noise went up with all that firmness and a rumble/almost wobbling noise above 60 mph on the drivers side. With the old OE shocks, the rumble noise would only be heard going over a bumb at speed, now it is all the time. Once again, With the new half shafts, going to replace the front wheel bearing also while I'm there.
I've got the Toyota manual and it says to undo the top ball joint? What is the best Yota Tech way to replace the half shafts? I've read undo the 4 lower ball joints bolts?
I got a better look at the shafts in the daylight. The outer joints outermost 2 rubber fins are about 2 mm from touching, and on the inner cv rubber, the middle two fins/ribs are about 4 mm from touching. So standing still, nothing is touching.
I figure with some weight, the clearance would increase.
Bryan

 

37 seems really high for the front on stock springs,265/70/16's and just new shocks on a 98. The shock part numbers correct? Installed properly?

 

The numbers on the box correspond to Bilstiens Heavy Duty Shock for the front of the 4runner. I just ran the number on the net and came up with the same.
Boxes were sealed. I think I installed them correctly. Just ck'd the install to make sure I got the lower spring flange, all is ok. Maybe the cv boots were just dried out in that area and all it took was some strees?
Any input on how to get the half shafts off the non toyota manual way?

Bryan

 

Here's a writeup for the cv axle replacement

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/cv_axle/

 

Many thanks for all the information. 4x4 website has lots of good information also with pics. That is going to keep the $$ in my pocket and not to the Steelers!! YES!! I'll be doing the front bearings at the same time since I'm there already. Got the half shafts online from autopartsgiant.com 93/each new, no core charge.
BJ

 

post pics of your cv angle and maybe they can tell you if its too bad ... good luck with the repair!