I installed the BJ spacers awhile back after the first big group buy. i put them on and everything was fine. now i have the problem of busting CV boots left and right after wheeling. i know this is due to the increaased angle but is anyone else having this problem? how are you fixing it if you do?

 

I have not heard much of this 'till now. One question would be are you using the stock extension stops or have shimmed low pro's?

Also, I take it you are using aftermarket boots? It's important to make sure when you clamp 'em on the shaft, you leave 'em bunched up enough to flex. Otherwise, with the mean age of a 1st/2nd gen CV boot at 14 years old, I'm surprised I don't hear of it more.

Frank.

 

Do you have a pic of your cv angle? Also what brand of boots are you using? Have you not had any problems with the cv joints breaking?

 

I have had mine on since before the group buy and probably have mileage near the top with them. So far there have been no issues.

I have the bars relaxed as far as they will go, so the angle is not bad at all.

I also have shimmed low profile extension stops.

The only thing I trash more often are idlers and that does not seem to be a result of this.

 

I have about 100 trail miles in 4WD with mine and no problems either. I do have my cv's at a fairly steep angle, but I don't think I'm beyond what the factory bump stops would limit it to.

 

I would recommend a idler arm brace from Downey. I put one on years ago and haven't had a problem since. Idlers are a weak link in our set up but at least it's easily fixed.

Frank

 

Yeah, but they cost money and the lifetime idler from Napa is already on the rig. It should all be laying in Schaefer's garage after a while anyway.

 

what are you going to use for a front axle?

 

I've wheeled my truck hard all summer and haven't had any problems. My torsion bars have never been adjusted, so I'm only running the lift created by the spacers, and my CV angles aren't bad. Do you have cranked t-bars AND BJ spacers?

I'm running the original CV joints and boots on my '88 and I have no signs of wear or fatigue on the boots.

I did, however, break a braced idler arm during my last trip out. The ball joint/stud that attaches to the center link wore out and almost pulled completely out of the idler arm. This is the only front end failure I've had in the 12 years I've been wheeling my rig, and it's not even related to BJ spacers.

Good luck.

 

thanks for the info guys. well i think Frank may be on to something i might have done wrong. i may have installed the boots with too much "stretch" in them to begin with. but i am running a stock front suspension, (bump stops, idler arm, etc) i have the OME shocks and they give me the travel i need for the extra lift. but maybe im just having bad luck. I have no pics sorry. i still am not sure how to post them. (havent really tried either) the boots are from napa auto parts. my T-Bars are untouched although i think i would like to let out some of the lift they give. but i am not sure really. thanks again
Walt

 

I've seen boots fail on other vehciles because they were over stretched. Basically, before clamping the shaft ends, just jack up the truck and let 'em slide up. Then clamp 'em and you shoulld be fine.

Frank

 

There's a bunch of you on here that trash idlers regularly apparently. I've been a Yota enthusiast for 20 years and no one I've ever met or heard of has bent one. My friends are NOT street runners (my truck is the prissiest one of the bunch, and it goes through mud and on the dunes and I tore out a sidewall on the rocks not long ago...) the smallest tires in the lot are 33s with most 35s or 37s. We snap u-joints, we break axles, but we don't trash idlers. How in the world do you guys manage to bend these things? Just really abusive? <grin>

 

I have been wondering about that too. I've never had a problem with mine either but I have an extra brace that came with my Superlift kit that supports the center link in the middle.

 

idler arm brace from Downey +1 and don't set it up so steep and don't crank the wheel while in 4wd w/ tough situations on the front end.

 

Yep, you caught me, I am lame and never wheel. My lockers do not actually get turned on and my wheeling is straight ahead. Your friends are real wheelers who drive a lot better.

I did not start smoking them until I had a crawler.

 

I'm not hard on my junk at all and I'm on my 4th one.

 

My original one was just slightly bent. Didn't really affect alignment or anything.

I replaced it with a braced one, given to me by a guy who did a SAS. The problem with that one is that the ball joint/stud just crapped out. The arm itself is fine, but the stud where the center link attaches broke and had about an inch of slop in it. I tried to limp it home from the trails with a busted idler, and that wasn't fun.


Yep. A crawler and locker(s) gets an IFS rig into spots it otherwise wouldn't go. Those are the types of terrain to break IFS parts.

 

For argument's sake, in 3 days of wheeling in CO, I bent an idler with 1200 miles on it to the point it wedged to the frame and I could not steer. I replaced that one, drove 1400 miles and bent another one in Moab that wedged against the frame and caused me to winch off.

The two bent ones were Napa's made by Moog and have a lifetime warranty, so replacement costs me nothing. It is somewhat annoying to be on my third idler in 8 weeks, less than 3k miles and 6 days of wheeling.

 

Man I feel your pain. The thing about the idler is that once it bends a little, the upward force that is bending it geats greater thus increasing the likely hood it will bend more.

I bent two then got the Downey brace. It's been good ever since.

Frank

 

Not to bring back a thread from the past or anything..... but I snapped one sliding around on pavement.... first rain last year I came sliding up to a stop sign and hit a pot hole that was underwater.... it sheared the idler ball-joint thing straight off. Had to waste a tow to get it the 3 miles back home.


Totally my fault. It was stupid.

Just wanted to share my experience breaking one.

Good to know Downey is the one who makes a brace. I've seen them on the trails, but didn't know who made it.