I was out on the trail earlier today when I looked under and saw grease all around the inner CV. I figured it split from lifting the front 2.5" some months back on (maybe) original boots. I couldn't see the cut at first, but found it when I got home. I was expecting it to be in a groove, but it was at the outer bellow edge (see photo). I would expect that it would tear in a groove if it were age related, but could a sharp rock or branch have done this? Trying to decided whether to replace/reboot both sides (if age related) or just that one side (if freak accident). Boots seemed pliable last I checked, but I'm not that experienced.

 

It's hard to tell the exact source of the leak.

I will say this, if the CV joint is otherwise unbroken and serviceable, go ahead and replace the boot. The OEM CV joints are marginally stronger than a parts store unit.

 

Do you mean source of the cut? The source of the leak is in the photo (replaced photo with cut circled).

 

Clean it off Gorilla tape!!

Thing is when you start pulling things apart no telling what one finds

My luck started to change boots ended up replacing both axles turned into a week long project.

The upside I still have new boots someplace!!

 

Yup, after doing a mild lift a few months ago, also sorts of rubber parts started leaking. Ended up replaced UBJ, LBJ, brake lines, and OTR's. Yeah, gorilla tape for now, then figure out how to proceed from here. Just a weekend truck, so it will sit for a while.

 

I'm still on the original CV joints, boots, u-joints, etc.

Really surprised that the boots are still dry after 300,000 miles...



Andreas

 

On my originals at 260,000 no lift though! Replacing mine in a matter of weeks with a whole new CV, if I'm lucky I'll see another 250,000

 

I gotta think just as much labor to replace boots as the whole shaft.

I now just put new CV axles in refurb the ones that came out that way I have extras

If the factory ones are better how can one tell if they are original??

 

OK, so I cleaned everything off and took a closer look. It really does seem a branch or something cut it. I stuck my finger into the slit and it did not crack further at the edges the way I would expect if the rubber was bad. However, I did find both inner boots are cracking near the small bands so looks like I'll be doing both sides.

I want to remove it myself and take it to a shop to reboot but I called around but could not find one place that will do just that. Several shops wanted 1 hour per side to replace and another hour to reboot. I want to stick with OEM. So let's see, $500 for a shop to do it or $100 for factory boots frkm eBay plus band tool plus my labor? Easy decision. Time to break out the prh bar and BFH.

 

Replacing the whole axle would be much easier than replacing the boot. If you've lifted it, I would imagine replacing the axles would be an upcoming and necessary task. Or atleast I would think?

 

So I'm halfway through - disassembled both cv's and waiting for the boot kit and clamp tool. Removal took half hour each, re-boot will probably take an hour each so yeah, replacement is definitely easier but more expensive (if you go OEM) so it depends on how much your time is worth. Cheapest OEM I found was $150 at Camelback Toyota. I've also heard good things about CVJ Axles ($94/ea) but I was not able to confirm with them if they rebuild OEM cores or not when I called. As for whether axles need to be replaced, I did a lot of searching and talked to my mechanic and it is still unclear to me whether the joints really do "wear out" if protected by boots and not contaminated. my rationale was that being lifted, the boots will wear out much faster than the joints anyway so I might as well learn how to reboot instead of buying new axles every time.

 

did you do a diff drop when you lifted. That will give you a better angle on your cv's and help your boots and joints last longer.

 

No I didn't do a diff drop. I could not really find consensus as to whether its worth it. Apparently, because the spacer is only on one side, it "rotates" the diff down and only yields 1/2" real drop also at the expense of ground clearance. I've been wanting to drop down a bit anyway and so happens just scored OME 880 springs on eBay so will swap out my 881's this weekend.

I notice you have 2" OME lift in your SIG. What springs are you running and did you do a diff drop? If so, did it help?

 

I've got the 881's in front and I didn't do a diff drop. I guess it all depends the angle of the axles, and I don't feel that mine is too bad. I've put about 20k on and I haven't had any problems, but some people say the diff drop really helps.

I've also heard of some guys rebooting with Porsche boots or something because they don't rub as much. I also know that some other guys stretch theirs out for the same effect. Just a random thought.