1st Gen Lifted CV Axle Help

While that sounds good theoretically, there is still friction going on. If the fins are touching there will be an eventual channel dug into the rubber, then an eventual tear like the OP posted a picture of. Gears do the same thing, they touch but rotate together, but they still need lube. Same with the CV boots. The lift needs to be lowered if he has a diff drop and he's still blowing CV boots. Do the BSM, reinstall, then lower the lift bit by bit until the boot fins are no longer touching when the truck is level on the ground (it will have to be driven or rolled a few feet in order to accurately gauge this).

 

There is a difference here. The pinion and the ring in a gear set rotate in different directions. It takes the force from a shaft and transfers it 90 degrees in two different directions. We are talking about rotation of a single shaft and the boots along that shaft. The boots don't transfer force like a ring and pinion but simply hold in grease for the parts that do. Those all rotate at the same rpm and direction. They do touch but the friction is minimal. The tear that occurs in the valley of the boots more likely comes from the "opening" and "closing" of the boots fatiguing the material much like bending a wire back and forth till it gets hot and breaks. Still friction but definitely not "rubbing" like a ring and pinion. Boots themselves don't need lube, but the parts inside do because that's where energy is transferred from one segment of the shaft to the other like the ring and pinion. Those are different forces taking place in the inside the joint.

The BSM, diff drop and lowering all help reduce the "bending" in the fins by reducing the angles along said shaft thus reducing the fatigue of the material. It also spreads the fins out preventing them from touching which while minimal in its effect should help as well.

 

So what are the best boots to get?

 

I appreciate the advice but I'm not lowering the truck for the boots; it's not a crazy lift, I guess I just need to know if there are any boots that are less likely to rip at high angle.

 

My buddy ended up just doing the boot slide on neoprene boots. Here's a thread for you:
http://threeg4runners.freeforums.org/post4877.html?hilit=%20boot#p4877

 

I used the high angle boots from CVJ Reman. They rebuild the axles with the boots on request. I've had nothing but good things to say about their service. Very helpful. As for boots not tearing...I really don't know beyond what I'm using and I've done tons of looking too.

 

Folk can question my opinion and discard my advice
matters not to me

but I'll say this...

my 15 yr old Tacoma is still sporting
the factory original CV's and the boots that came on them.


so do as ya like... yer experience
but aim them damn headlamps down please

 

Call Kartek and get their High angle cv boots.

They are the bates style 930 cv boot.

They are built to be at high angles without the fins rubbing.

I blew my boots several times, then went to these bates style 930 high angle cv boots, and I haven't blown a single one in 10x the amount of time i blew 2 stock boots.

Kartek , Part number: KTKBAT101

http://www.kartek.com/Product/443/930-Bates-Style-Over-CV-Boot.aspx

 

Both my inners tore this last weekend

I'm going with these

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/sdhq-offroad/317579-tacoma-cv-boot-kits.html

 

Very interesting. May have to get a couple of those if I ever need to

 

thanks, doyouevenprerun I just ordered a set. TacoDell I wouldn't worry about it; the rear is lifted too so the headlamps don't aim up; also I live in NH.

 

awesome, report back

 

Sermon for the day

Toyota built the 1st gens with around 7 inches of wheel travel, limited by shock length and the bump stops. It seems very difficult for folks to understand how adding 3 inches to ride height (within the fixed 7" of available travel) adversely affects ride and articulation. Plenty of folks do it but that doesn't mean it "works" for anything beyond "looks".
This saying came about In the Taco community long before this forum was started.
"A little over two if you need to crawl, anything more is just for the mall"

Your UCAs? They did not add ANY additional travel much less 3".

Boots?
Sure, I'm biased to the BSM because I originally developed it. Done properly using the "internal stop" method and new OEM boot kits it will last for, well heck, it's hard to say. Mine look like new after 14 lifted years with thousands of trail miles a year. I have done more than 50 of them with no failures reported.
Stretching old boots and stretching any boot beyond 3/8"-1/2" is asking for tears.

After market boots?
No one makes a 1st gen Taco specific high angle boot any more.
KarTek started selling 930 boots as "high angle" Taco boots around 15 years ago when they saw how they could be adapted to "sort of" fit. Now several vendors market them with various hype including CVJ. The issue with them is they need to be clamped on top of the big end of an old OEM type boot. The 930 is round and the Taco inner joint bell is "3 lobed". The profiles of the "clamped together" surfaces do not match. The big end can leak or slide entirely off if not clamped just right. The problem with that is "what is just right?". They will be fine up until they aren't. I tried a pair when they were first introduced and after several "messes" came up with the BSM. Good to go since.
If you just have to have the 930's, they can be had all day long for 10-15$ in your choice of colors, just don't buy them as a Tacoma application. You will need longer clamps.

The HDSQ boots are nothing more than EMPI brand direct replacements. They are not "high angle" and are dimensionally the same as Toyota OEM boots. Both are neoprene, the Empi may be softer but I see that as a negative not a positive.
Again, if any one is dead set on these they can be had with clamps and lube for 10-15$ each. Google "Empi Tacoma boot" and follow the returns to your vendor of choice.

OEM boot kits come with clamps, the 3 c-clips that should be replaced and lube. Hard to go wrong there.

Diff drops?
All of them drop only the front of the diff, rotating it. The amount the CV actually drops is less than half the length of the spacer or about the amount the ride height drops when you get in the seat. The detriment to the front u-joint angles is minimal. There is undeniably the issue of skid plates no longer fitting and the logic of lowering the diff closer to the rocks.

Fins "rubbing, touching"?
Call it what you want. If they touch or are even real close at ride height they will wear thru in no time at all.

 

Excellent information, as always.

Do you see any reason for concern with regard to oiling the front diff pinion bearing when a diff drop is installed? It is raised a bit and correct me if I am in error, that bearing relies on oil slung up onto it for its oiling.

 

Dirty Pool, before the UCA's, the wheels only had about 1" of extra travel beyond the lift I had installed. You could see it when it went up on a lift; now the tires drop at least an additional 3 inches. I'm not lying to you. feel free to call Synergy Auto Lab at 6036062204 they can confirm what I just told you. You can go on about how it just isn't possible but it happened. All I did was the UCA's and I gained a shitload of downward travel. My mechanic worked at Toyota and has spent thousands of hours in these trucks.

 

Thanks Mr Digiratus
I would not miss a minute of sleep about pinion oiling problems from a diff drop or any other detrimental aspects. The case is just too confined, heck just slightly overfill one and it will puke oil out thru the vent. That and the fact that they have been around for at least a decade with no oiling issues reported that I recall. That is all opinion, I never thoroughly researched it enough to bet my life on it.
I don't take some dramatic position on them one way or the other because they just aren't that significant a change. However IIRC there were some that were on the excessive side, like 1.5" or something.

I'm sure you genuinely believe what you think happened.

 

As does my mechanic who installed them. Please call them before you continue to be a condescending prick.

 

Dude, you have no idea, You are getting good, solid feedback.

You can choose to do what you want with it.

 

Advice is appreciated; telling me that I'm imagining an extremely obvious and measurable change is not. After I got the coilovers, my mechanic told me that my downward travel was being limited by the factory UCA's; we switched them out, and I literally laughed out loud when I saw it on the lift because the change was so dramatic. So when someone arrogantly tells me that it didn't happen; I get a little upset.

 

high angle boots still rock solid after 11K