cv axle boot gaurds

So to my extreme anger and dismay, a casual glance at my lower suspension revealed one of my fairly new CVJ re-manufactured has a torn boot. The hole in the boot doesn't look like a tare, but an actual hole, I wouldn't be surprised if my wheeling about once a month in the SoCal high desert running over bushes is to blame.

So this got me looking on google for some kind of Tacoma CV axle bush guard- to my surprise there isn't anything for most any truck, google is littered with results for ATVs. Does anyone know of a shop or vendor that makes something like this? Looking for a bolt-on solution (or even something that needs a little tack weld here and there), the older I get the more I appreciate bolt-ons vs. spending days in the garage leaning how much I suck at basic fab.

 

To cover the research and design and testing something to protect would be more then most would spend .

What comes to mind is a Kevlar sleeve thick enough to do the job that would have to be installed by disconnecting the CV axle

Chain mail might also work

Keeping it tight yet allowing it to flex that is the problem

The range of motion makes any other way almost impossible

 

It's nothing crazy, look at the kits for ATVs. It would basically be a bamf lca skid but upside down, installed on top of the lca, a bit taller/longer walls and can be a much thinner thickness/gauge. Install would kind of suck, would need to drill and tap holes, but so worth it, I can't afford rebuilds everytime I off road.

 

Just get axles from NAPA. They have lifetime warranties. Carry one or two extra and you’ll be set.

 

I know everyone is different but my free time is a big deal to me, I'd much rather install some kind of shield vs. constantly replacing cv axles due to driving over some brush. Also, I paid good $$ to have CVJ OEM rebuilts with extended/better flex/aftermarket boots. Those two points, I can't go with the logic of replacing with NAPA cv axles like its changing sneakers.

 

True they can tear easy. Driving over some slash piles of wood or something? Lol

 

Just California high desert stuff, bushes are dried out, the stems obviously stronger than the boot. I guess most people stick to fire roads and don't end up driving over brush. Bummer as these are recently rebuilt CVJs, not the many many cheepos out there that brake down even when mall crawling. The ATV crowed has this issue figured out, LCA/cv boot shields are all over the place for them- stuff like the below all over the interwebs, but nothing for trucks, weird.

https://www.sidebysidestuff.com/front-cv-boot-guards-commander.html

 

Please - stick to the roads/marked trails. Off road areas get closed due to vehicles running over every living thing... Don't ruin it for the rest of us. Tread Lightly my friends...

 

Maybe it's relevant to speed? Desert pickups that haul ass don't have those things. I am sure you could build some but there is quite a bit of difference between the ATV geometry and the Automotive world. It would have to rotate and flex with the suspension no doubt. Make some and see how they work!

 

This is near Hodge Road where every 100 feet there are people shooting every non-living thing (and maybe living things if they were there), the feds would have closed this place a long time ago if they were worried a beetle was getting run over (or shot). Actually my friends and I leave the range areas cleaner than we found them because we don't want that area closed. I'm not mobbing through wild lands screaming 'Merica!!', its just that some of these 'roads' just run out of steam and disappear swept away from rains and new growth, and to get out of it your going to inevitably run over some brush.

Reminds me I need to update my EMU piggyback thread, all the driving on the street has not caused a CEL or stall, but off-road type throttling caused a P1300 and stall-out, very weird. Only when I'm on it, then do a very quick throttle close- last time the issue was the vacuum line popping off of the MAP sensor- this time around I'm not sure- if it was the ignition chip on the EMU that is known to de-solder, it would not have re-started. I do have an HKS DLI tapped into the circuit...

A lot of desert pickups that are hauling ass are 2 wheel drive pre-runners- front CVs are not there. They should be fairly easy to fab up, just some cuts of metal, I have a mig, and some tapping on the LCA- just surprised to see such a vacuum in the market- tells me there is no practical use or some other impossibility of it-- then again 1st - 3rd gen do not have an off-the-shelf sway bar quick disconnect option, you have to make it yourself.

 

What about some seal savers? They are for ATV but could be functional to protect the rubber. https://dirtwheelsmag.com/home-page/seal-savers-shock-and-cv-covers/

 

You could get an LCA skid plate then have someone weld on some sort of 'kickout' or tab that comes up and angles out to deflect brush.
Or invest in some time savers like a racing jack and an impact gun, with some practice, you could time yourself and see how long it actually takes you to replace a CV.

 

There is a cv boot cover. A lot of ultra 4 guys run them. In sure someone like poly performance or kartek will have them

 

http://www.chaparral-racing.com/product/cycle-country-cv-boot-covers/356-6921.aspx - similar to this?

 

Those look interesting, but I doubt they fit, and I get the feeling they are good for manual locked and/or slow applications. With how our CV axle is always spinning, even when in 2wd, at freeway speeds I could see these things wearing out fast- or even wearing on the boots themselves if not perfectly installed- kind of like how your not suppose to double up on condoms.

This sounds like an excuse for retail therapy- always wanted some BAMF LCA skids haha. The cost plus the the amount of fab to use an LCA skid is not appealing though, and probably the same amount of fab as just making purpose built shields (cutting metal, welding, the skids still require drilling and tapping the LCAs etc).

Just blows me away there isn't a product already out there- I guess it doesn't get mall parking lot street cred (kind of hidden).

After replacing my CVs with CVJs last time around, its not all that hard, but I am concerned repeated changes will start to compromise the oil seal- replacing that was a lot less fun than the CV itself. Its going back to DustStorm's post, even at $60 an axle, having a repeated cause for replacement that takes time and $$ (even with warranty, your driving to NAPA to get the warranty served) when a little more fab time and $$ in metal prevents it. I'm not understanding the "replace it all the time, its easy" logic. Mitigation seems to be the way more logical step. I think @Wyoming09 called it, just not enough demand- look at how many Toyota centric fab shops won't make bumpers or other parts for 1st gens. I had to make my own sway bar disconnects and there is A LOT of reason to have them IMO. Not enough dudes willing to pay the $200 it would cost to buy them (and that would be a company that is getting the raw parts for a hell-of-a deal) I guess. Meanwhile Jeeps have tons of them, and even FJ guys had an option until the guy stopped making them due to liability concerns.


A link to yet another ATV setup- google has countless ATV specific metal shields.
http://www.chaparral-racing.com/product/cycle-country-cv-boot-covers/356-6921.aspx

A taco one wouldn't need to be so over-kill looking, only needs to be about 3.5" tall, and a diff side I think are already pretty well protected, this is for the hub/wheel side ones.

The $$ that would go towards BAMF skids can go towards a bandsaw, all I have is a cutting wheel- then maybe actually get to fabbing some up with some sheet metal. Was just hoping for a built option because again, my free time is very valuable to me. Gone are the days I looked forward to wrenching and modding every chance I got, guess I'm getting old.

 

I don’t think there’s a demand because it doesent happen that much. I wheel in the Forrest (used to wheel in the desert) a lot and I’ve never had a random thing puncture the cv boot. I’ve blown up tons of cvs, but never had the boot tear from a stick or something you are trying to avoid. I think you either got really unlucky or just drove somewhere dumb you could have avoided

 

The context with this being on a Tacoma forum is funny. I've been with a group from T4R to do a Big Bear run, lots of guys getting stuck, braking stuff, never thought to mention to them, "that was dumb, could have avoided this trail, could have taken the freeway" nor heard it from them. Am I posting in the wrong forum? Should I be posting pics of sic bed racks, RTTs and awesome gear and no failure experiences? Going full blast up an incline and braking something in the driveline- yes dumb and avoidable, but to be on the trail in the first place, IMO no.

I'm not a fan of even getting pin-stripes, I wasn't looking for a challenge or any craziness, just had to drive over some brush a few times (not even at high speed). If its such a impossible thing I don't think the ATV community would have so many options, just seems to be rare enough on trucks to not create a market (maybe an aesthetics element to it too).

 

Minimize statements I've bolded below and we won't get our panties in a bunch...

Fire roads or marked trails

If a 'trail' runs out, we turn around (well, there was this one time...)

While I'm not the hard-core wheeler, I've never heard/had anyone puncture a CV. Boot tears and CV disintegration, yes... And I despise trailside repairs. CV's specially... So I applaud you for seeking a solution.

I do appreciate your 'leave it cleaner than you found it' attitude. Do keep posting - maybe keep some of the shenanigans closer to the vest ;-)

 

@BlackSportD

I think this is what your looking for

https://www.carid.com/rcv-performance/over-boot-mpn-sum-6562-6.html?singleid=693077034&url=89379189

 

Still concerned with the double wrap thing but if its legit it looks pretty good. Not sure if our CVs are similar to what its designed for (934s) but at $80 a pop, MagicMexican's (my SoCal inner PC alarm is going off now...) idea is sounding better and better (and actually cheaper)- after looking over the LCA, all the little bends and business going on at the top of it, just getting some BAMF LCA skids and tack welding on some threaded tabs to bolt on sheet metal might be the trick (speaking of internal alarms, the sport compact car guy in me sounds an alarm at any addition of un-sprung weight, but 4x4). These $80 (x2 $160) covers do look like the fastest, simplest option though.