SPLIT CV REPAIR BOOT?

I have a small tear on my drivers side cv boot.Are any of those split repair boots any good? I see the Dorman split boot that is glued together and the other that is hinged on one side and bolted together on the other side. I drive less than 3,000 miles a year and don't do any off roading any more. Will one work for me or will I be wasting my time? Thanks for any input.

 

I wouldn't even bother fixing it. I drove 275,000 miles with a torn boot. It never failed.

 

Best is to rebuild them with actual boots. Anything else is just a bandaid fix. It takes a little bit of time, but it's not that hard. Plenty of videos out there. If you can turn a wrench or two, it's totally doable.

Depending on WHY your boot is cracked, will depend on the type of boot yo should get. If you have a lift, it's likely that your boots are getting over extended and you should get some high angle boots. If it's just normal wear and tear, OEM style is more than sufficient.

I would definitely advise against just ignoring it for 275,000 miles, especially if you take it off road. There's nothing worse than being "that guy" who breaks down on the trail because you ignored maintenance. If you just drive on the highway in 2wd 99% of the time, sure, who cares...

In fact, if you go off-roading a fair amount, I'd buy a new pair of CVs, install those now, and rebuild your old ones at your leisure, and take them on the trail for spares.

 

I wouldn't use a patch kit. A new OEM boot kit isn't that expensive and will generally last a really long time - even longer than some of the "high angle" boots that are supposed to be better.

Here are all the parts and tools needed, as well as photos and a description of the whole process:
How-to: Rebooting a Tacoma CV Axle

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I have bilsteins all around the fronts are the next to the highest adjustment,so that would be less than a 2" lift. Do you think stock boots would be ok?

 

Thanks for all the information Dan !

 

At a 2" lift, the OEM boots will be fine. (Well, new ones with fresh rubber.)

 

I used a split boot on my beater. It lasted a few years, longer than the transmission.

 

You should be fine, yeah.

 

Surprised you didn't subject the OP to your usual blasphemy

 

I must be slipping in my old age.

 

@Kwikvette if I'm being honest, I was hoping you'd like that post, then I'd go back and edit it.

 

I decided to do the oem boot kit because my 02 Tacoma only has 100k on it. To buy me some time I put some gasket maker on it to seal up the small tear,about 1.5" long. No leaks so far after a week. I just have a lot of other things going on right now

 

Nuce fix!