CV Boot Advice!!??

Hey. I have a Tear in Both my Left in Right inner boot. they have been torn for roughly 2 months and still going. My current set up is Bilstein 5100s W/ Eibach coils.
I have just recently done a allprooffroad front drop diff kit. and honestly i havent noticed a change in the cv angle but.... i think ultimately it will help out.

Does anyone have any advise regarding if i should just replace the boot or do the whole axle. I have a feeling i am going to keep ripping boots prematurely.

Is there any alternatives that will help prevent me ripping the boots besides the front diff drop.

And also the labor for CV axles is INSANE! 650 dollars! is there a less expensive way to get this done. autozone? napa?

thanks for any advice

 

check in the 1st gen section for the stickied thread about the CV Boot Slide Mod. also, all-pro makes high-angle CV boots for LT trucks that are supposed to help too.
when I replaced mine, I just replaced the whole thing

 

cool . thanks man.

 

just replace the boots, its a common maintenance item when lifting a truck.

its not hard to do yourself.

 

Just replace the entire axle, its actually easier than replacing the boots only.

And get the CV's from autozone, they carry a lifetime warranty and if one ever fails or you tear another boot you can just exchange it for a brand new axle.

I've had autozone CV's (the most expensive they carry, not reman.) for about 2 years now and they are going strong.

 

Are they that easy to do? why do shops charge out the ass in labor to do cv stuff?

 

because they can

 

just dont wheel hard with auto zone cv's they are way more likely to break on the trail. trail side cv change is a pain in the ass

 

Do you put the autozone ones on yourself or do you take them somewhere. how much does it cost to get them put on?

how often do you go through boots. do you have a drop diff kit??

 

This. It's a little messy (do it over an old tarp or canvas you can throw away), but pretty mild from a technical standpoint.

Bad idea. Aftermarket CVs DO NOT hold up to hard use. There's a reason the OEM units are so much more expensive.

If your truck never leaves pavement, Autozone axles will work fine. Otherwise, reboot your current set. Hell, I'd reboot your current set regardless.

 

fyi the diff drop doesnt do much. maybe .25 degree difference which is not worth it.

cv axles are easy to replace or service.

ttora has the factory service manuals for toyotas and they have pretty good diagrams and instructions...

 

cool. seems pretty simple. my concern i guess is that i just dont wanna be up shits creek if they rip again

 

theyve lasted this long though... the ones you have are likely stock


my cvs are fine after 60k

40k being lifted. new boots will be fine

up shit creek would be when the autozone ones break

 

if they have been torn that long u may have got enough grit in there to damage the cv 2months is a long time and i know u went wheeling at least once. get some after market ones w/ a lifetime warranty like $100 ea anytime they tear just take them in they will replace them for free. not that hard but you will need a few special tools. i can cut u a good deal to change them if u dont mind coming 2 SF. u can watch me do them so u know how to do them next time

 

once again. a lifetime warranty isnt woth a damn when you break one on the trail... OEM are still the best

 

idk, these are pretty tough. My truck sees a lot of dirt. I use 4wd on a weekly basis, and several times a week. And so far about 1-1.5 years of pretty heavy use. The axles were produced by an ISO 9001 company (may have been a different iso #). Can't remember the co. name though.

Dont discount aftermarket parts so quickly, you just need to know which ones to avoid. (although I agree that most aftermarket parts are junk, I did my research before I bought the axles and have had no problems.) At the time there was no way I could have afforded to buy OEM axles.

oh, correction, I got them at advanced auto. All autozone carries is duralast reman. bullshit.

And one thing I like about these over the toyota axles is the the pleats in the dust boots are a lot farther apart than OE boots, so if you lift your truck they dont rub on each other.

and if one breaks.....lifetime warranty...And I doubt these will ever break.

 

At the time, a shop put them in, but CV's are actually really easy to do.

Boots are fine, no problems.

Cost was $250 to install, but that will vary..

No diff drop, truck currently has a 2'' spacer lift (PO put it on) and the new CV's dont have any boot rubbing issues (see about post)

 

Aftermarket axles are all shit for serious wheeling. Lock the front, put 'em in some rock gardens, and watch 'em shear. I've replaced enough on the trail by now to know that it's OEM or bust.

 

or RCV

if you have deep deep pockets