CV Boots Leaking After Lifting my 2001 4WD Tacoma

I just noticed that the inner CV boots are now leaking and must be damaged, driver side is actually a mess.

I lifted my 2001 4 door, 4wd, dbl cab with the Bilstien 5100 with ring on the 2" lift setting and new OME 881 coils.
The total lift ended up being about 2 1/2" from where it was; however, I have to believe the truck was already much lower than stock height as real leafs were frowned and truck sat 1" lower in front.
If I had to guess, I lifted the front of the truck 1 1/2" over the original stock height?

I did not buy or install diff drop kit.

Any suggestions?

 

Inner or outer? Did u smash em up when installing the lift?

 

Don't worry about it

 

That happens a lot of the time when lifting, especially if the boots are old. It happened on mine and I went ahead and bought CVJ remanufactured axles with high angle boots but you can replace just the boot. If you do replace just the boot there are methods to keep it from happening again.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/boot-slide-mod-no-more-blowing-cv-boots.146070/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/high-angle-inner-cv-boot-with-boot-slide-mod.382314/

I didn't do the boot slide mod since I replaced the whole axle but if I have issues again I'll be doing it. I've had my CVJs on for about three years and 25k miles, including occasional wheeling, without issue.

If you do pull your CV axles also plan on replacing your axle seals. They're pretty cheap from the dealership and if they're not in good shape they're easy to tear up when removing and replacing the axles.

 

Is this sound advise?
"Don't worry about it?"

 

Thank you very much

 

It is possible that I damaged boots during lift as I had to do it twice.
Once to install shocks, then I decided to replace with OME springs

 

If you monitor it closely and don't wheel much you can probably get by for a while if you intend to replace the whole axle. It depends on how bad the leak is. If it slings all of the grease out it will increase wear on the joints and could risk failure.

I drove mine for a bit before I replaced them but didn't wheel with them like that.

 

No its not...you don't want to run the axles dry and without grease. Might be okay for awhile depending on how bad it is. Looks like the lift has created steep angles on your cvs and the boot fins are rubbing which probably caused them to tear. A diff drop kit will help.

 

I am probably going to do the drop kit.
Should I replace just the boots or do the whole axle kit if I am already doing the work?

What brand and or type.

Thanks to all

 

If the boots are leaking grease you'll need to do them. The drop kit will help prevent it from happening again and help the angle of your driveshaft. Be aware that if you put a diff drop in it may effect your ability to install some aftermarket skid plates. That's the reason I still haven't installed my diff drop. As far as brand, they're all pretty much the same. See if you can find a dealer on TacomaWorld so you'll be supporting the forum.

After I installed my OME lift I had a noticeable vibration at about 35 mph due to angle of the driveshaft. If you have this the diff drop will help but you may also have to lower your carrier bearing. Since I haven't installed my diff drop I lowered my carrier bearing about 1.25" to get rid of vibrations.

 

I Have no vibration' no noise, truck rides much better after lift.
Should I forget about the drop kit then?
Should I just do the boots?
Is it the same amount of work to change boots and/or axles?

 

If your boot fins are rubbing after the lift, then replacing them will only buy you a little time before the new ones rub and tear...tends to happen pretty quickly when they're touching. I'd say you have 3 options...

1.) Try the diff drop
2.) Get high angle CV boots (http://www.offroadsolutions.com/products/high-angle-inner-cv-boot/)
3.) Lower the amount of lift on your front end


...or any combination of the above 3

 

The 881s are designed to give 2-2.25" lift over stock height springs. If you put your 5100s on the 2" mark then you are up 4" total.

diff drop is front, carrier bearing is rear. these do not relate depending on where the vibration is.

also @scottnofx the front diff drop "rotates" the front housing forward, effectively only giving 1/2" movement downward for the CVs. This is due to the rear mounting point on the cross-member that can't be moved. I'm actually debating taking mine off.

My boots look like yours right now. The fins on the boots are fine, it's the clamp on the middle shaft portion that is leaking for me. It's been like that since last year but I have a few things to tackle and this is going to be one of them. going to get new boots (not OEM) and see how it holds up. So far it's lasted this long

 

Thanks for the info.
FYI The total lift in "Real World" dimensions ended up at about 2 3/4" not 4"

 

hmm, seems odd but I have the OME setup. maybe someone with Billies will chime in on it

 

in the off road world they usually do not clamp the inner boot to the axle to allow it to slide... easy enough to take the inner clamp off for a while and see if this carries over to on road use.

 

Won't grease escape if boot is allowed to slide without clamp?

 

that depends on how much you loaded the joint/boot with, most of the time it is negligible.

 

Your thinking of the “boot slide mod”. If you unclamp the inner all the grease would go everywhere.

OP, is leaking from where the clamp goes? Or is it leaking because the boot itself is torn?

After lifting its very common to have grease come out where it clamps to the axle, wipe it off and check to make sure the clamps still doing its job. If its not then make use metal hose clamps. If the boot itself is ripped it needs to get replaced. Changing boots is generally easy but messy. OEM axles are much much better than aftermarket for actually going wheeling. If the rig see’s mostly pavement napa/autozone lifetime warranty ones will be much simpler to install etc

just my 2cents