CVJ Red Silicone Inner Boots vs. Boot Stretch/Slide Mod

I’ve been driving around for 3 or 4 years now with torn inner CV axle boots. I assume they are torn due to the Old Man Emu suspension upgrade I installed. I’m not sure exactly how many inches my lift is, but it is pretty minor due to the camper I have on the bed.


I’ve decided I want to replace the CV axles and I’m going to go with CVJ axles. My question is this:

Should I get their fancy red silicone inner boots? OR just get their OEM neoprene inner boots and do the boot slide/stretch mod?

(The +1” clearance disclaimers on the red silicone boots stress me out a little bit because I don’t totally understand how to check for that clearance.)

 

My orange high angle boots from offroadsolutions tore within a few months. boot slide mod probably

 

If the boot fins rub from your lift height it won't matter what color, material or how pricey they are, they will tear. Lower your lift or try the boot slide mod, there's also those high angle cv axles some places are selling now

 

So, I've known many who have gone with CVJ - they have good remans - but I know an equal number of folks who've rebooted themselves. The reboots using Toyota OEM boots have *always* lasted longer. Those with CVJ - regardless of boot - have ended up rebooting themselves once the CVJs tear, using Toyota OEM boot kits.

This page has a great step-by-step guide (with pics) on the upgrade, as well as links to all the parts needed : How-to: Rebooting a Tacoma CV Axle

Now, you may still want to go with CVJ if you feel like your joints are hosed from a few years of running with ripped boots, but I wouldn't pay extra for any "upgraded" boots from CVJ.

 

I've been running a boot slide mod with OEM boots for like 20k miles and a lot of offroad abuse, and it's still holding up. I would do that instead of aftermarket.

 

Thanks Turbodb! I checked out your page and saw your comment about not being a fan of the boot slide mod. I really liked your logic about boots having memory and therefore a new OEM boot will have the opportunity to create a new ~memory~ of the lifted resting position. This has me thinking I will forego the boot slide mod.

I am still faced with a decision: reboot my current OEM axles OR buy new axles from CVJ (with OEM boots)?? The only reason I hestitate to reboot my current OEM axles is because I've had torn boots on them for such a long time (3 years at least) that I'm worried they've deteriorated due to this. Any insight here?

 

If the axles are good and just the boots are torn. Just reboot with oem boots

 

Maybe a silly question....but how do I know if the axles are good?

 

Are they clicking/popping? Typically cv's that are going bad tend to click and or pop while turning

 

In just the last month, I have noticed a pop/click sound when I turn....I thought it sounded like it was coming from the rear of the truck, but I could be wrong. That is very helpful to know!

 

If the truck isn't your only vehicle, you could jack up the front remove the CV axles, remove the boots and inspect them, and then make a decision from there. If the axles are good, then you'll save yourself probably $500 by rebooting.

Or you could order the CVJ's and the boot kit, and then you could run the CVJs and reboot your existing axles to have as trail spares (assuming they aren't ruined). Worst case you keep the boot kit for when the CVJ boots eventually tear.

 

Very solid advice! If I took my axles off to inspect, I don't think I really have the knowledge to know if they're in ok shape or not...unless it was super obvious?

 

It should be super obvious if they're ruined. Just articulate the CV joints on either end while rotating the axle shafts with your other hand and everything should be totally smooth (no grinding or clicking/clunking). Also if you find any metal chunks in the remaining cv grease, then you'll know they're ruined

 

Awesome! Thank you so much!

 

You may have noticed that he mentions the rational behind the boot slide mod is to minimize the fins or ribs of the boot from rubbing. If you are not experiencing rubbing of the fins then there really is no reason to do the mod to begin with. But if you are, and you do not want to lower the the lift, then IMO the boot slide mod is better than doing nothing. The wear and subsequent failure of CV boots that I have experienced was all do to fin rub. Being that I've only used OEM boots the time between failure has been long, and this last reboot I did do the slide mod. We shall see what, if any difference in longevity there is.

 

Hey Gen1andDone - Both my inner boots have torn directly at the small end clip (see photo), which leads me to believe the failures are not due to fins rubbing. Do you agree?

If so, based on your comment, I see no reason to do the boot slide mod...

Thank you so much for the input!

 

I would have to agree. I only see slight evidence of fin rub on the innermost part of the boot. Your failure may be do to age? How old or how many miles on those axles/boots? My wife's Honda has a blown ot CV boot from nothing more than age, took 170k miles though.

 

Can you point me towards the slight evidence of fin rub that you see?

The truck only has 90,000 miles on it and I am pretty sure these are the original axles, since I bought the truck with only 42,000 miles.

I'm pretty sure the boots tore soonish after I did the Old Man Emu suspension upgrade, so my guess is that it's due to that rather than age.

 

Sounds like a combination of things, age and lift. Remember, age doesn't just mean miles.I've been running 882's (2.75") for years, added at around 40k I think and didn't have to reboot for a long time after that.

Anyway, could be wrong but it looks like a slight groove right there...

Also you could have been spinning the wheels with the tires off the ground leaving a grease line. You would know better than I.

 

Also keep in mind OP that the boots tend to settle in to a position and if you change the ride height that position changes. Very often older boots tear shortly after a lift is installed for this reason (even in the absence of rubbing). So if you can just get away with a reboot, those boots should last a long time if ride height remains the same throughout the boots lifespan.