Did my CV boots rip because of my lift?

So I went with a 3" spacer lift before I joined TW. Now I'm thinking that lift was a bad idea. Both of the inner rubber CV axle boots recently ripped and are leaking. Should I stop driving until i get them fixed? Also, I've been reading that some 881 or 882's OME springs paired with 5100 shocks would get me the 3" lift I want to "clear" my 33's. Truck body has a V6 with 216k miles and suspension might be stock. Any advice?

 

At that angle, I doubt it. Looks like they were on their way out anyway and the increased angle just finished them off. If your truck front diff is ADD, I would replace the boots ASAP. If not, I would just replace them when you desire as long as you dont lock the front hubs. If you have an ADD diff the cv axles always spin while if they are manual hubs then they do not spin at all unless you lock them for 4x4.

You can do it yourself and it is quite simple. Just need boot kits, 1 special tool, cleaner, rags, grease, and some side cutters.

 

That doesn't appear to be too bad of an angle. Typically they rip because the boot ribs touch and wear through each other. How old is your boot? Could just be from old age. Or - when your suspension flexes they ribs rub on each other. If they do - it's obvious as you will see wear marks on them. Spacer lifts are never a "good" idea per say. You do hear of quite the issues on 1st and 2nd gen Tacomas. You'd be on the right path with a proper suspension lift.

Can you put a diff drop on your Tacoma? That will bring that down a little bit.

 

I don't think that a body lift affects the CV's at all, so it's just a coincidence that your boots ripped after the lift. It is a common occurrence when people do a suspension lift though!

See turbodb's CV axle boot guide for a step-by-step on how to replace the boots: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-rebooting-a-tacoma-cv-axle.604695. I really like the OEM boot kit you can get from the dealer.

 

I'll echo what everyone else says - angles don't look too bad. Probably just old boots. I will say - a 3" lift is a lot. If you can run it at 2" or so, your boots will be a lot happier in the long run.

Happy to answer questions as you go through this OP. It's a reasonably easy (though dirty) process to get everything rebooted. And the OEM kits I link there are great (and reasonably cheap).

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I had a similar issue with a 2001 Tacoma that I had. I put a spacer lift on there, CV boots kept busting. This was around 2007 and I wasn't aware of the issues that spacer lifts cause. I put 3 CV boots on there but they kept busting. Never had the issue before the spacer lift. I traded the Tacoma in, dealer was aware of the issue. Not sure what they did to fix it and I'm not 100% certain your lift is causing your problem. Just sharing my similar experience.

Personally, I would take the spacer lift off and go a different route.

 

I do have an ADD diff, but what if I put it in Neutral? Will that stop the spinning? I need to use the truck while I wait for the parts.

@Xbeaus I did have the Diff drop installed when i got the spacers installed. The picture shows it to the right. I got the truck 1 year ago, about 8k miles ago and from what I think, all the parts are factory. The previous and only owner had a new engine installed 35k miles before I bought it from him.

@turbodb Thanks! I will definitely be using your post. I don't think I want to know how much a shop will charge to change them.

 

You can use the truck, I’ve had a torn boot for years.

 

Is the kit for one side only?

 

What about using the 4wd? I like to go over things every now and then

 

Yea you’ll be fine, I wouldn’t go too long if you plan on replacing the boot though.

 

Yep, one kit is for one CV axle (but does both boots on that axle).

 

There seems to be some confusion here, is your "spacer lift" a body lift, or a suspension lift? Your 2nd pic (post #10) doesn't look like a 3" body lift, and your suspension pic doesn't look too out of control on the CV angle.


As others have said, that doesn't look like a bad angle, though. Here's mine with Kings set around 1.5" with a diff drop.

 

Here is it. I think it's because they were just old. Funny thing is that BOTH tore around the same time. It does have the diff drop also.

My 33's still rub but still need some plastic trimming and to bend the pinch weld a bit more.

 

Nah putting it in neutral wont do anything. The hubs are locked so what happens is the wheels spinning automatically spin the cv axles as you can't unlock them.

 

Update: decided to get new CV axles instead of replacing the boots. Replaced passenger side first and it took about 4 hours. Learned that I didn't have to remove the shock to take out the axle. The driver side took about 45 minutes.

 

Those 'new' Chinese cheap parts store axles you just installed suck. Low quality part. Just a heads up so you keep your expectations in line. Smart move would be to reboot your OEM axles with quality boots and reinstall and keep the crappy ones for trail spares or something.

 

They’ll be fine for daily driving. Hell they’re fine for the average forest road, and he probably has a life time warranty.

 

Looks like he wants to drive off road I thought. They will still wear out the rubber boots fast as he's ADD not manual hubs. Fine don't listen to me, I don't know what I'm taking about

 

uh oh, what brand did you go with?