Old thread, I know, to OP, did you ever figure out a solution to this? If I'm following correctly, you bought a junkyard set to swap out when your current boots rip and in the mean time you'd reboot ripped ones with OEM, with no stretching. I will be tossing an SS 1.2 lift on my 97 here hopefully this month and am trying to weigh my options. I doubt the rubber on my 22 year old boots will stand up to just the simple "stretch" mod. What I initially was going to do is follow @mtbtim 's write up for the boot replacement kit like you got and just stretch them. I also don't want to do nothing about it and have my current boots rip. I'd like to salvage the OEM CVs if I could.

Just ripped my drivers and passenger side boots. I've got a Toytec lift and it seems that the Toyota OEM CV boots really don't like being stretched. They both have ripped in roughly the same way (on the skinny end) and roughly at the same time.

Seeing how much longer the allpro (and possibly cvj) boots are I'll wager that putting them on correctly should last significantly longer than the Toyota ones. Its my personal opinion that one shouldn't remove the half shaft tulip out of the differential to swap cv axles. Just pop the clamp off and pull the shaft out, that way you're not dealing with gear oil or possibly ruining the seals. Popping the axle out of the differential is a pain and there's really no huge benefit to doing so. I think its fairly easy to load up the tulip with grease, some in the boot and just clamp it down.

Anyways this is my 3/4 CV boot rip and I'm tired of it. Swapping out boots every 2 oil changes isn't acceptable so I'll give the allpro / cvj boots a try.

Late response I know. been on a short hiatus for a while. Yes, you're correct. I bought a set of OEM axles from the salvage yard and I just keep them rebuilt ready to go as needed. For the record, the OEM boots have been OK so far without stretching or anything else. Going on a few years now with moderate (few times a year) off-roading. When they tear, I'll just swap the axles out again and re-boot them. I spray mine down with a DRY LUBE anytime I'm under the rig.

Holy thread revival, Batman!

I'm working on a complete suspension refresh and 2" lift and just realized all of that grease on the floor means that I'm going to have to do CV boots as well. I don't really like the idea of the aftermarket boots having to use the OEM boot lip in order to work, so I'm just going to go with a factory boot replacement. It also seems that a few people have had tears after the boot stretch mod, so I'd like to avoid that altogether.

My question is, has anyone tried OEM boots, not stretched, but adding a regular ol' o-ring between the innermost ribs to prevent the rubbing? Seems like it could be the best of both worlds.

Intriguing idea