How tight should Inner CV boot clamps be?

[Arv]

I did the Stretch your CV boots over the weekend. Well kinda, since I only installed 99 tall springs and Tundra 5100s on my 2K sports ed, I made sure the end of the boot is in the groove and just replaced the clamps since it burped some grease. Not much really but enough to make some mess.

Just wanted to share that instead of using two x #6 clamps like most people do, I used three x #4 clamps. I figured if we're concerned about the balance then these 3 smaller clamps would be mucho better! Having extra weight of the worm drive mechanism at 3 points instead of 2. Plus the width of the #4 clamps are closer to the original clamps and fit right in the channel so less chances of damaging the rubber boot at the clamping location. I also made sure that the end of the clamps were facing away from the boot to minimize the sharp ends from cutting the boots.

Now the question is how tight should these clamps be?

I didn't want to clamp them down too hard because it might be one of the reasons why some had boot failures after the modification (but most likely they are from stretching) and I noticed when I was hammering the OEM clamp that it spun a little bit. I left them a bit loose but a little grease escaped but it could be just the grease under the grove/clamping area. Will keep on watching it.

 

[4runnerfever67]

I did the boot stretch modification after lifting my 4runner. When I did it I used the crimp style clamps. I used a pair of crimping pliers and squeezed hard. I haven't had a problem. They need to be tight not just snug or else when driving Grease will still find a way out a spray everywhere.

 

[Arv]

That's what I figured but just didn't want to over do it as like I said the OEM clamp moved when I was trying to pry it open with a hammer and screw driver. Ok, will tighten it up a little bit more and see if it needs more, then tighten again. Thanks