jasonochs25
New member
slowly wearing out the boot, as you say, yet we are seeing problems within hours of a lift instal
Replace Axles with OEM Boots or Extended Boots
- Thread starter Rock_Rat
- Start date
slowly wearing out the boot, as you say, yet we are seeing problems within hours of a lift instal
jasonochs25
New member
mine are 19 years old and have signs of touching itself (clean black rings) both inner and outer...no problems. NO LIFT yet, but no problems. You need to look under another rock. Its common sense. LOOK at how the CV boot moves!
JayRolla
New member
Cool story bro!
Rock_Rat
Senior Member
Just responding to [MENTION=50342]JayRolla[/MENTION] Checkout the permalink here http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...les-oem-boots-extended-boots.html#post2215038
I basically said if the boots have lasted more than 10K I would put the OEM axles on and leave it at that. But, JayRolla mentioned to me that anyone with OEM boots and a lift seem to be changing them out quite frequently, like under 10K.
Bottom line is, if I could get some hard numbers showing me that the extended boots are DEFINITELY worth installing because you get twice the mileage out of them than the OEM boots then I'll install them. If not, then it's not worth the additional cost, time, and energy changing out perfectly good OEM boots.
From everything I've read, nobody has convinced me that extended boots are proven to be superior (more life expectancy) than the OEM boots. Again, too many variables for each owner. I'm a charts and graph guy.
I basically said if the boots have lasted more than 10K I would put the OEM axles on and leave it at that. But, JayRolla mentioned to me that anyone with OEM boots and a lift seem to be changing them out quite frequently, like under 10K.
Bottom line is, if I could get some hard numbers showing me that the extended boots are DEFINITELY worth installing because you get twice the mileage out of them than the OEM boots then I'll install them. If not, then it's not worth the additional cost, time, and energy changing out perfectly good OEM boots.
From everything I've read, nobody has convinced me that extended boots are proven to be superior (more life expectancy) than the OEM boots. Again, too many variables for each owner. I'm a charts and graph guy.
jasonochs25
New member
what? you need pics?
jasonochs25
New member
I see now, and understand better of your situation. I would go with OEM boots, BUT, after lift, redo the small clamp on the inner boot. Let it settle into place somehow. OEM parts are the best bet. I'm still trying to find out whether the silicone "high angle" ones I bought are a problem or good to go.
Trailblazer
New member
So you say their is no friction once the truck is lifted and the rings are pushed against each other? OK...
My story involves a '95.5 Tacoma and about four inches of lift. Daily driver and no probs for 12yrs unlifted.
I added the lift (and 1" diff drop!) and two rings touched on each side. Starting immediately, the outboard touching ring carved a groove into the inboard boot ring-like a router. It took the better part of twelve months (approx 15K miles), but that outer ring cut all the way into the inboard ring like a can opener.
I replaced those boots and stretched them out. Really just a small stretch. 40K later, the boots were still perfect-but the frame rotted out from under the truck...
Now I have a T4R ; )
fourfive
Senior Member
I have right around 8k on my oem reman which is on the passenger side and 8k on the driver side which is an oem reboot and so far so good.
I have a tendancy to stick with oem parts as much as possible if its any functional item that i plan on keeping around long term, unless im convinced otherwise regarding cost and quality.
My recommendations:
1. If junkyard oem shafts are in good shape including the joints, then just reboot those (with oem or extended, im sure theyre both good) and reboot your torn oems to keep as spares and just cycle through rebooting when they tear. That way you just pay for the reboot kit.
...BUT if youre not sure what shape the shaft or joint is in then..
2. Get oem reman from dealer/online dealer & reboot the current oems that you have & keep as spare. My experience in rebooting wasnt bad at all. Cleaning out the old grease just took some time.
3. If you can afford to have your vehicle down for a day, just reboot your torn axles
I have a tendancy to stick with oem parts as much as possible if its any functional item that i plan on keeping around long term, unless im convinced otherwise regarding cost and quality.
My recommendations:
1. If junkyard oem shafts are in good shape including the joints, then just reboot those (with oem or extended, im sure theyre both good) and reboot your torn oems to keep as spares and just cycle through rebooting when they tear. That way you just pay for the reboot kit.
...BUT if youre not sure what shape the shaft or joint is in then..
2. Get oem reman from dealer/online dealer & reboot the current oems that you have & keep as spare. My experience in rebooting wasnt bad at all. Cleaning out the old grease just took some time.
3. If you can afford to have your vehicle down for a day, just reboot your torn axles
jasonochs25
New member
Glad you posted! I'm trying to learn where the initial problem lies...So you stretched and 40k later, no problems? That's awesome news! Also, am glad to hear it took 12k to develop a leak! Thx again for the post!
I WILL say this...IF there is dirt, sand, mud, any debris, YES, you WILL have a failure due to the boot bellows contacting, but if its just bellow to bellow...I dont see it. Now don't take the last statement as a cheap shot...how many of us can keep our CVs spotless ALL the time....
jasonochs25
New member
great advice and very well put!!! +1 for OEM!
Scramble
New member
My new Napa axle doesn't have a thousand miles on it so I really can't add any data. I wheeled it hard for 6 hrs in Oct & it's holding up fine. We'll see how many years it lasts. My driver side inner boot ripped now after the lift. I'll probably just replace it with another Napa. For $88 it seems like a no brainer. Then I'll have 2 OEM axles to re-boot. I bought the Beck Arnley re-boot kit from Amazon because it was cheap but haven't used it yet. I haven't seen any good or bad long term reviews on it.
Rock_Rat
Senior Member
I will be doing this!
Since they're already on the way, I'm going to install them on two junkyard axles I'll pick up tomorrow (if they're any good). This will give me a baseline for the next time I replace them.
I agree with you on the OEM boots and OEM parts in general. When mine completely fail, I'll install OEM boots, spary and extend abit. I think I'll try the red extended inners on two axles I'm picking up tomorrow. They'll be built and ready to go when mine completely fail. Thanks for starting the other thread. I'm going to subscribe.
So when I got home tonight I immediately crawled under my T4R and sure enough, there were the tell tale signs of a ridge being carved out in the upper part of the bellows. I put fusion tape on all of the upper ridges of all four CV boots. Haha I'm good for another 300K miles
This is the way I'm going to go. Will pick up tomorrow and when the extended boots come in I'll install them and have them ready. The band-aid fix I did with shoe goo and fusion tape is pretty damn good. I'd bet I could go another 20K on that boot and not have a problem in that area.
I like the idea of having two OEM axles ready to go. I'm surprised NAPA doesn't want a core.
Thanks guys, huge help for me - seriously. For one, I'm not going to be ordering the reman axles from EB Bochtoyota. Nice chunk of savings. Second, I'm looking at picking up two axles from the junkyard tomorrow as long as the boots aren't torn. If the boots are torn then the CV's will be questionable. This will give me two sets of OEM axles; mine and the ones from the junkyard. I'm going to drive mine until I get another failure and then pull both axles. In the mean time I'm going to take my time and rebuild the junkyard axles and install both the extended inner and outer boots. These will be ready to be installed and we'll start a baseline measurement from there to see how effective they are.
As a preventive measure, I went to my passenger side and put Shoe Goo at the base of the inner boot and wrapped it up with fusion tape. I also added fusion tape to each of the high "lobes" on the bellows. Bottom line, when it's ready to go, it will go. Who knows, I may have bought another 2000 miles out of them em.
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Scramble
New member
They're new not rebuilt so no core needed.
9494runner
New member
+1 to beck arnley stuff
im interested to see what your results are with your approach. Just replaced daughter's 3rd gen 4runner cv axles with the OEM reman. We had put about 25K miles on boots that were already 13 years old before we lifted and only one was leaking. Just went ahead and replaced both of them.
We are running 3" toytec lift and 1" diff drop. It is my expectation that we will get more than the 25K we put on since lifting, but only time will tell.
We are running 3" toytec lift and 1" diff drop. It is my expectation that we will get more than the 25K we put on since lifting, but only time will tell.
RussToy
New member
Rock_Rat;22155381) said:
I'm in the same boat as you are Sir...well as everyone who has ever lifted there 4Runner! SUPRISE!!! But seriously, I have been debating this exact question for better than 12 month. I now have two boots that are torn...the first one tore approximately 6-7,000 ago. Luckily I have heard no noises or noticed any problems...yet.
After reading this...you have inspired me to finally do something. I've already purchased an extra set of OEM axels...I had the same thoughts as you. But now I think I'm going to reboot my extra OEM axles with OEM boots (I know the PO of the axels, which are low milage and in good shape). I'll then switch out my axels and will also tape my high "lobes" on the bellows...just as you have. I think this is a great idea! Between this and spraying them with a dry silicone after each clean up, oil change, and just being under the hood! I'm thinking this will be the ticket!!
However, If not. And the boot tear quickly...less than 15,000 miles...I'll have the extra long style boots already installed on my back-up OEM axels and we'll try them! I usually only put 7-8,000 miles a year on my rig. I'm with you...if I can go 2 years...I'll just consider this as routine maintenance. Just chalk it all up to...paying the price for playing hard!!
I do have one question though: what is fusion tape. Sorry, just never heard of it?!? Where would one purchase it from? Thanks for this thread and your post...as well as everyone else on here Well...I guess it's finally time to get to work!
- Russel
Rock_Rat
Senior Member
It looks like you're running the same lift that I am or close to it. I'm not sure if you'll get 25K out of them but I was pretty close. I have the Toytec Ultimate on 600# springs with a 1" diff drop. I installed it around 309K and I have 326K on the lift now. That's a failure at 17,000 miles with original OEM boots.
I'm glad I generated some thought on this. The more I thought about my torn boot and the more research I did on this forum and others the more questions I came up with. Nothing was really substantial other than they tear once you add a lift, more so without a diff drop. saw a lot of good stuff on NAPA axles and the OEM reman steel axles but not enough data on the boots. I was looking for some good data to help base my decision on. I like [MENTION=134243]jasonochs25[/MENTION] adding another thread collecting some data. I think this will be good for the community.
Here are some variables we might be able to use for future reference:
Mine
- Tire and Wheel Size - 285/70-17
- Miles when lifted - 309,000
- Miles when torn - 326,000
- Total miles before tear - 17,000
- Location - Inner drivers side boot
- Boot information - Original OEM
- Type of driving - About 2000 miles of Weyerhaeuser Trails, 15,000 on highway
Note: I believe mileage is a better variable than months or years as the CV Boot is subject to wear, heat, and fatigue only when in motion. (Hot dry climates will also impact the life expectancy.)
The fusion tape or "self-fusing" tape can be found at most Auto Parts Stores. I picked mine up at O-Reilly's HERE
Here's a you-tube link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdg_izrJK08
Keep in mind it only sticks to itself. This should be in your car right along with Gorilla Tape and shoe goo!
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Rock_Rat
Senior Member
Example of High Temp Fusion Tape on Knock Sensor Harness
When I changed out my KS sub harness assembly, I noticed how brittle the wires and the connector were. They literally broke off due to beig subjected to the heat all the time.
I added the High Temperature fusion tape at the connector and worked my way back ensuring I had at least 50% overlap. Good stuff!
i actually did my entire wiring harness like that. I'll post in my build thread some day.
When I changed out my KS sub harness assembly, I noticed how brittle the wires and the connector were. They literally broke off due to beig subjected to the heat all the time.
I added the High Temperature fusion tape at the connector and worked my way back ensuring I had at least 50% overlap. Good stuff!
i actually did my entire wiring harness like that. I'll post in my build thread some day.
Attachments
RussToy
New member
Thanks you for the info and the links on this Fusion tape. I've seen this tape before; however, just didn't know what it was called or really how it work!?!?
Thanks again
jasonochs25
New member
Like you, I have a ton of questions and want to know what to expect when I do my lift. There are a few things that ARE going to happen and I wanted to get people to document what their issue was and what they did to fix WITHOUT thread jacking too much. Thats why I started a new thread. I can only hope it takes off and gets some good/great usable info!
Thank you sir! And good luck with the path you are taking.
Please keep us all posted!!!
