Its a small cut. I have no clue how this got here. You think I will be OK leaving it the way it is for a 500 mile long road trip this weekend? I wiped it off and got a good picture. I was using my four wheel drive Friday and didnt know this was there so I am assuming the grease went everywhere from that. I am going to drive it about 10 miles on the highway today at lunch and see if any grease comes out. From what I understand it wont spew grease until four wheel drive is engaged correct?

 

Just got back. I have been checkign it and ZERO grease is comign from it under normal driving. I am going to leave it until I get back from my trip this weekend. As long as I do not use four wheel drive then I think it should be fine. I may even caulk it up just to be safe and keep water and dirt out of it.

 

Get some RTV silicone sealant and clean the rubber real good with rubbing alcohol. Smear the RTV over the tear and allow it to dry and you should be good. I have sealed more than my share of boots this way and it has always held up well

 

your talking about the stuff in a tube that you can get at autozone? I am hoping that next week I can bring it to the dealer and have a new boot installed under warranty. The good thing is the cut is near the actual metal part so there is minimal flexing in that area when it is spinning.

 

Yeah it is at autozone and comes in a small squeeze tube. If it even rains and water gets in there the damage will start. Best to take action now and know your in good shape till you get it handled under warranty

 

There is no reason for it to leak grease as long as you don't have it 4x4. Front axle doesn't move unless in 4x4 or you have a problem with the IWE.

 

Had more like a 1/2" split in that exact same area on mine...

Because it was on the spindle end, when I turned it was squirting grease out. Not real bad, but it was bad enough to get on the rotor and cause the truck to start pulling to one side when braking.

I cleaned it all up and used plastic weld to repair mine. Been holding up fine and I use mine just about every other weekend (4 wheel drive).

I'm going to wait and see if something else goes wrong before my warranty runs out (had it in 4 times already for other stuff). I really don't like to have the dealer touch my truck, unless absolutely neccessary.

Forgot to add... I did the same thing in the beginning. Cleaned it up, didn't use 4 wheel drive and thought it wasn't going to leak anymore. That's when I figured out it was coming out when I turned the wheel hard to one side or the other. Just something to watch for is all.

 

Do you think the dealer will replace the boot under warranty now that you have "repaired" it?

 

Not sure... If I were the dealer, I'd blame it on the lift and the shaft angle.

But they have surprised me before... They replaced my entire rack and pinion and I really thought they'd blame that on the way oversized tires???