I saw it myself, trust me it was the leveling kit. Wish I had taken before and after pics. U can see where the coilover spring has also been rubbing because of the angle change. It's my understanding that the cv joints are always spinning regardless of 2wd or 4wd, the first time my boot tore, my cv joint crapper out and popped loudly in 2wd.

 

His profile says 2" AS? Is it a 2" or 3"? And yes the axles spin regardless of being in 2 or 4wd. I just installed the 2" on mine and the angles dont look bad at all to me.

 

edit #2.


See my next post. #23

 

I have over 50k with my 1st gen autospring I have replaced balljoints and one tie rod end. other than that no issues

 

We have integrated wheel ends. The 04+ front axles don't turn unless it is in 4wd.
The hubs at the wheels are actuated by vacuum. If no vacuum is present IE engine off the hubs engage. When I had the hole in my boot as long as I never put it in 4wd the holes was always in the same spot.

 

Im not sure but i think you are right. Im pretty sure i read somewhere also that the front axles on these trucks do not turn when in 2wd

 

The axles definetely don't move in 2wd, I have put 36k on my 2.5'' as with no probs, sometimes cv boots just tear from dry rotting...do you keep them lubricated? I always spray mine with tire shine or wd40 to keep the rubber from dry rotting

 

I'm gonna post it again. I went into my Ford Tech DVD and verified what I was posting.

Please see the drawing below. The IWE (HUB) is part #14.

The IWE does not allow the CV's or the axle to spin. Not at all


nope...whoever told you that is 100% WRONG


the entire front axle and driveshaft are MOTIONLESS during 4x2




sounds like you have a bad IWE or some other 4x4 system problem in addition to your CV joint problems...a bad IWE will cause the front end to rotate...nothing else will

 

The leveling kit will not cause a CV boot to rip, especially when they have that low of miles on them. If they had 80-90,000 miles then I could see them ripping, but not with the miles you have on them. Ball joint and tie rod end boots yes, but not CV boots-there has to be another cause...

 

It sure would be nice to know what it is then. My truck does have over 80,000 miles on it. When you turn the steering wheel, you could see the CV boots wrapping around one another with the leveling kit on, pinching in the exact spot the boots had holes in them, but no problems without the leveling kit. Additionally, both coilover springs have places on them where they have been rubbing against the suspension. I don't have any idea what else could be causing the problem. And yes, the kit was put on properly, absolutely without a doubt, properly. I hate to see it go, but I can't see dropping $500+ every 15,000 miles to fix my issues.

 

I was obviously misled ... thank you for clarifying

 

What size kit do you have? In your sig you say 2" but you posted that you had a 3".

I have a 2.5" AS kit in my truck and I am 100% positive that the boots are not pinched, even at full lock. I have had my AS installed for almost 3.5yrs and just under 15,000 miles and everything in the frontend still looks and performs like brand new even though the truck has almost 46,000 miles on it. Maybe I have just been lucky, or you have just had bad luck.

 

I've had a 2.5" kit installed on my truck for about 60k. I'm fairly rough on my truck, and it's been to hell and back. I've never had any problems with CV boots, Ball joints, or any of the other stuff that is related to a leveling kit install.

 

you answered your own question. it isn't the leveling kit

you have a bigger issue. nothing should be spinning, or pinching.


from your description of when the 1st boot tore, I'm guessing you have a IWE engaged...and that is spinning the front end.that rubbing only occurs when the wheel is at full droop. 100% normal

every time you jack up the front end it'll happen


also, every time you catch air from going over a bump too fast

 

Sorry about your luck.

I think that everyone here is partially correct with your problem. As mentioned before, I too have seen my greasy pinhole in the same spot every time I check it...The front axles do not turn if not engaged. I asked one of the techs at 4Wheel Parts the other day about the same thing. His theory was that the boots get pinched on the compressed side with all the folded rubber with a very large spacer on the front. If you have a 3 inch spacer, that is just too much for the stock suspension, and the folded rubber really starts to wear...if you turn them a lot. I have a 2 inch spacer with a tear hole from sagebrush, but no failure that you describe. In 2005, I did lots of research on these spacers to arrive at 2 inches max. It has worked well for 50K without any replacement parts yet. Now, as Tylus mentioned, it really sounds like you have a hub still turning. If you have a 3 inch spacer with an IWE partially engaged, that would most likely cause your problem. I seem to remember someone about 2-3 years ago having the same problem with his IWE failed. He also had the Skyjacker 3 inch kit (it was a red FX4). These problems can be frustrating, and I wish you luck toward a fix.

Thanks for the info about the tape/silicone hole fix.