i installed an AS 2" leveling kit on my 05 f150 this weekend and have since been looking at the cv boots on a daily basis. my fear is that they are going to tear as other posts have claimed. i was very careful in installing them not to rip the boots. the only time i got careless was when i was installing the spacers on the strut assembly, i had it laying in the open jaws of a vice(was not clamped) and let go of it and it fell to the floor. luckily my shin broke its fall, lol. P.S. very painful and a lot of cursing followed. luckily it was undamaged. anyways back to the main question. i noticed that the problem seems to occur probably because of the way that the ribs of the boot are bunched together when the angle is increased which causes friction and possibly the tearing. so, my thought being does anyone think that lubricating the outside of the boot with silicon spray or something similar may help. one problem i would foresee would be the collection of dirt, but i do all highway driving. just a thought

 

In my personal experience there is an easy solution to prevent CV boot damage during the leveling kit install.
Either get a spring compressor to shorten the spring/shock assy upon re-installation...Or: Remove the steering tie rod end. The reasons for this are the spring/shock assy can be harder to re-install when the 2" spacer kit is installed. It now being longer.
My error was I pushed down on the lower A-Arm too much to make more room to get the spring/shock back in place. This put too much stress on the cv joint, thus pinching the boot I believe.
The instructions with the Auto Spring kit do not tell you to remove the tie rod end. It is a simple process and allows easier installation of the shock assy. I recommend it.

Good luck.

Keith

 

I just purchased a 2.5" hell bent steel kit and with thier instructions it says to remove the tie rod end also. so this probably does help quite a bit. I'll let ya know when i put mine in. I would be doin it today but my tool set is on the junior side!

 

i don't know if you guys may be reading my thread wrong, or maybe its unclear as to my question. i have the kit installed already without any problems. my question was whether keeping the exterior of the cv boots lubricated somehow after the kit IS INSTALLED would decrease the chances of them tearing due to the increased angles.

 

I picked up my new replacement CV boot today at the local Ford dealer. It is not a soft flexible boot at all. I was surprised to find is was harder than you'd think.
It is my opinion that these are not long lasting CV boots. Or at least don't appear to be. I'd say that no, no amount of lubrication is going to help save that boot due to increased angles.

Just my opinion. Keith