Last August I slapped on 2.5" AS spacers and 35's, no major problems in 11 months and 18k miles, until today. Engaged the 4wd just for a second in the parking lot and she made a funny noise then grabbed, I drove for about 50 feet and disengaged it. Everything seemed fine. Got home and cranked the wheels just about all the way to the right and glanced under each wheel well to check my ball joints and boots. Driver side was fine. Passenger side not so good. BJ's were fine, but the upper boot was tore to sh** and grease slung all over the wheel well and surrounding area. This tear is not a full split, but I'd say 2/3 of the boot's diameter is tore. I am not sure how long it has been this way but there is a lot of grease out of the boot and I'm expecting the worst. I am not going to drive it but to the garage on Friday morning. I will probably have to replace the whole side of the axle shaft assembly knowing my luck.Can anybody else way in, I have searched around the forum, but just curious if anyone else has dealt with this. And is it safe to be driving around with this torn boot until I get it replaced? I realize ultimately it could do some damage, just curious on some of the experts opinions.

 

you will be fine driving with the torn boot. ever see a little honda make a turn and you hear a click click click? that's a messed up cv and you know most people won't be replacing that any time soon.

also, your best bet is to just replace the entire half-shaft. it's easier and will save you on labor.

have you thought about tackling the job yourself. it really isn't that hard to do if you have the time, space, and tools. nothing special is required except for the giant socket you'll need to pull the hub nut.

 

I don't have the space or tools, I did when I lived back home, but had to relocate with work and the biggest drawback is not having my Dad's big *** driveway and all of my neighbor's tools and his mechanical know how. I think I am going to have the Midas shop tackle it, if they can, going to give them a holler from work today. I'd like to stay lifted but get the angles better, would a 6" Fabtech lift get the angles back to where they should be, minus the spacer of course, I am using this ripped cv boot to rationalize removing the spacer and lifting the truck the "right way"? Plus I don't want to get into replacing ball joints and boots all the time and it seems like some guys on here have done a lot of that with the 2.5" AS set-up. Plus a 6" Lift would be sweet!!!

 

Im on my 3rd boot in 2 months! Changing a half shaft is real easy. Can easily be done in under a hour. Dont let midas charge you more than that.

 

I had my 2.5" Autospring leveling kit install on my 06 f150 in Jan 2007. Everything was fine, then in April I noticed on the passenger side the grease like yours. My boot was torn and I didn't understand why. I took it to the dealer and they replace CV boots and the half shaft. I guess that whats you call it. Then a month later, the same happened to my driver side. I went back and they replaced it again. They didn't charge me either time, but they did note my extreme angle and said they probably would replace them again. Well, its 2 years later and no other issues. I'm not sure if they changed the CV boot material, but same angles and no more rips or tears.

 

I too experience the same problem and Its very nice and interesting to read.
Thanks for the posting...
...........
Lifting Tackles Chennai - HJR Tools Mart

 

The problem with spacers is that they allow too much suspension droop and kill the CV joints, or in some cases just rip the boots.
That is why a handful of people keep suggesting the bilstein 5100s for leveling kits over spacers. They do not allow so much droop in the suspension to cause damage.

Driving with the torn boot won't cause damage to anything but the cv joint, just keep the truck out of 4wd so it's not spinning. Any salt or anything that gets in there will make a mess though. The easiest and quickest thing to do is replace the entire CV shaft. A boot is much cheaper though, depending on what someone may charge for labor if you are not doing it yourself, and the CV joint is not already damaged (may be). You can get a boot that is more flexible as well, fyi, than the stock boot but the joint itself is still going to get stressed with the spacer.

 

Does anybody know if adding some lift in the back will take the stress off of that and help to resolve the problem?

 

I too experience the same problem on my truck. i put a 6 inch lift and 35s and my cv boot kept tearing and i went through 3 shafts. I cought it early this time and then i put a leveling kit on top of the lift to even it out and help straitin the angle of the axle shaft. then i sealed up the boot with silocone and rtv. It seems to be holding up okay but if anyone knows where i could get a more flexable boot that would be great and how difficult it is to replace the boot without replacing the whole shaft. Any help is well appreciated thanks.

 

replacing the boot without replacing the shaft requires removal, dissassembly, reassembly, and regreasing of the cv shaft, along with putting a new boot on. a hayne's manual outlines the process really well.

 

with a 6in. lift you will have stock angles afterwards so your boots will not rip, adding a leveling kit is was makes them rip. it doesn't help the problem at all. if your boots were ripping after just the 6in. lift then its not installed right.

 

I have 6" Fabtech and 3 inch body with 38's. My drivers side inner CXV boot ripped about 6 weeks ago. I replaced the entire shaft with a NAPA one. Yesterday....Grease everywhere and a huge gash in the new inner boot AGAIN!!! ARGH.. There has to be a stronger boot or better angled shaft somewhere?

 

Do you have the T bars cranked with the lift? Cause the lift kit still obtains the factory cv angles. Unless something is not properly aligned, the lift should have nothing to do with it. Either that or its a poor product. Maybe with a crappy product, at a full turn the knuckles in the joint are grabbing and tearing the boot.

 

Is it possible to repack the boot with grease and then seal it up? My has a tiny hole and grease came out. I was considering repacking and sealing the area with silicon.

 

I put the 2.5 AS on mine exactly 40,000 miles ago according to my records. My drivers side boot tore, but my actuator on that side and the IWE solenoid went out too! So it was stuck in 4wd which helped to split it.
I bought an A1 Cardone halfshaft off rockauto and then got the solenoid, new actuator and new hub from Tasco. I replaced it all while I had it apart. It wasn't too hard. It took me about 2hrs. I have a new acuator on the passenger side, but was looking at the boots on that side. They are not torn, but I will replace that shaft soon just so that I put the same mileage on them and don't get caught when I need it.
It's an easy repair that the dealership will soak you for!
I am planning on a Rancho or Rough Country 4" lift in the near future to correct the angles.