CV axle boot

[earth1]

My old stock cv boots tore from the wheels hanging full tilt for weeks during the tranny job. AC sells the boots for $6, Checker for $27. I'd rather not use AC, but that is a ridiculous price difference. Anyone know if the AC boots are junk? I have to get some tension rod bushings and new bumpstops so I will probably be ordering from them anyway; just wondering if the boots are decent.

[sammyb33]

i have some poly tension rod bushings and new boots sitting in my garage that i will not be needing anymore. if your interested....

[DamnHippie]

You can get the bumpstops from AZ for under $10, my advice is to get low profile, not ultra-low profile. The ultra-low are like running BJ spacers, they increase travel enough to take your CVs outside their normal operating range. (If you're dead set on ultra-low, I've got a pair you can have for free, I'm sure they're eager to ruin another set of CVs.)

AZ may have the tension rod bushings from Energy Suspension too, but it's hard to search for that stuff on their website because they consider it to be accessories more than parts.

The boots you get from a parts store usually include the clamp bands and the right amount of CV grease to repack the joint. I'll bet the ones from AC don't include all that. You can use high-temp synthetic grease from the parts store, but don't use generic wheel bearing grease.

Another option on the boots might be to call Rocky Mtn Driveline at 41st & Tennyson. I dunno if they'll sell loose parts like that, but they're pretty good guys I'll bet they will.

[Reserector]

I bought boot kits recently from Advance, which is the equivilent to Checker, for $9 with the band clamps and grease.
I bought tension rod bushings from my local Car Quest for $25 or so for the kit. I don't recall the brand, but they are blue. Moog, I think.

I bought the Energy suspension bumpstops that DH is describing. They are about 1 1/2" in diameter and about 5/8" high. I bought them from their website IIRC. About $6 each.

[Allen Cox]

You can use the ultra low bumpstops if you get a diff lowering kit or drop the front crossmember and redrill the holes. I ran like that for while and didn't have any issues. I never did pop a cv. Might have been lucky.

[earth1]

Wow lots of good info thanks guys. This forum rules. Screw AC then. (4x4parts.com, not Allen)

Sammy, those are inner boots right? Why don't you need them? I will take those off your hands then, and the t-rod bushings. What do you want for them?

Ian, considering I don't have any bumpstops at all right now, those ultra-lowpro will do better than my current setup. Maybe I can space them a little with some washers. I may grab those from you when I bring those sockets back. I don't see myself dropping the dif/crossmember anytime soon, but it'll do for now.

Res, $9 for the kit at Advance; good info. If sammy's don't work I'll go there.

[Reserector]

You're just a happy guy, aren't you? :shot:

[Ditchfinder]

I will bring you some inboard grease down when I see you I can get you bands if you need them also I have lots of that stuff but no boots.

[Ditchfinder]

You can use the ultra low bumpstops if you get a diff lowering kit or drop the front crossmember and redrill the holes. I ran like that for while and didn't have any issues. I never did pop a cv. Might have been lucky.

hey Allen how did you lower the front crossmember any pics? Did you custom make brackets I priced trailmaster for individual stuff I came up to 6bills a little more than Id like to spend for somthing thats going to be hacked off for SAS.

[DamnHippie]

I have Allen's old homebrew-lowered front end at my house, maybe I can get a picture of it in a day or two when it warms up enough to dig the axle out from under the tarp. Basically, as I remember it, it involved drilling a new mounting hole in the frame bracket that the crossmember bolts to, and putting a couple small welds on as well (probably to reinforce things since the original mount used 2 bolts, but when you redrill it there's only room for 1).

I've kicked around the idea of doing the same thing to mine sometime soon. The one thing I can't quite decide is whether the whole thing is worth it... if you lower it a half inch then you lose a half inch of ground clearance, which leads to the question "Why was I doing this again?"

[Ditchfinder]

I have Allen's old homebrew-lowered front end at my house, maybe I can get a picture of it in a day or two when it warms up enough to dig the axle out from under the tarp. Basically, as I remember it, it involved drilling a new mounting hole in the frame bracket that the crossmember bolts to, and putting a couple small welds on as well (probably to reinforce things since the original mount used 2 bolts, but when you redrill it there's only room for 1).

I've kicked around the idea of doing the same thing to mine sometime soon. The one thing I can't quite decide is whether the whole thing is worth it... if you lower it a half inch then you lose a half inch of ground clearance, which leads to the question "Why was I doing this again?"

Hey thanks alot I got your point on the ground clearance issue,Im just tired of repairing axles. I am supposed to go down and help Josh(earth1) somtime soon he said you live close by maybe I can meet up with you or something. thanks:wave:

[earth1]

Yeah the more I think about this the better of an idea I think it is. Just a bit lower on the dif would make a decent change in the CV angle. I want to see that xmember too. That 1/2 inch of lower dif clearance could be made up with a 1 inch bigger tire, which I plan on doing anyway.

[DamnHippie]

That was another factor in my thinking... I've moved up to 1" bigger tires this year, so I can kind of afford to lose a half inch of ground clearance in exchange for not toasting my CVs so quickly. I do live close to Josh; he's over by Sloan Lake and I sometimes walk to the lake and back for exercise, it's a couple miles or so. Maybe we can get an assembly line process going and do all our rigs some weekend soon.

BTW, here's what I mean by toasted CVs. This blowup happened back when I was running the ultra-low bumpstops. I think the scorch marks are from running at such a steep angle, and the blowup happened because the overheating weakened the steel.

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/207/10021739fb.jpg

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/5632/10021648nf.jpg

[Allen Cox]

Ian's correct about me rewelding the crossmember back into place, strictly for re-enforcement. I've often thought of making a new crossmember to actually sell that would lower the diff by remounting the mounts for the diff lower. But now that SAS'd, I've lost the initiative.

I do have an extra CV axle laying in my basement, if anyone wants it. It's kind of stiff, but it'd make a great trail spare.