CV boot that stays together?

[v7guy]

My old stock CV boot was ripped, then slipped off after I lifted, then slipped off again after I used a hose clamp.

Now the CV boot on the new CV shaft I installed a week ago has ripped open.


Is there a boot you guys like that stays together.

It's been a frustrating few weeks.

[The Roadie]

I tried a split boot install on my wife's Civic. Useless, frustrating exercise that ended in failure. I'd put on a new $50 shaft before I'd try a $20 boot ever again.

Where did it fail? Anything you hit?

Was it a Cardone with the nice flexible neoprene boots? Hardly ever have problems with them.

[dirty anton]

I tried a split boot install on my wife's Civic. Useless, frustrating exercise that ended in failure. I'd put on a new $50 shaft before I'd try a $20 boot ever again.

Where did it fail? Anything you hit?

Was it a Cardone with the nice flexible neoprene boots? Hardly ever have problems with them.

never had a problem with the cardone shafts

[v7guy]

It was a duralast rebuilt. It has some really soft boots, nothin like the stock boots. It split at the peak of one of the folds... oddly enough the same place the stock boot split. I figured I'd remove the shaft and replace the boot or replace the whole thing cause those split boots seem like trouble.

Should I look for a cardone shaft? This Duralast one looks like the cardone ones I've seen posted.

All of my driving since replacement has been on road. I can't imagine that anything tore it.

[janesy86]

My OEM have lasted over 50k so far, knock on wood.

[Trail X]

It was a duralast rebuilt.

I have those on both sides... they are the only thing that's lasted for me. Even the cardone's didn't last.

[fishsticks]

I have my (broken) OEMs sitting in the garages, I've contemplated pulling the covers off of them and putting them on my aftermarkets. The "soft" covers just don't hold up for me.

[v7guy]

Guess i'll pull it and replace it with another. Maybe it was a fluke and i just got lucky.

[Flying Monkey]

Just a heads up, the best place I found for the Cardone shafts was summit. Free shipping and they are $49 and some change. I got mine shipped to me for only $44 total because I had a $20 off summit bucks from previous purchase. They charge me tax cause They are here in GA but if your not where 1 is you wont pay tax.

[Trail X]

Guess i'll pull it and replace it with another. Maybe it was a fluke and i just got lucky.

Sounds like it's hit or miss.

[v7guy]

Guess i'll pull it and replace it with another. Maybe it was a fluke and i just got lucky.

Sounds like it's hit or miss.

Yeah, it does sound like it.
No matter what the axle has to come back out. I believe it has a 30 day warranty so I think I'll try another replacement and if that one tears maybe I'll look at one of those replacement boots.

[v7guy]

I've been checking the cardone shaft and the boot ripped last night. The tear is in the same middle rib as it was on the duralast boot. This one lasted 4 days and approximately 250 miles. If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears.

At this point I'm looking at maybe just buying a replacement boot (preferably one with an extra rib) and trying it.

I wonder if this a result of the little extra angle from the 89 springs. All my driving has been on road to and from work. I cant believe anything has hit it and ripp

Replacing these things is getting annoying, at least i'm getting damn fast at it though.

[Flying Monkey]

I've been checking the cardone shaft and the boot ripped last night. The tear is in the same middle rib as it was on the duralast boot. This one lasted 4 days and approximately 250 miles. If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears.

At this point I'm looking at maybe just buying a replacement boot (preferably one with an extra rib) and trying it.

I wonder if this a result of the little extra angle from the 89 springs. All my driving has been on road to and from work. I cant believe anything has hit it and ripp

Replacing these things is getting annoying, at least i'm getting damn fast at it though.

Im really beginning to think it may just be the extra angle from the 89's. I have 87's and have no problem with ripping boots. I have a 170,000 mile cv on passenger side I am bout to change due to noise from it and a Cardone on the drivers side with about 700 or so miles on it and no boot issues. My boot issue before was it slipped off the tripod cause the stock clamp busted off right after my lift.

Im wondering if there might be a longer cv from another application for those of us with not only lift but different front springs might have better luck with. The knuckles for us are right at the edge of the tripod and when accelerating or going up inclines the shift of the body to the back causes extra angle on the cv's. My theory is if we had a longer cv it would stay further in the tripod instead of riding the lip of it causing them to fail when they bind up

[v7guy]

I looked around and couldnt seem to find anything that was compatible without spending for an RCV shaft.

I was under the impression that the stretch on the boot is what is causing the split. Stationary, all the ribs of the boot are bunched together at the bottom and they're all spread pretty far on top... It appears the middle rib is the flatest.
The split in the boot begins as a small tear at the peak of the middle rib, then continues ripping until its virtually two pieces. The CV doesnt appear to be over extended. It appears there was still a fair amount of extension available in the tripot on my last removal.

[Flying Monkey]

Right, but on acceleration or on incline the front pulls up as the rear drops causing the knuckle to pull out of tripod. In turn stretching boot alot more then sitting at rest. Plus your already pretty maxed out already at rest with 89's when I know my 87's already put the knuckle close to lip at rest.

When I tested my bad cv by jacking truck at center front to simulate acceleration the knuckle would bind at edge of tripod. So I imagine 89's will be slightly more out of whack

[dirty anton]

fwi i took off shaft and replaced a torn cv with a dorman replacement boot and it lasted a day of wheelin. that was with 87s and alot of weight out front.

[HARDTRAILZ]

I had better luck with my stock boots than cardone.

[v7guy]

Yeah, I'd reuse the stock ones if one of them didnt have a small hole in it. Do you know of anyplace we can get stock type replacements? Does anyone have some trashed stock shafts with intact boots I can buy?

I was looking at CV axle I have here and I was wondering if a outer CV boot would work on the inner. The outer has 5 ribs instead of 3 and by its very nature is made to flex more because of steering. The tripot is about .25" bigger than the outer joint though (tripot is 3.46 outer is 3.72). Dorman lists a 614-004 boot and a 44077 silicone boot but they both say they fit larger than 3.5". It would probably be fine and they both have 5 ribs and should be more flexible (if the pictures are accurate), im just not sure how the bottom bunched up parts of the boot would react with even more material being crammed together.

I only need these to hold together through the winter. I'll have more weight on the front in the spring.

[Trail X]

Jason, is it your tripod boot or cv boot that's splitting?

Can we see a picture of it, to see how the folds are sitting? I wonder if you could adjust the mounting point on the shaft to help compensate for over-stretching or over-compression.

[v7guy]

It's on the tripot side. I can get a picture later on. I'm not sure what kind of shape its in. It may be two pieces now.Havent looked at it in a couple days.

I picked up a silicone Dorman boot the other day. It seems kinda flimsy, but has 5 folds and is longer. So if it doesn't fall apart because it's thin it might be ok. I still need to disassemble the tripot and put it on.