Going Through CV Axles Every 6 months

I've got a 97 extra cab with a leveling kit. I bought the truck with the lift on it. The lift uses 2 5/8" spacer blocks under the leaf springs and 1 1/2" spacers on top of the coil springs. I know this is not the right way to do this, but it's the way I bought it.
Anyway, this truck has gone through 3 sets of cv axles in the last 18 months. When I say gone through I mean the boots tear and then destroy the yoke immediately. The last two sets were from Napa.
Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? I've heard that the spacers on the coil springs change the geometry of the cv axle and that's why they're wearing out so quickly.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Well yeah any time you lift thru suspension theres going to be a change in CV angle (& not for the better)

More angle/much more wear on CV boots...

 

Diff Drop time!

 

Please Explain

 

Its a super cheap and easy way to help your angles... Wheelers off road sells them along with many many other places...

 

What he said! ⬆️⬆️⬆️

 

Thanks bry838. I'll be ordering that today.

 

It's super easy to do yourself too. They are usually around $20 - $40butif you have it installed it's over a $100

 

I'm glad I have manual lockers for this reason alone.

 

These trucks sure look good when they are lifted that much don't they?

Unfortunately, if your coil spacer is 1.5" thick, it means you are about 3" higher than the IFS was designed for. This puts it beyond the comfort zone. Anytime you have more that 2" of lift over stock, the IFS geometry will very hard on CV axles.

I would not expect a miracle from the diff drop kit. It wont hurt but it wont solve the basic problem as it will only improve the axle angle a very small amount.

 

You could try a Boot Slide Mod. It involves stretching the CV boot. Look around on here or Google and you will find posts about it.

 

I got UCA's with my 3" Eibachs and put my 5100's on the 2nd setting and my angles aren't too bad. For 3" coils & 1.25" setting on the shocks for a total of 4.25". The UCA's helped a lot

 

^ yes, but you still have stock length shocks. His setup make the suspension 1.5" longer than stock and thus over extends the whole suspension at full droop.

 

Digiratus- what suggestions would you have to rectify this situation without getting crazy expensive? The truck is getting older by the day and I'll probably be selling it for another in the next year or so.

 

I your going to sell it, why do anything too it. Advanced auto sells decent cv axles that come with a lifetime warranty. Get some of those so when you bust them, you can exchange them with new ones at no cost.

However, if you decide to keep it, do it right, and put some money into it.

 

Ok, if I decide to keep it, what would be the proper fix for this?

 

Manual hubs.

Will keep the CV's from spinning every time you drive anywhere, and will keep your boots intact much much longer

 

Alot of guys run a three inch lift(myself included, never gone through a cv axle) and don't go through cv's like you have been it seems strange...and again even though it's minimal a different drop should still be considered....

 

A long term fix would be to lower the front enough so your axle angles aren't so high. This means replacing your spacer lift.

An Old Man Emu coil and shock assembly will do this and improve the ride. The other way would be to add a lot of weight to the front end to bring it down a bit. An aftermarket bumper with a winch and some steel skids will do it as well.

 

Wow that is a lot of lift not running a DB lift!! How long have you been running your truck set up like that??

And if I'm reading that right, you said getting uca's helped a lot with your cv angles? Uca's have no impact on cv angles...