'06 Tundra CV boots

Two years ago I got the Bilstein 5100's set to the 2.5-3'' level and new cv axles and all 4 boots are already cracked and blowing grease everywhere. They honestly look 15 years old. Has anyone used the boot covers from AllProOffroad.com? This is not a 30 minute job and don't want to have to keep doing this job on a regular basis. If anyone has any helpful ideas that would be great. Thank You

 

First off, which axles did you buy? OEM axles are bulletproof, and going with aftermarket is one of the biggest mistakes people make IMHO. OEM boots will last a damn eternity, though they should given they cost a penny or five more than 3rd party.

Similarly bulletproof is doing the Porsche OEM boots for extended movement. Quite a few people are using the red high angle boots from ORS (offroad solutions) thought I don't recall seeing anyone on here that's offroading them (they're silicone-based also, IIRC).

tl;dr - If you need longevity of more than 2-3 years out of your boots, be careful what you buy. And if you have a choice DO NOT get rid of your OEM axles. Also, don't buy into the hype of "extended travel" axles, since a lot of it seems to be just that: Hype.

 

I just went out and checked and the factory oem sticker is still on the axle shaft. I'm not really offloading, minor fire roads from time to time but mainly just city driving. I only lifted the front end because I absolutely hate the raked look and I have had nothing but issues ever since haha. Sway bar end links have been a major one and am still trying to figure those out as well but these boots are the more important issue at the moment.

I am looking at doing the KarTek Porsche boots on the inside and since they don't have them for the outside, just going with the blue OffRoad Solutions ones. It's crazy how expensive they are considering they're not even direct replacements (you have to cut up your old ones).

 

3" is a pretty significant lift. 1" is usually enough to level, stock rake is basically 1" front to rear. What'd you do to lift the rear to compensate for being 1.5 - 2" higher in front, or are you squatting?

Any time you're adding 1" - 1.5" lift up front, you should install extended links. SuspensionMaxx makes a great link at a pretty fair price.

 

I did add those and have had nothing but problems with them. I tightened them in increments and no matter how tight I got them, I felt like my wheels were going to buckle on rough freeways or streets. It's 'kind of' tolerable now but they really shouldn't have put the nut on the bottom as there is a welded-in guard there that you can't get a wrench in. As far as the lift goes, The rear of the truck is much higher than the front. I went to the max of what the Bilstein recommended and the back is still higher.

 

Use a thin wrench. I used a cone wrench to do mine. I've since pulled mine and my swaybar, I'm running 700lb springs and they seem to be stiff enough to kill most body roll.

It's hard to hold the bottom cam parallel to the ground also.

Something sounds squirrely about that lift. Is there any lift out back, like, maybe installed by a previous owner? Got pics of the front suspension, rear suspension, and an overall side-shot of the truck?

What is your measurement for center-of-wheel to edge-of-fender on all four corners? (here are my measurements)

Did you re-use your OEM springs with the 5100s?

 

I am the original owner. No lift on the rear. If I take it picture of it, the rear will be lower due to having a bunch of stuff I won't take out just to take a picture, sorry. I am using 600lb Bilstein springs up front. I thought I was going to die a few times driving back from Vegas to LA when I hit a few bad sections of the freeway so I got home and just tighten the hell out of the end links. I have not been able to find a definitive answer to how tight or torque number to tighten them to so I just keep going until I don't feel like I'm going to lose control and crash while driving. I will go look for a cone wrench tomorrow.

 

Here's a source for the outside boot. I don't have a recommendation for the inside...

https://www.doghouserepair.com/store/item/2881/86-9306-cv-boot-only-for-930-cv-super-boot-empi/