Alright, so I installed a leveling kit a couple weeks ago and since its been about a 100 miles, I was going to check that everything was still tight. Drivers side was all good but when I rolled over to passenger there were a bunch of black grease worms everywhere. I'm guessing I must have cut one of the damn CV Boots during install...that or it's cause of the leveling kit itself...no idea. I haven't done anything but go to work and back so no extreme travel of wheel up, down, left or right, blah blah blah. Either way, pretty sure the dealership won't cover it so my question is, anybody got any recommendations? I'm not an idiot with a wrench, been an aircraft mechanic for 20 years, so I'm plenty capable of fixing, just need some guidance. How difficult is it to replace the boot? Assuming I just drop knuckle and there you go but assumption is the mother of all ****-ups so here I am! Thanks in advance for any advice/tips. Hope everybody is having a great weekend!

 

I don't know about replacing the boot separately, I can tell you on my ranger CV joints had a special strap to keep them in place and there is no way of clamping them back on by hand once free. I would guess the whole cv joint has to be replaced. I read another similar post like this awhile back on the 15' models and they had the same problem. The feedback others had was that leveling kit was likely the cause, not sure what the fix was to keep it from happening though as you would need a longer boot. The other problem I think mentioned was the amount of extra wear it would have on cv joints for off position angle.

Although it is possible you just did cut it by mistake as mentioned. Has me wondering about lift kits/other leveling kits how CV joints hold up or what is done differently.

 

Is it the inner or outer CV Boot ? You can replace just the boot, but it requires removing the CV Axle.

 

Pretty sure it's the inner. That's what I thought (replace boot) and figured it couldn't be that difficult, just wondered if anybody has done it and could gimme some tips.

 

Depending on the brand or company that did your install but they may offer a warrant on the drivetrain.

Truck Toys installed the level kit on mine and said the parts company offers a drivetrain warranty up to 60k miles or something. The mechanic used a pickle fork to pop the joint off the UCA and tore the boot. Truck Toys replaced it and realigned the truck on their dime so at this point I have no reason to suspect otherwise.

 

I'm guessing you will need to pull the CV and disassemble the inner joint to replace 1 or more boots. Had to do that on my Ranger.

 

Exactly, the CV joint either outer or inner (whichever is torn) needs to be completed disassembled to replace the boot.

 

Can the outer joint be disassembled on these trucks? The Ranger outer joint was not made to be taken apart but some people on the internet claimed to have done so with a BFH.

 

Thats what I couldn't figure out on the ranger, sure probably could have found a boot. Heck if anyone could get those special clamps completely secured again though, didn't realize it til after I had it separated. I managed to get it back on partially in the case with my ranger, but it leaked. It was definitely due for complete replacement though. I was just wanting to see how bad it was and verify it before pulling it out.

I thought maybe the f150's were made the same with the boots since that's typically way they do things, can't fix one part got to get the whole part. Much like the Hub assembly vs new bearings/seals individually.

 

I know the clamps you're referring to, I know you can find replacements and the tools for crimping them but I never went out of my way to find them. I tried stainless zip ties which didn't work well, finally used worm type hose clamps and put the adjustment screws 180 degrees apart to minimize any balance issues it might cause.