Can I rebuild my CV's? I have clicking, vibrating, and a torn boot on one axle. Can I buy CV guts somewhere? Is there any thing I can do to keep the boots from wearing out prematurely from my lift?

I'm not sure if you can get new guts for them. I've cleaned and repacked mine several times when I replaced the boots. I've got a lot of lift on mine and had to replace the drivers side after only 4 offroad trips, of course one was a week long. If you need to replace the entire CV (half shaft or front drive axle) the cheapest place I've seen is AC. Their price for a new one is cheaper than what I paid for a rebuilt. Don't know what brand they are or how they will hold up. As far as making them last longer, you might want to try keeping them lubed with a dry type silicone spray like is used on the rubber parts of motorcycles. Don't know if it works or not.

91' Hardbody SE V6 KC

If they are making noise, they're most likely beyond rebuilding yourself. If you can catch them right after the boot tears it's a fairly easy job to clean and repack them. If you damage the joint, though, it usually means replacing them.

-Spike

Is there anyway to test them with the truck not in motion. Like to feel for looseness or something? Is there any cheap places to buy these joints? I would like to just put new boots on it and call it a day. But I don't want to be emptying my money into a trash can.

You can pull them out and check them when you put new boots on.

Just look for obvious wear on the balls and surfaces when you take them apart. There's no way to 'test' them.

-Spike

At it again a year later, I replaced one side and rebuilt the other using parts from the other shaft. Now both boots are torn WIDE open with mud an sand inside. I was out wheeling and I could hear the dreaded roll clunk, roll clunk. It just seems like I change CV's like I change the air filter. I bought the new one at a advance auto parts under warranty but since I have to order one then bring the old one in it's just too much hassle.

So this time I'm not planing to throw a whole lot of money around, the CV's only last a year or so anyways.

I want to get my truck back on the trail. So I've been looking on ebay for used joints. It's been rumored that the Xterra boots work better because they have more pleats. So I'm thinking pick up a used CV and put new boots on it. Now since my truck is a 90 HB with a V6, the axles with the most splines. What year range of CV's do I have to choose from? Ebay is sort of unclear one guy says 91-96 another says 90-96.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1210970,parttype,2288,partGroup,17

$60.79 for new CV's.

87-95 R200A Have 5 bolt cv pattern. 98-04 Have 6 bolt cv's.

I to replace both my cv's once a year. I bought One set from advance with their warranty. I broke those. Bought a second set from rock auto (cheepies). Got 2 new cv's from advance. When the cheepies from rockauto break I'm going to take those and have them replaced at advance also. The problem is once the boot tears and sand get inside that’s death for the cv. Even if you rebuild them, if sand is inside it’s still going to kill the cv.

It's just a draw back with IFS. As built as my truck is I know I'm going to be replacing cv's.

If when you rebuild them, you tear them completely apart and clean them out, they'll be fine.

I replaced the boots on my CVs back when I was IFS about 5 times. If you catch it before you damage the joint, the CV will be fine. Even if there is a bit of sand in it, clean it out REALLY well and put new grease in with the new boot and it'll last quite a while.

The key is to catch it when the boot rips, then replace it immediately. AutoZone has a lifetime warrantee, so if you buy one for around $100, you're set for life. They don't care, once you have the warrantee they'll swap 'em every week if you like.

-Spike

I bought a brand new CV for $45 on the bay. I then bought a used CV for $40. I figure I can put those two in the truck then bring my bad one back to advance for replacement so I have a spare.

Yep, I'm all for the warranty. I went through 9 cv's in under 18 months. Thanks for the cv's Napa!

I'm assuming every one of you have/had a Control Arm "lift"? I wheeled the piss out of my truck for 5 years IFS, and no torn CV boots! On year 5 (when I started torching out the IFS), the CV balls were waffled a bit, every joint in front was sloppy, I had some failed bushings, and a crapped out lockout, but the boots were still fine! I had no front end lift, was open in front, and ran 33x10.5 tires.

Yep, control arm lift. The inner boots shread just about everytime need to use 4x4. I don't think I have been through a winter with good CV's in a long long time. Good thing is they are not too hard to change out.

I keep a perfect alignment on my truck. I have superlift upper control arms along with many other upgrades. Due to the alignment being within specs I don’t know much of a lift my truck has over stock.

From my experience once the boot tears not long before you bust the axle. So fare I've replaced 3 cv's in 8 years of owning the truck