2.5 down to 1.7

[Gajep71]

I went with the 2.5, installed properly, at a reputable shop. I watched the CV joints for about a month with no problems. It's currently at the dealer getting its first service, and they sent me a pic of my split-open boot. I had not inspected it after going off-road the last time, so I'm guessing that's when it occurred.

My question is, has anyone had shaft problems with the 1.7 front lift? I have searched and have not found anyone so far who has had problems with the 1.7 installed. I'll go to 1.7 if it eliminates the problem, but if the problem still exists at 1.7, I might as well leave it where it is.

Thanks

 

[Tenac]

The more I dive deep into this, I think the conclusion is the boot itself being a problem. I have the 2.5 boot doing fine still been 6k miles and off roading A lot even Moab once. So far so good.

 

[derek0343]

For me the issue is not about the lift. It's the factory pinion angel and the meterial of the factory boot.

 

[C-Mack]

Plenty of threads on the driveshaft boot failures around the forum. I’m curious if there is some vendor issues with either the boot material itself or how the driveshaft is assembled?

Could for instance, the boot be installed and clamped onto the shaft too far down the shaft putting the boot under stress/tension before it even gets installed on the vehicle? Couple that with suspension lifts, off-roading, mud/sand stand sticking to the boot, high speed cruising plus the odd pinion and caster angles put more stress on an already stress boot making the whole thing worse?

Maybe a comparison between a recently failed shaft and one that is still in-tact with comparable miles might reveal something? Probably not, but failures at different mileage suggests something must be different about the failed units.

Lots of variables and vehicle usage patterns to consider as well but for sure the pinion being pointed more directly at the transfer case would help immensely if it didn’t screw up caster angles. I’m betting IA will quietly introduce some geometry changes in the front axle before long then all hell will break loose with early adopters wanting a new front axle.

 

[parb]

Wouldn't this be a safety recall at some point?
It's there an nhtsa investigation on this?

 

[C-Mack]

I hope this doesn’t turn into the airline industry “Tombstone Engineering” scenario where it takes some poor soles being injured before action is taken. I’ve had a rear driveshaft u-joint fail before on an older vehicle at speed and it can be quite frighting and cause considerable damage. Fingers crossed IA is looking seriously at this issue as it seems to be a common enough complaint from owners.

 

[avidtest]

My boot failed after 1.7" lift at 13.5K miles (about 1K miles after lift was completed). My assumption is that the boot material had already begun the process of failing though.