Front Drive Shaft Update

[Texas Grenadier]

I’m sorry this happened to you! Could I ask what exact Fox shocks you have on the front?

I’m just curious to find their extended length in comparison to the factory shock length as it acts as a bit of a limiting strap and might protect the boot.

Fox 2.5 performance elite. Same length as stock.

 

[Dokatd]

Here is what I have at the moment. This last joint was caught at 5000miles with only a minor tear. This allowed me to remove the boot and compare to the last one I pulled The boot is most certainly being pinched at the extent of full travel even with stock length shocks. You can clearly see the wear on the boot and even the machine marks from the shaft telegraphing into the rubber. The pinch is light, and gently extrudes the rubber boot to the point that the rubber is super thin at the tear point. Eventually the boot can't hang on any longer and finally tears The tear can propagate around the thin portion of the boot or start to move out to the clamp ring depending on a few factors.

Note, the factory and Terra boot maintain full rubber thickness in the area where the boot tears. Over time the boot thins out from a pinching actions. You can clearly see in my pics the boot thins out to almost paper thin. Those who never go Offroad or those who drive pretty smooth roads without whoops or big bumps are likely going to see far more mileage per joint than those that actually use the truck for its intended purpose. People that drive the highway are constantly hitting whoops in the road that cause pinching. The only sure thing right now is to put limiting straps on to prevent the last 1" or so of travel.