anyone else have constant issues with ripped axle boots on the track?

seems like we're going thru a lot of them. wondering whats the deal. and how can we prevent it.

whats with this "vented" boot straw thingy? why would a rubber boot need to vent? air expansion?

then again, maybe its just the quality of axles we use... im not even sure any of them are "new". its either from the "spares bin" (aka junkyard quality) or over the counter parts dealer (china) axles.

 

I did until I moved to Raxles... after that, never. I know they cost bank, but to me it was money well spent. Why this happens, I have no idea other than possibly better quality silicone boot material on the raxles

 

yeah, me and my partner have a habit of "recycling" stuff... its a bad habit.

i dont think i had issues with my raxles too when i had them.... but we get "new" axles from the parts dealer cheap. i just need to put my foot down on throwing away the junkyard "spares" for the racecar. i just cant keep track of what we put on.

 

What happens with the cheaper axles is that they use cheaper grease. The cheap grease can not stand the heat that is created while out on track. This cause the boot to expand, the boot is a lesser quality also so then it rips and grease goes every were.

the venting the axles with WD40 or brake clean 'straw' give the air a place to escape, but the grease is still getting very hot and braking down.

Junkyard axles aren't all bad IMO, if you find a car with OEM axles in the junkyard with good condition boots i would snag them (it isn't easy to tell if they are OEM though...).


Also, and this maybe alittle over the top but..., i use this 304 treatment stuff. We originally bought it for the hot tube cover. It prevented the vinyl/whatever the cover was made out of from drying out and cracking. The bottle had a long lists of things it would work on, and one of them being rubber.

So i started spraying it on my axle boots, never had a problem with cracking after that.

I noticed that if you watch carefully the cracks happen first and then from the crack comes the rip, even on good axles like OE or Raxles.

 

i have to imagine the grease is made to be compatible with the rubber and not causing it to weaken... i dunno. perhaps a silicone boot is a must.

and its also hard for me to imagine the grease outgassing or the air in the boot is expanding that much.... but ill try the vent thing. what prevents the grease from just clogging up the capillary straw tho? and then just spitting out a bunch of grease anyway?

 

anyone think it might have to do with the extra swing and elongation an axle might have to go thru? not sure if a car being lower, and more loaded for a longer period of time, especially in a sweeper, would cause extra stretch on the boot. add the heat and what not, more reason to tear...

maybe? probably not?

btw, i guess this would only be the inner CV boot. but it seems thats the one that keeps on tearing for us.

 

Duct air to the boots. Helps keep things cool.

 

hmm im not sure if boots could get any more air under the car... at least the inner ones. but perhaps shield heat from the exhaust might be worthy.

 

Which ones are you ripping? The outer ones are the ones that receive the biggest beating.

 

the inners.

brake ducting is on the to-do list tho.

 

i have had problems with the pepboys/autozone/advanced boots in the past. i have never had a oem boot fail, ever.

 

Sorry, i didn't explain my self well enough. The grease doesn't cause the boot to weaken the heat, and expansion and contraction do.

Well it happens even if it is hard for you to imagine.

Never had the straw blow grease out, and never had it clog up.

 

yes this is part of the reason, cheap stuff works fine on normal hondas. But on a lowered, DOT R compound, with camber, the cheap stuff just doesn't cut it.

 

you need to also use a moly grease (high end grease) in your axles as well. this along with the help of the vent will cure the problem - at least it did on my full race car.

 

+1 for venting...

 

I've been through 6 sets of axles, and I think I have finally found the solution. The leading cause to my previous sets blowing out were because I was driving way too low, and at the same time, I would take turns rather quickly. I always had problems with my OEM axles because I wouldn't buy them brand new. Before i knew it, they would rack, rip, all the grease would fly out, and eventually the axle would end up destroying themselves. I tried going with the Kragen/Autozone/Pepboy special axles but I soon found out that the quality did not even compare. The straps that held the boot in place were cheaply positioned, and when placed on a lower car, would put even more stress on them which eventually just popped the boot completely off the shaft. Lastly, a big part of my axles giving way had to do with the way I drove. Because my car was so low, I would have to angle my car to an extreme over speed bumps and driveways. Potholes on the streets and the freeways did not help my suspension or axles either. All those listed factors puts extreme stress on the weak points of any axles. I ended up lifting my car just a little bit, and investing some money on innovative axles. I just came back from Buttonwillow raceway a couple weeks ago and they performed amazing. I've had the axles for about 5 months now, and I have not heard any clicking, vibrating, or shaking, from them like I would have from a lower quality axle.

 

Dang, you guys are making me worry. I just swapped in a new Autozone Axle, and my car ps pretty dang low too...

 

My Omnipower titanium axles run cooler than stock thanks to the low heat conduction of titanium. Thus less heat helps keep grease temps lower. Oh, and the four pounds of weight savings is not bad either. Of course, knowing Tyson as I do, I don't think he's in the market for Omnipower axles.

 

hater

 

How low was your car before? Were you sitting on your UCAs?

Which autozone/kragen/pepboys special axles are you talking about? Duralast?

 

Any axle used on track should get some high quality CV grease and a new boot before being beaten. I've had good luck with OE boots and Redline CV grease. I also lube the outside of the boots, but I use Dow Corning D111....

 

oem is the way to go.

 

are your mounts good?

 

Good / great idea, but the mounts are Hasport, so I'm sure they are good....They are only the street durometer though, not the full race formula, if I'm not mistaken...

 

I use redline CV grease in my axles and I never have this boot rip problem.