drumnatural

2.5 OME lift with teraflex LCAs. Castor is 5.1 driver and 5.4 passenger.

Could running that much castor be the cause of the leak? There is no apparent tear in the boot. I cleaned a section and drove for 20 miles or so at 60mph. Didn't leak during the trip. No vibrations unless I'm going 75mph plus which I've avoided.

wayoflife

yup. the more caster you have, the steeper the angle at your joints will be on your shaft. looking at your pics, the cv boot is pinching quite a bit and it has clearly been compromised. once you start hearing a ratcheting sound coming from it, it will be done. time to pull it and look for a replacement.

mkjeep

To add to what WOL said, the grease is being squeezed outta the boot, even if you don't see any tears, it's most likely coming from where the clamp is. Once it's gone , you'll start hearing the ratcheting sound.

drumnatural

I didn't think the caster was that extreme. Any other indicators it's about to go besides the ratchet sound? And would I hear that all the time?

Any way to get more grease in there until I get a new shaft?

wayoflife

yeah, the fact that grease is spitting out of it is a pretty good sign that it's starting to fail. the ratcheting sound would only be pronounsed when a load it being put on it. in other words, you may spit all your grease out and then not hear anything until you're on the trail and try to put it in 4wd. of course, by then, it's too late. fortunately, this is only a front drive shaft and you don't need it for daily driving. if needed, you can pull it off now and you'd be good to go. regarding your caster, any time you lift your jeep, your drive shaft angles will get steeper. if you add more caster than stock, it will amplify that angle even if just a bit. regardless, anything that has moving parts will wear out, it's just a matter of time. increase the angles on your cv joint and you're just hurrying that along.

oh, and no, you cannot put more grease in it and expect it to stay. you gotta know that your drive shaft spins really really fast and once the boot is compromised, there is nothing that will keep the grease from spitting right back out the moment you start driving.

drumnatural

Yea I figured as much. Tom woods time.

wayoflife

if i haven't beaten this one to death already, if you go with his shaft, just make sure to upgrade the u-joints to spicer or neapco. he'll be mad as hell to hear you ask for it and most likley will say some nice things about me but trust me, the cheap u-joints that come standard with his shafts aren't worth it.

Fenrir

I may be doing an OME lift on my 2010 2DR this year as well and will need to replace the drive shafts. What drive shaft(s) do you recommend? A lot in my local Jeep community seem to go with Coast.

drumnatural

So what shaft would u recommend?

drumnatural

You may not need them. My rear is fine. My front failing was helped by my caster settings.

Go with the OME light/medium load springs or you'll get more then a 2/2.5 inch lift. With more lift comes adjustable track bars and a rear LCAs.