Tan sludge / grease under my 200 front passenger side, what is this? (1 Viewer)

[DPA200]

I was just under my 200 checking to see where all my kdss line would need to be moved for my Budbuilt slider install and discovered this fun surprise instead. Tan colored sludge / grease splattered all under the front passenger side lower arm and area. I can't see where its coming from but its a mess down there. The only recent change is i did get the truck lifted 2 weeks ago with Tough Dog 41 foam cells but i dont see any grease on the shock. I just sent the pics to my Toyota service tech but any ideas?

 

[TonyP]

Your CV boot has s*** the bed.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

About to say the same. Torn boot.

J

 

[Markuson]

Yup. See the poo colored ring around your CV boot? That’s the source.

**If you replace your CV....whatever you do, do NOT go third party. Stick with Toyota on CVs. So many cases of immediate failure with after market it ain’t even funny.

 

[TonyP]

And you're also missing the oil drain panel.

 

[DPA200]

Your CV boot has s*** the bed.

My mechanic says this is why he recommended a diff drop when i did the lift. I didnt do the diff drop because i didnt want to lose the 3/4 clearance, now i might have to anyways. argh. bringing it in to shop now. yeah he said the extra stress from the angle of the lift. he says older 200's not very flexible boot. Solutions?

 

[ToyotaDon]

That looks like a lot of grease, but it may not actually be torn. Lifting the truck stretches the boots out, and the clamp may have pulled away slightly, allowing the grease to slip through. You might be able to get away with removing that clamp, adding grease, and installing a new OEM clamp with increased tension.

Yes, diff drop would help.

 

[linuxgod]

Looks like it’s early enough you or a good shop can pull the CV, clean the joints, fill with new grease and re-boot it. A boot kit is probably $50-75, much cheaper than a remanufacfured Toyota CV

 

[TonyP]

I had the same lift for over a year, wheeled all over the place with no issues. Your mechanic is dumb. They probably screwed it up during installation.

Replace the boots is the only solution.

The clamps don't pop off and on all willy-nilly. See if that clamp is loose. Looks normal me but I can't see. Either way, you'll be better off replacing the boot. If grease got out, crud may have gotten in. You don't want crud in your CVs.

 

[Markuson]

I’m on 35’s, lifted, and beat the snot out of my truck in Baja and Moab.... No diff drop and no boot issues. Personally, I would not do a diff drop on the 200. I did it on my 100, but the CV angles are just way better on the 200.

Oh...and... Even with diff drop on my 100? -REGULAR boot failures! On my non-diff-dropped 200? Zero boot issues despite more aggressive lift and much harder pounding on trails.

 

[mcgaskins]

It's incredibly rare for a 200 to need a diff drop, so I think your shop messed up the install. I've had 3 modified 200s, none needed a diff drop and none leaked any grease from the CVs including one with 161k miles on it.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

IIRC @SQRRRL Toyota mechanic stabbed a pry bar into his boot and caused his problem.. I'd look for neglect and then if there is... get a free reboot job out of them.

J

 

[Romer]

I dont have a diff drop. Slee told me I didnt need it and have had no issue over two years. I wheel the crap out of my truck with no issues

On my 100 series, I noticed a leak in the boot that ended up being the clamp. I cleaned it up, refilled with grease and put the clamp on without removing from the truck. I had just a bit of a leak though. Yours seems like a lot and at a minimum should be inspected for scarring or you could replace it and rebuild with a boot kit into a spare. I carry a spare CV in my kit

 

[linuxgod]

IIRC @Squirrel Toyota mechanic stabbed a pry bar into his boot and caused his problem.. I'd look for neglect and then if there is... get a free reboot job out of them.

J

That was my mechanic. Small tear at the bottom. He had my CVs rebooted by an axle reman guy, and those boots dripped out a little grease. I ended up reclamping them and they've been fine since (knock on wood).

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

That was my mechanic. Small tear at the bottom. He had my CVs rebooted by an axle reman guy, and those boots dripped out a little grease. I ended up reclamping them and they've been fine since (knock on wood).

I'm pretty sure it was @SQRRRL that the Toyota mechanics did it.

 

[DPA200]

Ok just heard back from my shop and doesn't sound nearly as bad as it could be. I feel they are being very fair saying it could have happened during lift install but no way to know whether it was that or whether something flew up and hit it. This particular Phoenix shop has always been a friend to Copper State Cruiser members so i do trust them. There were 5 other Land Cruisers I saw at the shop just during my dropoff. Anyways, the grease is coming from a small tear on the inner boot. The clamp itself is not loose and that isn't where the grease is coming from apparently. Since it wasn't the clamp being pulled by the new lift angle they are ok skipping the diff drop still. FIX: They are going to take the right axle out, clean, re-pack with new grease, and then change out with brand new inner and outer boots (i guess they come as a pair).

 

[TonyP]

I highly doubt something flew up and tore the boot. Especially since it just so happens to coincide with them doing the install. Plus, that rubber is pretty damn tough.

Either way, glad they're fixing it properly.

 

[DPA200]

I highly doubt something flew up and tore the boot. Especially since it just so happens to coincide with them doing the install. Plus, that rubber is pretty damn tough.

Either way, glad they're fixing it properly.

yeah unlikely I agree. it was lifted 2 weeks ago and hasn't been offroad yet. Either way happy they are fixing and being fair about it.

 

[DPA200]

I'm pretty sure it was @SQRRRL that the Toyota mechanics did it.

@reevesci i meant to ask you a question about my shocks. I bought the 45 adjustable rear but haven’t adjusted them. I crawled under the truck and saw the adjustment knobs but don’t know which way makes the softer and which way stiffer. I don’t see any markers or numbers in the knob.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

@reevesci i meant to ask you a question about my shocks. I bought the 45 adjustable rear but haven’t adjusted them. I crawled under the truck and saw the adjustment knobs but don’t know which way makes the softer and which way stiffer. I don’t see any markers or numbers in the knob.

Clockwise turn makes the shock stiffer. There are little flat tabs and the long one is the indicator mark. I'd set them at 6 o'clock and adjust accordingly from there.

J