Im supposed to go away for the weekend tommorow morning in my car, and its about 2.5 hours each way to where Im going. Today I went to the car wash and I think the metal track rubbed up against and ripped the rubber CV axle boot on the front drivers wheel. When I got home I noticed grease all over the inside of my rims and the plastic fender liner. I looked behind the wheel and saw the 3 inch rip in the boot.

First of all, did this happen from the car wash or does this happen from normal wear and tear on 2 inch dropped maxima's? Secondly, can I still go away tommorow in my car, and what damage could this cause if I do drive it?

 

It's normal for a 4th gen CV boot to tear. I mean, they're 6-10 years old. That being said, I did 100 miles on my busted boot this past week. After 100 miles, my axle was making a funky noise. I wouldn't try a 5 hour trip if I were you. You will definitely contaminate the axle to the point of replacement. I didn't care because I'm doing a 5spd swap tomorrow and putting new axles in anyway.

 

More than likely, it did not happen in the car wash but some time ago, given the amount of grease you found on the outside. CV boots split like that just from wear and tear. As long as you do not hear a clicking noise when you turn your car, you are not in danger of losing an axle.

However, you really need to get the axle replaced when you get back. Given that you've lost a lot of grease, the
opening in the boot will have allowed water and dirt to enter and wear out the joint fairly quickly.

 

Don't worry and drive it. Since it's ripped, it's time to replace your axles anyways. People will say, "just replace the boots real quick and you can save the axle". But I tend to think, you rarely catch the ripped boot just as it happens, so most likely damage has already been done. No telling when it tore and started to leak. Have fun on your trip and don't worry about the axles. You'll know when they fail. It usually gives warning signals that last for months. They tend to fail "gracefully".

 

as stated replace them quicky.

Sadly I've been driving for atleast 15K on this boot broken axle. . . I know its sad

 

mine are shredded and probably have been for a while but the car doesnt make any noise or clicking when turning or anything so i had no clue that they were bad

 

Yeah you can drive it. You'll want to get it fixed soon but it wont hurt to drive it. I've driven for weeks with torn CV boots, raced even.

 

They've most likely been torn for a lot longer than you think. Take the advice above and make your trip, because you will need to replace those axles anyway. Your joints are surely contaminated already which will eventually wear down the joint.

Just change the axles when you get back. About $70-$80 for normal remanufactured axles. About $150 from raxles.com (supposedly better quality rebuild). Don't forget about $75 in labor per axle if you have a shop do the work.