Help: Front right axle keeps tearing boot

[TheHunter]

Hey I really need some help, as said in the title, my front right axle keeps tearing the boot where it connects to the hub.

Here's the story- Ever since I've had my car, it has made a clunking noise from that tire I believe when I went over speed bumps or quick elevation changes, I've had three separate shops take a look at it, and they all wiggled my rim, did visual inspections, didn't find any play and just said "eh, It's ok, doesn't do any harm." However, it is doing harm somehow, because that axle keeps tearing the boots, and when that happens you have to change the whole axle, no one will let you just replace the boot(s). This has been happening before my car was lowered and after, and somewhat frequently, as I've only had my car for 3 and a half years, with no driving over summer and winter breaks, and I think I've changed that axle 3-4 times already (at 100 bucks a pop!).

Help me out 6GA, I'm sure someone has had a similar problem. Tomorrow my dad will be coming out to visit for thanksgiving and he's going to try to help me pin down the problem as well, but I figured I'd hit you guys up too because with the number of cars on here, someone had to run into my issue.

 

[finch13]

Measure both sides of the car between fender and tire and see how similar they are. I'm willing to bet the side that eats boots has been damaged. Lower control arms aren't to expensive and are usually the first to go. A front end alignment is recommended after a new LCA as well. Don't forget to inspect the strut fork and tie rod as well.

Can you get the car in the air and turn the wheel at all angles to see if it might rub somewhere?

 

[juicebox00]

maybe put cl-s axles on? more durable than our axles so they might be able to stand up to the stress of the 6spd. just an idea though, and yea. it shouldn't be breaking that much anyway

 

[finch13]

It's tearing boots, not destroying the joints.

 

[TheHunter]

Measure both sides of the car between fender and tire and see how similar they are. I'm willing to bet the side that eats boots has been damaged. Lower control arms aren't to expensive and are usually the first to go. A front end alignment is recommended after a new LCA as well. Don't forget to inspect the strut fork and tie rod as well.

Can you get the car in the air and turn the wheel at all angles to see if it might rub somewhere?

I did notice while rotating my tires (not spinning but actually putting rear on front) that it's rubbing... when I turn all the way left on the bottom? If that makes sense.

Basically if you're looking into the wheel well on the right as far inside as you can get and as low as you can get, the rubber liner is rubbed/melted. I'll check the LCA with my dad when he gets here. I've had it aligned with the digital alignment things and checked the readout before and there wasn't anything "off" about that tire.

Would that cause the clunking noise as well?

BTW: I totally did not post this into this forum? I tried to put it in DIY. I didn't even view the accord tech forum today. Weird.

 

[finch13]

Well, I got an alignment at Tires Plus with no issues because I hit a curb... brought it to a family friends shop and he immediately brought me into the shop and showed me that my LF wheel was pushed an inch towards the door... couldn't even tell unless you measured it.

Only a few things comes to mind as to why the boot would rub at that angle... shot wheel bearing, bent spindle, bent LCA, or extremely ****ed upper or lower ball joints.

 

[BlkCurrantKord]

Bent LCA. Mine does/did the same thing in almost the same spot.


Pretty obvious here -

 

[Raymond]

Hmm, my car just tore the boot off my passenger side axle today, noticed the grease everywhere behind my wheel, not gonna be fun to clean.

Should I just replace the axle, or should I be worried about the lower control arm as well?

 

[BlkCurrantKord]

It's somewhat a PITA to remove for the first time. Hold a ruler to it and see if its straight.

 

[finch13]

Also, boots do fail on their own. Look into the folds and see if a lot of them are torn or badly cracked.