front axle/cv joint help needed

[postrophe]

ok, I drove my 96 tracker over a dirt pile made with a couple dips to make it interesting. later that day I noticed the 2 rubber boots on the front axles up near the engine had ripped. Seems that when the front tires drop to reach for the ground, the boots were streched to the point that they ripped. I'm guessing this isn't supposed to happen. Not sure why it happened, but in any case I need to fix this now.

Wondering if I should replace just the boots, or do I need to do the axles and everything? don't know if these are stock axles or not. Almost everything is new on this vehicle, just don't see a reciept for front axles.

Awaiting any help I can get.
Paul

[jl102284]

How long ago did they tear? Did you drive through mud, water, or salted roads afterwards. If its been a while since it happened or it has gotten wet/dirty inside its probably a good idea to replace the whole axle shafts. If not you can get away with cleaning/regreasing the cv joints and just putting new boots on them. You can buy split cv boots which you can put on without taking the axle shaft out but I personally dont like them I tried one once and it didnt last long. To replace them with a new solid cv boot you have to remove the axle shaft, so you might be better off replacing the whole shaft anyway.

[postrophe]

I believe this happened like 2 days ago. Haven't driven it through anything since I noticed it, but I do live in TX where it's pretty dry and dusty.