Why Turbo tie rod boots may tear

[eurocarrera]

I think I just figured out why the boots on my new turbo tie rods may have torn. It still doesn't explain, however, why the tie rod end seals both came apart.

Last night I installed the Turbo Tie Rod kit, as desribed in Wayne's book (kit is from Parts Heaven, since I needed to replace my broken steering subframe anyway).

I lubed the exterior of the boots with Mobil 1 grease "just in case", as I don't want to replace this kit again in another 6 months, and someone indicated that this helped them.

Anyway, I moved the steering from side to side, and noticed that the big "washer" that you place at the end of tie rod is actually hitting the boot each time the rack moves from left to right. I found this kind of interesting, and wondered if this may have been the problem. Regardless, I took off the boots, and lubed that washer up with a big dose of Mobil1 grease.

Any thoughts on this? I have seen at least two other posts with this same issue. Needless to say, I think a better boot design needs to be made.

And yes, the washer is needed, it is required so that the rack has a place to stop when the steering wheel is turned. Otherwise, the rack will bottom out and may destroy the rack itself.

[don911]

My boots were torn on my car sometime within two years. My theory is that when you get the car aligned, the boots get twisted up from the adjustment. I think the twisted boot eventually leads to tearing.
I just replaced the rods/boots and after my alignment, I popped the outer end of the boots off and let them un-twist and then popped them back on.
I'll see if this helps the tearing problem.

[eurocarrera]

Shoot - I just noticed that this happened again!!!

When I parked this A.M., I looked under the car, and sure enough the boot had split.

HELP! Does anyone know of a quality supplier of this part? Or is it that stupid washer, and is it just too big?

[cbeers]

Hey Bill,

There has been a lot of discussion about the different suppliers of the turbo tie rod kit and the associated quality with them. Pelican sells the one you want, I forget the manufacturer, and I think they sell the boot too. If you compare the boots from the two kits, you will see that they are a different compound. At least the other boot I saw was.....

-Chris

[Wil Ferch]

Lemforder is the brand you want..

Wil