Found replacement boot for A-arm ball joint!

[Won]

Another offering from your cheapskate garage:

As most do, I damaged the rubber boots when I removed the front A-arm ball joints with a pickle fork. During my search I came across Energy Suspension's "generic" polyurethane boots for tie rods and ball joints. At the same time I found this old thread where a fellow Pelican mentioned the PU boots but there was no first hand experience. Since the boots are only $2.00 a piece, I decided to give them a try from suspension.com (part #13005). $10 for extra boots in case I had to do some surgery to make them fit, and the quickest cross border Priority Mail shipment later, I had them in my hands, and I'm happy to report that they are exactly what I was looking for:



The ID of the smaller hole is actually ~1.5mm smaller than the diameter of the shaft so it's a very nice tight fit. I thought it may need some material removal but that was not the case. Similarly, the ID of the base at 36.5mm is slightly smaller than the OD of the lip, so it is stretched a bit for a snap fit. All in all, the fit is very snug on both ends and would definitely prevent grit and water (if installed with some grease) from getting in. The hole around the shaft could be sleeved with thin plastic film or the original piece from old boot to better facilitate rotation of the shaft.

The caveat:



This is when the shaft is deflected as far as it will go. You can see due to the lack of elasticity the boot gets pulled up; however, the exposed portion is part of the lip and the actual ball joint part is still covered. When the shaft returns to normal position, the boot "scrapes" over the lip and pops back into the groove. Considering the shaft only sees such extreme angle when the wheels are on the air, if the area is kept reasonably clean I don't see it being too much of a problem.

With this I'm at the finishing stages of front suspension rebuild. I will report back after I put on some mileage. For the record, the ball joints themselves did not show any noticeable play, so I decided not to change them at this time.

Thanks!!

[3.2 CAB]

I found some like those, when I was doing some front end work on my 750iL. They were about $2.00 ea also, but they come with a ring clip, that snaps on around the base of the boot, to keep the boot from being pulled up from its base. As it turned out, I didn't need to use them, because I didn't damage any of the boots when I was removing all of the front steering/suspension parts. I had acquired a new tool that was supposed to not damage the boots, and they were correct about that. I have been using hub-pullers, pitman pullers, tie rod end pullers, and ball joint separators for years on my vintage MOPAR trucks and cars. I have not used a pickle fork in over 20yrs, because of the damage that I have seen on too many of the old Dodge trucks and cars, I have seen at shows and others over the years. I just don't want to go pounding on a 60 year old pitman arm and steering box, but that's my feelings. But, back to that new tool, it is called a tie rod end lifter. It beats all the pullers that I have used before, because it will work on every joint under the front end, and it worked like a charm. Glad you found the boots for yours. If you would like to get some of the colored PU boots, that may not be available from our host, PM me. Good luck!! Tony.

[alniki]

Does it look like this?

[3.2 CAB]

alniki, it looks a lot like that! I believe the one I have is a US made Blackhawk brand, I think that is the name. A very nice tool!

[SteveBuchanan]

Won, I am looking at Suspension.com's website and they list the part number for the Porsche 911 ball joint boot as 13305 (and 9.13105). It looks like you ordered 13005. Perhaps they recently added this part number 13305? Maybe this item will fit better.

Tonight I noticed that my 2 year old tie rod end boots are beginning to crack. Has anyone had experience ordering replacement boots for Turbo tie rod ends?

[RWebb]

are the stock boots NLA?

[SteveBuchanan]

I don't think they were ever available. Many people just buy new tie rod ends. But it seems like the rubber in many of the new boots (including steering rack boots) does not last very long.

[Won]

Steve, I'm pretty sure they added Porsche 911 to the application list after my feedback and the part number is a typo.

The boot covers the joint very nicely when the suspension is at its neutral position and through normal movement range. No problems on the road so far and I don't expect any in the future.

[DW SD]

Originally Posted by SteveBuchanan

I don't think they were ever available. Many people just buy new tie rod ends. But it seems like the rubber in many of the new boots (including steering rack boots) does not last very long.

I am aware that there is a there is a Chinese made tie-rod that comes with cheap rubber boots. The more expensive German (Lemforder - maybe?) comes with a higher grade of rubber. Not sure if that might be the culprit?

Doug

[SteveBuchanan]

It's possible that's the problem. The tie rod ends are stamped with VP on the bottom. Does anyone know this marking?

[88 Club Sport]

Won, This thread is a couple of years old now and I wanted to see if the suspension.com boots held up. My Turbo tie rods have less than 5000 miles on them but the boots are torn so I'd rather replace the boot vs. the entire joint.

Thanks for the feedback.

[rusnak]

This is an old thread.

It sounds like people are confusing the balljoint boot with the tie-rod boot. The balljoint boot should not be torn because the balljoint comes right out once the nut is removed.

The tierods on the other hand need to be removed if you want to send the struts in for rebuilding or something similar. So I'm glad that someone else acknowledged that the pickle fork will damage the rubber tie rod boot.

Here is the tool that I use to remove tie rods. I promise you it will not tear the tie rod boot, and it removes the tie rods every time in less than a minute with absolutely no damage to the arm. Hell, you won't even chip the paint on the steering arm.

[Won]

Originally Posted by 88 Club Sport

Won, This thread is a couple of years old now and I wanted to see if the suspension.com boots held up. My Turbo tie rods have less than 5000 miles on them but the boots are torn so I'd rather replace the boot vs. the entire joint.

Thanks for the feedback.

As far as I can tell they're holding up just fine. The PU boots are rather thick and they don't have to move a lot. As Rusnak pointed out I'm using the boots for a-arm ball joints and not tie-rod ends, although suspension.com might have correct sized one for the tie-rods too.

[88 Club Sport]

My bad...... Yep, you are right, I confused the two. My boots have not been damaged but have torn (no pickle fork) . The air in Colorado is very dry so that has not helped my cause I'm sure. The car might have seen 5000 miles on the Turbo Tie Rods and the ends are fine......expect for the boots.

I'll check further about sources of boots.

[HawgRyder]

I have found over the years that an application of Dow Corning 111 compound on the outside of Neoprene seals (door, window, etc) and boots (Tie rod, Ball, CV, etc) will keep the material supple for a long time.
When I sold my old 67 Ford after having it for more that 15 years, the buyer remarked that I must have just replaced all the door and trunk seal because it looked like brand new.
It really works, and it takes old seal and makes it "puff up" a little creating a better seal.
Come to think of it, I should have kept that Ford, 427 - 4 Speed -Detroit Locker 4.71....damn...LOL
Bob