It's an elasticity issue. Those folds "fold" every revolution, isn't that something like 800,000 times every 1000 miles? It takes a top quality rubber to hold up to this constant flexing.
Stuart
From: kenwilfy@gmail.com [mailto:kenwilfy@gmail.com] On Behalf Of kenneth wilford (Van-Again) Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 11:35 AM To: Stuart MacMillan Cc: Vanagon List Subject: Re: Cv boots cracking
We used to be able to get the GKN/Lobro aftermarket boots for the rears and when we did, you could look around the edge and see the VW/Audi logo that was just under the edge of the metal base of the boot. When I did this occasionally I would get someone who had a similar problem as Craig. They would tell me that they installed the boots and they only lasted a couple of years. Then other folks would never really have an issue with them. I am not sure if there is an installation issue that could cause the boots to prematurely fail? I wouldn't think they would dry rot and crack unless the rubber itself had just failed because of the quality of it, but I am not a rubber expert. Any one have an idea of why this would happen to some and not happen to others? Right now we have either Rein (which I haven't been getting any complaint on) or Meyle. Of the two I would rather use the Rein brand as they seem to be a higher quality brand and are made in Italy. The Meyle brand is usually made in China or India.
Ken Wilford John 3:16 www.vanagain.com
On Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 12:56 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote: The OEM dealer boots are EDPM rubber (at least they used to be) and worth the money. My '84's boots were still good when I sold it in 2006 after 200k miles, and I replace the joints once (not the boots). Lucky for me, my "new" '85 still has the original boots and they are fine after 145K. I don't know what some of the aftermarket boots are made of, and there is probably no way to tell for sure. It's too bad no one sells a split boot anymore, at least with those you can replace them easily. You might call these guys to see if they have anything though: http://www.dormanproducts.com/c-255-cv-joint-boot-kits-solvent-welded-split- boot.aspx Or look for used OEM boots! Stuart
-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Craig Cowan Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 8:30 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Cv boots cracking Because it doesn't need to be serviced at this interval! I just rebuilt some with a friend that were original to the bus and have never been serviced ( he's the original owner). 140,000 miles and 26 years of use, and the boots we took off were fine! So why do mine suck? -craig |
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