Date:         Sun, 1 Dec 2013 03:39:56 -0800
Reply-To:     Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      steering boot replacement
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

For what appeared to be a daunting job, this turned out to be fairly quick and easy.  The '87 Westy failed state inspection last Friday for a torn steering rack boot and I have 14 days to fix it and get reinspected for no further fee.   Ordered the part (got two, just in case) from Van Cafe and new jackstands and yesterday tackled the job in the HEATED garage.

At first glance it looked like one of those jobs where "you can't get there from here," needing to get a sleeve onto some devilishly-anchored-at-each-end thing, but searching on Samba turned up a thread with a link to one of Alistair's blog posts with pix.  Great!  Removed the tie rod end from the steering upright, pulled off the old part and installed the new.

One other post in that thread suggested loosening the steering rack for better access to the back edge for the boot installation but I found that a metal bicycle tire lever allowed me to pry the big end of the boot into place with only minor cussing and wrestling, and it also got the small end onto the rubber grommet.  New zip ties and we're all set for reinspection at the tiki dealership.

The steering rack itself leaks and will require rebuild or replacement.  I had removed the power steering belt to prevent damage to pump and/or rack and was hoping to get by like this for a while but inspection took us down.  Rack still requires service, but I'm applying the $300 I saved on the dealer's repair estimate for the boot-only replacement ($30 part + $300 labor) to the new rack instead.

Thanks for the tip, Alistair.

Stephen