Date:         Tue, 26 Nov 1996 12:45:52 -0500 (EST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Raistrick <xi8940@freenet.tlh.fl.us>
Subject:      Re: Save your ball joints!



hey..i checked up on this self curing rubber tape..i found it at a local 
rubber products supply house..<here in KC..forgot the name..>

Its in rolls, 1 inch widde, by 55 ft long. and costs ~60$'s a role..

now, i'd be willing to split the roll, and price with other KC area list 
members who also need to renew, or rebuild their boots..just let me know..

unless there is a cheaper source? 


.....david

--
!...........................
                            The not so Keen one.............................!
  			http://www.armory.com/~y21cvb 
ex'74 Super 	        Links to a few pics of my VW's
ex '68 Beetle
    '75 Retired Westy-Canadian Model, Cody
'69 Westy-Itchigo				     xi8940@freenet.tlh.fl.us
<Pic's Coming Soon!>




On Thu, 21 Nov 1996 jag@cs.rochester.edu wrote:

> Do you have an early 80's Vanagon, or similar vintage VW?  VW uses
> "permanently lubricated" joints in the suspension on the late model
> busses. Grease is kept in and dirt kept out by a flexible rubber
> boot. This works well, saving you (or your mechanic) from having to
> "lube", but only for a while. After 10 years or so, the rubber usually
> cracks, and the previously sealed joint is now exposed to the
> elements. The Bentley manual says: replace ball joint!
> 
> I noticed this summer that the rubber boots on my ball joints were
> getting brittle and one of them had cracked. However the joints
> themselves were still ok, and the suspension "tight"(*).  Instead of
> replacing the joints per Bentley, I thought about other solutions:
> 
> Replacing the boot: about as difficult as replacing the joint, since
> the joint has to be taken out to slip a new boot over it.
> 
> "Renew" the boot: Well how can you do that? Self vulcanizing (or self
> curing) rubber tape is a product, which much like a inner tube rubber
> patch chemically bonds to itself and other rubber. The tape however is
> much thinner and elastic than even racing bicycle tube patches.
> 
> To apply the tape on the old boots I first thoroughly cleaned
> everything and let it dry. Then I applied a thin coat of vulcanizing
> solution (as found in tire repair kits) to the old boot. The tape
> cures to itself without any extra solution, but the old boots had a
> dry and cracked surface, which needed to be softened to make the tape
> stick. I waited a minute or two for the solution to work, and then
> applied a thin layer (two overlapping turns) of tape stretched to
> about half its original thickness.
> 
> Before sealing the one cracked boot I also injected a little new
> grease through the crack.
> 
> When I inspected the joints 6 month later (this weekend) I found that
> the repaired boots still look fine, and were as flexible as when I
> first put the tape on.
> 
> (*) I checked the front end for "tightness" by lifting the bus and
> trying to rock the wheel in all directions. Is there a better way to
> do this?
> 
> /Martin and '82 diesel westy
> --
> Martin Jagersand                 email: jag@cs.rochester.edu
> Computer Science Department             jag@cs.chalmers.se
> University of Rochester          Fax:   (716) 461-2018
> Rochester, NY 14627-0226         WWW: http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jag/
>