Dear Vanagoneers!

        I searched the vanagon site= while reading how to replace a ball joint due to a cracked boot and  c= ame across some info about self Vulkenizing tape.  (see below) I was un= able to find out where you get it, what members experience with it was, or w= hat its brand name is?? (All the posters have vacated their email addresses,= I hope not due to the tape!)
  If anybody knows anything more about it I'd love to hear from y= ou,  


Thanks,


- Peter  
'87 Syncro 84K
Honda CBR 600  23K
Reply to:  printstud@bigfoot.com

Date:    &nbs= p;    Thu, 21 Nov 96 20:05:10 EST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <= ;vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jag@cs.rochester.edu
Subject:      Save your ball joints!


Do you have an early 80's Vanagon, or similar vintage VW?  = VW uses
"permanently lubricated" joints in the suspension on the late mod= el
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 us= ually
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"(*).  In= stead 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 an= d
trying to rock the wheel in all directions. Is there a better way to
do this?


/Martin and '82 diesel westy
--
Martin Jagersand          &nbs= p;      email: jag@cs.rochester.edu
Computer Science Department         = ;    jag@cs.chalmers.se
University of Rochester         &nb= sp;Fax:   (716) 461-2018
Rochester, NY 14627-0226         WW= W: http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jag/