Stretchy CV Gaiters/Boots
Discussion
Anyone had any experience of these?
I need to replace 2 gaiters/boots on the driverside (both the inner and outer).
My mate has the stretchy-tool at his garage and offered to help me, using it, and stretchy-gaiters.
Basically, cut to the chase, are they crap?
Will the fall to bits quickly etc?
It's for my TVR, and I'd hate to use bad quality parts on it etc.
I'm happy to buy the real deal, I see racetech do them fairly cheaply.
It's just these stretchy ones look super easy to fit - www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEKY0uFlBpc
Cheers,
Malc
I need to replace 2 gaiters/boots on the driverside (both the inner and outer).
My mate has the stretchy-tool at his garage and offered to help me, using it, and stretchy-gaiters.
Basically, cut to the chase, are they crap?
Will the fall to bits quickly etc?
It's for my TVR, and I'd hate to use bad quality parts on it etc.
I'm happy to buy the real deal, I see racetech do them fairly cheaply.
It's just these stretchy ones look super easy to fit - www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEKY0uFlBpc
Cheers,
Malc
Consider that if they were any good every manufacturer would sell them...
They are OK for cars that you don't care about too much. They are a One Size Fits All which isn't going to be perfect in any case. But I wouldn't put them on anything half decent. The one advantage is you don't have to disassemble anything. But once you've got the shaft off, you're 80% of the way there anyway so it's a false economy IMO. Particularly given the price of normal items
They are OK for cars that you don't care about too much. They are a One Size Fits All which isn't going to be perfect in any case. But I wouldn't put them on anything half decent. The one advantage is you don't have to disassemble anything. But once you've got the shaft off, you're 80% of the way there anyway so it's a false economy IMO. Particularly given the price of normal items
Mecatech ones are good. Chances are they'll last longer than most OEM or pattern ones you'll put on.
But if you're doing an inner and outer on the same driveshaft, I'd take it you're taking the shaft out, and therefore, there's no real advantage to using the stretchy ones. Ones take 2 mintes to dissasemble the shaft once it's out.
But if you're doing an inner and outer on the same driveshaft, I'd take it you're taking the shaft out, and therefore, there's no real advantage to using the stretchy ones. Ones take 2 mintes to dissasemble the shaft once it's out.
Take that shaft off and it properly. You'll be glad in the end. I remember about 5 or 6 years ago trying to use a stretchy thing on a particularly cold February morning, a mate also recommended putting the gaiter in hot water to heat it up a bit to help stretch it. Combine that with frozen hands and it just didnt work. Shocking idea iead really.
Trust me, you'll be glad you did it properly. And'll be in a better position to inspect the condition of the shaft too.
Trust me, you'll be glad you did it properly. And'll be in a better position to inspect the condition of the shaft too.
If only real life was like that video. There was no smashed fingers, no crow bars, no massive hammers and no spending an hour in the pissing rain trying to lever out a destroyed balljoint and accidently yanking the sodding shaft out of the gearbox and miserably watching all the box oil pour away.
Slightly more on topic.. Every car I've ever owned seems to eat a CV joint at some point. Every time I've just replaced the boot, re-packed it and hoped for the best it hasn't worked and the joint just takes longer to die. Every time I've ended up just replacing the whole shaft because it's a lot less hassle and makes more sense.
Slightly more on topic.. Every car I've ever owned seems to eat a CV joint at some point. Every time I've just replaced the boot, re-packed it and hoped for the best it hasn't worked and the joint just takes longer to die. Every time I've ended up just replacing the whole shaft because it's a lot less hassle and makes more sense.
Edited by StoatInACoat on Friday 27th January 23:34
Nothing wrong with the decent ones at all.
Unless your current ones have split so much that most of the grease has come out then it's likely that there is some road dirt inside the cv joint so it would need disassembling to clean it properly.
They are not one size fits all as suggested above, you need to get ones specific to the application so they fit properly.
Unless your current ones have split so much that most of the grease has come out then it's likely that there is some road dirt inside the cv joint so it would need disassembling to clean it properly.
They are not one size fits all as suggested above, you need to get ones specific to the application so they fit properly.
Nothing wrong with the decent ones at all.
Unless your current ones have split so much that most of the grease has come out then it's likely that there is some road dirt inside the cv joint so it would need disassembling to clean it properly.
They are not one size fits all as suggested above, you need to get ones specific to the application so they fit properly.
Unless your current ones have split so much that most of the grease has come out then it's likely that there is some road dirt inside the cv joint so it would need disassembling to clean it properly.
They are not one size fits all as suggested above, you need to get ones specific to the application so they fit properly.
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