G'day All,

I noticed this today and I wasn't a happy bunny,

I installed new front suspension components one year ago. I adjusted the suspension and drove around the block only to find oil peeing from the engine exhaust manifold - so since then I've been rebuilding the engine - and then I got bored and I've since stripped the car down to almost nothing and started painting... the point of this babble?

I've done zero miles on these components and look at the state of the rubber boots on these ball joints now



The boots are all cracked.

Perhaps one winter under a car under a tarpaulin will do that to rubber.

Anyway - such is life.

Does anyone have any ways to preserve these rubber components?

Does anyone know of a manufacturer that makes the Rolls Royce of rubber boots? What's the best replacement?

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Perhaps someone sold you some old stock that had been sitting around for years?

__________________


Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

303 Aerospace Protectant is about the best UV protection you can get BUT I wonder how much UV damage there could be under the car under a tarp?

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1999 Mercedes E300TD daily driver sold at 238K miles 106K miles were mine, rust worm got it :-(
2006 Mercedes CDI new daily driver! 56,000 miles May 2016 now 85,625 Apr 2018 and Apr 2019 101,000 miles Apr 2020 109,875. March 2024 135,250, Dec 2024 145,000 miles

Febi part or China-alike?

In 18 months of use, one tie rod end was wiggly and when touched with tool to inspect, the rubber boot ripped. Like it was soft.

Inferior materials man! Nothin' else but.

Lemforders went back on. I hope these last, the were 2x the price I paid for that other shtuff.

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Cheers!
Scott McPhee

1987 300D

I was told that silicone spray keeps rubber soft. I used to spray it on my 240D's CV boots back in the day and they held up without further tearing. I also bought a 240D that had a fuel leak over the driver's side boot and that boot looked like new. I'm not sure if you want to soak all those rubber parts in diesel though.

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'81 300SD

0003300485 Tie rod and Drag link boot kit
0003300485 Tie rod and Drag link boot kit





.

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ASE Master Mechanic
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Technical Quality Auditor.
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1985 300SD
1983 300D
2003 Volvo V70

https://www.boldegoist.com/

Be careful, that dude from Febi is watching our forum now. He's probably making sure your parts counter gets all of the 2nds and rejects...

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'85 300TD "Puff The Magic Wagon" - Rolling Resto
'19 Mazda CX-9 Signature - Wife's sled
'21 Morgan 3-Wheeler P101 Edition
'95 E300d - SOLD
'84 300TD "Brown Betty" - Miss this one
'81 240D "China Baby" - Farm grocery getter

My last fall installed tie-rod boots are cracking, and they are Febi's, too. I should have used the silicone on them.

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1985 300D-189k The 'UD', Ivory and Pinkamino
1979 300D-211k Dark Gray, Parchment
A 1980 Harley-~166k and
A 1994 Ford diesel pickup-349k and
A 1990 gasser Volvo wagon-145k

As far as I know, silicone keeps rubber soft by breaking it down. It looks nice and shiny right until it falls apart - in half the time untreated stuff would. That 303 stuff is excellent, but they know it and charge accordingly. My body shop owning buddy likes 3M's treatment, and says Meguiar's is good too. Leave the silicone to the plastic surgeons!

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'82 300SD - Somewhere over 220k - Becoming reliable...

Maybe Febi do make contraceptives Army !!
That would be why their rubber boots are only good for a single use !!

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Do you have a link to the 303 stuff. My lower ball joints and CV boots look good, and I'd like to keep them that way for as long as possible.

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'81 300SD

Thanks for the reactions folks

The link for the 303 stuff is here:-

http://www.303products.com/

I'm still trying to source it over here.

So the general opinion is that Febi boots are junk...

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I'll bet installing & using single use Febis isn't nearly as much fun as other single use products.

Regardless, Keeping a car under a tarp is worse than letting it sit out in the weather. The tarp traps moisture. I learned the hard way on a 75MGB that I bought new.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I tend to only get those types of parts at the dealer since the online places don't seem to stock the quality stuff for the most part anymore.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I dunno, if you mean ebay seller as "online" I agree with you. More total crap coming out of that culture than elsewhere online. These are the shovels moving heaps full of China made pure crap parts, real off-off-brand names... like "Uro". Shiny chrome grill that shows rust after two rainfalls. Tie rods ends worn in 18 months. Stuff like that...

But there are also lots of "online" parts sourcing places using internet orders as a major or sole outlet channel, and I've had much better luck with these places actually telling, selling, and supplying the brand name parts I want. Most notably sourced by WorldPac distribution coast to coast. They all tap into the same catalogs and parts. These sellers have a brand image / name / reputation they are trying to uphold and have been in the business for years.

You might get lucky on ebay too, but I've really tightened down my criteria for what I'll take from ebay sources. And if you can regularly find that new part on ebay for half the cost of what the majority of online sellers are quoting, then I've learned to avoid the crap part on ebay and pay the right amount elsewhere, even if it's "twice the price" (of garbage).

__________________
Cheers!
Scott McPhee

1987 300D