Greetings All,

Just a little tidbit for those DIY'ers that want to replace a torn ball joint boot instead of the entire joint, upper joint especially. If your boot has torn lately and you can ensure the integrity of the joint to still be dirt and sand free then a $2 dollar boot will fix you up instead of a costly complete joint. The biggest dilemma will be how to get the multi-layer steel boot ring onto the boot without the MB special tool. Well Charles has devised his own special tool called Molley McButter spice bottle lid boot ring installer. If you take the lid off a Molley McButter spice bottle and cut the closed end off, I used a grinder for this, it will be the perfect size to slip over the boot to the upper portion where the boot clip needs to be installed. If you are scratching your head by now, but want to change your ball joint boots, you'll know what I'm talking about once you pull off the old one and try to secure the new one with the given clip to hold it in place. Just thought I'd pass in along, but hey, nothing is stopping you from spending extra dollars for the whole assembly verses the boot replacement.

Charles

__________________
"Tell me and I will listen, Teach me and I will learn, Show me and I will accomplish, Involve me and I will succeed."
'84 300SD 256,000 Gold on Brown (Mileage Award)
'86 300E 246,000 Blue on Tan

I'm almost afraid to ask, but how did you figure out Molly was your size???

Greetings,

Not sure if I'm walking into this one for a chuckle or not but here goes. The cap on her spice bottles is somewhat larger than the rest and after measuring the required diameter I needed plus the additional area for the boot portion, her cap became the logical choice. I'm not going anywhere else with this.

Charles

__________________
"Tell me and I will listen, Teach me and I will learn, Show me and I will accomplish, Involve me and I will succeed."
'84 300SD 256,000 Gold on Brown (Mileage Award)
'86 300E 246,000 Blue on Tan