Ball Joint Boots

[Sprint95m]

Ball joint boots?
Does anyone know of a source of high quality?

I am rebuilding the suspension on the front of my Dolomite Sprint using OE ball joints
and have managed to locate three OE boots from my spares collection but still need one
for a top joint.
Superflex sell "universal" ones but these don't come in a big enough size.
There is quite a lot of alternatives available via a Google search but I don't know what is good or bad?

 

thanks,
Ian.

[Nick Jones]

I "liberate" OE ones from scrapyards.  Even stuff 10 years old will outlast anything available aftermarket.  Is it the big balljoint swivels you mean or track rod ends?  If the former then Rover 100 Metro top swivel ones are pretty big.  I may even have one or two.  Do you have the dimensions?  Not many left in scrapyards now, but could also be the same as MGF.

[zetecspit]

5 hours ago, Sprint95m said:

Ball joint boots?
Does anyone know of a source of high quality?

I am rebuilding the suspension on the front of my Dolomite Sprint using OE ball joints
and have managed to locate three OE boots from my spares collection but still need one
for a top joint.
Superflex sell "universal" ones but these don't come in a big enough size.
There is quite a lot of alternatives available via a Google search but I don't know what is good or bad?

 

thanks,
Ian.

Ian, are the TDC ones no good? I think it was "Rarebits" Bill who reckoned the replacement boots were way better than the boots actually fitted to new balljoints etc. I did buy a selection pack from https://www.balljointboots.co.uk/ but none are a great fit for the balljoints (may be just one that is awkward though) Seem to be lasting OK, 3 years on the car so far.

I thought about poly boots but worry that they are not flexible enough for the amount of movement required. Be interesting to see how they perform, but guess testing takes a long time, many years.

[Sprint95m]

Nick, it is for a swivel joint.
The widest dimension is around 45mm.

I am not familiar with the Rover 100, but if it is of the same ilk as the Metro/Ambassador/Princess
then a boot from one of these should be fine.
If you can find one that'll be great, thanks.

 

 

Clive, I have read complaints about the TDC boots splitting but have no experience of them.
I think these sourced from a motor factors' wholesaler some years ago? The, then spares officer
worked for them.

The Superflex boots are, being thin walled, very flexible, more than the Triumph OE bottom joint boots
so I think they will be fine.

 

 

My question was really motivated by thinking it will be worth having some boots just in case.
The only failure I have to contend with recently was on a Citroen Picasso where a track rod end boot
failed at two years. As a new track rod end was available we simply replaced it. That wasn't a cheap brand,
it was Delphi.
On that same car, a wheel cylinder failed after a couple of years as well. These were about £35 each I think.
About 4 or 5K miles.

 

 

thanks,
Ian.
 

[Sprint95m]

I should have mentioned earlier,
I am aware of the Bulgarian business that makes seemingly indestructable boots out of polyurethane
but they only do car sizes I believe.

The Dolomite upper joints are so big they are in the HGV class.

 

 

Ian.