• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

TR6 TR6 Steering Rack boots

Share this page

B

bunzil

Jedi Trainee
Country flag
Offline
Can someone tell me how to stretch the drivers side steering rack sufficient to get it on the rack? The boot is say 1 1/2" in diameter, and the rack 2". With the rack off the car this would probably not be a problem. But how to do it with the rack mounted?

One site recommended using a strip of plastic from a milk jug to funnel the boot over the rack. I tried this, but the plastic just worked its way into the boot. Plus I don't really think there is sufficient room for this method.

Someone out these must have mastered this problem????
 
TR6 Steering Rack boots - Help!!

Sorry, my previous message was a bit confusing - I need to get the boot over the rack on the drivers side.

Certainly one of you has conquered this seemingly simple problem....it's a greasy mess, with limited space.
 
Sounds a lot like the TR4 boot, here is my technique...

As I recall the drivers side in particular was a stretch. I warmed it a bit (hot water or mild heat gun) then stretched it over something a couple of sizes larger than the fitting on the rack. Let it sit that way awhile.

Then I pulled it off that and stretched over the open end of a plastic lid from an ordinary can of spray paint. Once on that lid a half-inch or so I cut the lid around its circumference so I was left with just a half inch wide ring of plastic holding the big end of the boot in a stretched position. This was big enough to slip over the end of the rack... then I pull that plastic ring out and cut it to get it off... Walla!... leaving the boot on the rack housing.

The passengers side was much easier -- a bit of vaseline to lube it and it stretched right over.

I tossed those cheesy zip ties they give you with the boot kit and fixed them with wire and wire clamps like Coventry intended.

There's probably an easier way -- but this is what worked for me.
 
Two Guys in a Garage program was on this morning with a new (new to me anyway) device that stretches boots over CV joints and rack ends. They used a brand of boot called “Flex” for the boots as they allow enough stretch to go over things like tire rod ends and allow the boot to go all the way to the rack with out taking off the tire rod. I think the key is to have a boot that will endure the stretch with out splitting and neck back down to a good fit over the rod or tube. With out the tool, you will have to finesse the boot until you get the bottle top to work for you. Use a lube to help slide the boot over the bottle top. Another tip was to make sure the clamping areas for the boot are clean and free from lube when you finally get to clamping the boot down. Good luck.
 
I just did these Friday night. What a pain in the blankity blank! It took me a good half hour of grumbling and scraping my arm up to finally get that boot over the rack.
I streached the inner hole by hand, and finally had to hold the back side with a pair of duckbill pliars while I ran my finger around pulling the boot over the rack. It worked, but I don't want to do it again for a while. The worst part is, you're trying to get a good grip, and your hands are getting progressivily more and more covered in grease.
Best of luck.
I'll be following this thread to see if anyone has a slick trick.
 
Mark or count the number of threads from the lock nut on the tie rod end jam nut to the inner tie rod. Take off the tie rod end. Slip the boot right on as it was intended to be installed. Grease and clamp it with good clamps. Reinstall the tie rod end to the marked position. In my experience, even if you are off a thread either way, it won't affect your toe enough to notice. I've done this a couple of times on a couple of cars and taken them to a professional to get them aligned afterwards and the alignment checked out perfect as it was.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Mark or count the number of threads from the lock nut on the tie rod end jam nut to the inner tie rod...

[/ QUOTE ]

I always clean it up then use a stripe of white paint on the threads and one flat of the locknut. Then take a digital pic of the result. Either way, saves time if you can reinstall to the exact spot.

I think the challenge of the boot is getting the big (not big enough) end over the rack housing.
 
Back
Top