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steering rack gaiter easy fitting

John M

Enthusiast
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87
Location
Yorkshire
I am putting the car together again after freeing the clutch release shaft. I noticed one of the gaiters had a split so decided to replace them both. Now there is a small hole in one end of the gaiter and it has to fit over a much larger diameter so I made the following tapered plug to help.

IMG_20180611_152238.jpg

It is made from a piece of 18mm diameter steel turned down to 12 mm at one end and a taper at the other. As you can see in the next photo it works a treat. Remove the ball joint and slip the former into the end and the gaiter slides up the taper and onto the arm. Just thought I would mention it in case you need to replace a gaiter and know of someone with a lathe.

IMG_20180611_152225.jpg
 
I bought a pair of driveshaft gaiters off eBay recently - not fitted them yet but they came supplied with a plastic cone each to ease the installation.
 
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I can report that the outer driveshaft gaiters are very easy to fit with the help of the plastic cones and liberal amounts of grease.

I'm now making rapid progress towards an MOT, having replaced front ball joints, track rod ends, steering rack gaiters, tie rod bushes, anti-roll bar outer bushes, brake hoses and shock absorbers, plus a differential oil seal.

But I have a driveshaft query - I only wanted to replace the gaiters because they looked tired, not that there were any leaks. The near side one which I tackled first just needed the grease topped up and repacked. The offside one is different - it was oil-filled and my first thought is just to pack the joint with grease before tying the gaiter. Does anyone think otherwise?
 
A word to the wise about fitting driveshaft gaiters with a cone. If you buy cone & gaiters as a kit, you'll be OK. Don't do what I did, which is buy an original Renault gaiter, the try & fit it using a cone. Unless of course you want to give yourself a hernia...The gaiters for cone fitment are made of a much more pliable material with enough give to expand over the cone. The La Regie ones aren't....
 
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