Have you ever replaced the steering arm boot on a FWD vehicle?
I'm going to replace a Toyota steering arm boot for a friend (yes, I'm aware a mechanic would replace the entire arm - let's not go there please) and I have a question about the inside large steel clamp & tools.
formatting link
It's a Toyota (I'm not sure the make but maybe a Camry of the early 2000s). The friend is buying the parts at the dealer so they'll all be OEM. 45535-06030 steering boot 90080-46293 big clamp 90467-19021 small clamp
My question is about the large clamp. I don't have specialized clamp tools and like most people, I'm leery of zip ties as are others as shown here.
formatting link
I can find all sorts of specialized clamps on Amazon but I don't know _which_ is the specialized clamp I'd need for a Toyota clamp.
formatting link
formatting link
Maybe I can make do with pliers but maybe not. Maybe I can make do with a typical worm gear hose clamp but maybe not. Everything (as you know) depends on the amount of room and what it may touch as the boot itself tore for a reason (probably from bouncing against metal). (Why these boots tear is beyond me as you'd think they'd be designed to not touch anything while driving.)
Anyway, do you have advice as to what kind of clamp tools are needed?
If I have to, I'll use whatever pliers or channellocks that I have. But I'm sure there isn't much room which is the major problem I think.
I looked at a few DIY videos (but by no means all) where about half used the plastic zip ties which I think won't hold up with cold, heat & oil around.
The other half used a metal clamp, about half of which used a typical hose clamp worm gear type (which will hold up but which have sharp bouncy ends).
The rest used a steel clamp that came with the package but none (so far) showed how they tightened/crimped that steel clamp but this one vide.
formatting link
Notice he only needed to _pull_ tightly on the end to tighten that clamp!
For just pulling on a wire to close a hose clamp I might not need much room. But where do I get those pull-type hose clamps?
I wouldn't call those zip ties. To me, that's plastic. These are metal clamps.
He does it without special tools and I'm sure you can too.
I've not done steering arm boots but a long time ago I had a CV joint with a leaking boot (but no clicking yet) in a front wheel drive car, and I bought a split boot, did my best to fill it with grease, and clamped it with similar clamps. It lasted at least 2 or 3 years until I got rid of the car.
(A split boot is a mess, trying to get the grease in. Maybe I'd get better at it with practice. But the next time I bought a half-axle which is a lot simpler and not that much money. Of course that time I'd plowed into a curb, there were other broken parts, and I was happy to spend the money. The first time I was just doing maintenance.
BTW, I like the link. Didn't know (but could have assumed) that you could start a video at a certain spot. Very convenient.
You don't say how old the car is. They wear out with time.
Flexing alone is enough to war something out. That's why there is a bellows and not just something shaped like a salami. But every time the wheels turn to the side or go up or down, every pleat in the bellows bends a little bit.
BTW, this is the first guy I've seen or read who kept track of how many turns to get something off, so he could do the same number when putting it back on. I did that with a tie rod end and it seemed good enough to me, and that was a new part which could conceivably be a different length (they looked the same). He's using the same metal parts so for sure it's going to be the same. No wheel alignment needed, win-win.
I forgot to ask if you're going to have a lift, ramps, jack stands, just a jack. either way, I think you'll have enough space.
I ignored this line too. Sorry. That was my next suggestion. How could it not work? Pay some attention so you can put that gear part where it won't hit anything, but it's not that tight down there. You can tighten the worm gear with a screwdriver, an end wrench, or a socket wrench, so you can put it at almost any angle.
Interesting that the guy in the video was wearing rubber gloves. It seems they do that in every video now. Is that to save time washing one's hands at the end of the day? Anyhow, if it was good enoguh for them, I thought I would too. They gave me a whole box of gloves after my hospital stay 13 years ago, minus what they used on me, 150 gloves! Minus less than 10, I think. Of course they didn't exactly give it to me, I guess my insurance paid them for it. Can't they move the box to another room and use them for someone else? Oh, I think I know.
Anyhow, I pushed on the air intake hose to see if maybe it was cracked between pleats, the hose came off at one end, the engine died, and I realized that was the problem all along, the reason the check engine light was on, the reason I had a lean mixture.
It took 3.5 years but at least I fixed it myself and didn't have to ask anyone to do it.
If you want the right pliers, they are available, it's called an Oetiker clamp. But you can use other pliers too. I used pliers made for similar clamps that are used for lawn sprinkler clamps, I already had those. The only problem would be as you already noted, ie if you don't have clearance to get the pliers on straight. In which case the official pliers won't be of any help anyway, you'll have to find pliers with a shape that will get to it. And if you haven't done one before, they take a lot of force, bigger ones take more force. A worm gear hose clamp is an option as long as there is clearance for the screw part, which there probably would be for that application. When it's a CV joint that turns, there may not be.
Miss A, skip this part about repairing the car and go to the part on marketing****.
I wish I knew exactly what car it was.
I had a 2000 Solara, which is different from a Camry inside, but I think it's the same everywhere else. (Some places even call it a Camry Solara) That's the one I did the half-axle on. Cetainly the outside end on the passenger side was not crowded. And the inside end barely moves.
Now I have a 2005 Solara. I actually have to get under the car today or within the next month, just to replace the splash shield clips. I can do that from the front, but I'll crawl around and try to see how much space there is for the clamps. Of course, by then you'll probably have seen the car you're supposed to fix.
What do you all supposed happened to the clips that were there??? Do they just break and fall out? At least 3 are missing. Several months ago I noticed that it was rubbing on the ground for 1 or 2 seconds when I backed down a hill. But it was cold out so I waited and when I checked in the spring, both left and right splash shields were hanging down (Neither had appreciable wear, since 2 seconds times 100 times is less than 4 minutes) and both were firmly attached in front.)
Here's a video for you. I wouldn't bother you with more videos except this one says NEVER Replace Steering Rack Boots Until Watching This! So that means it must be important.
formatting link
golly he counts the number of turns too. And he uses a plastic zip tie!! When you said you didn't trust them, I thought you were using the term zip tie for the metal clamps, but now I think you were referring to plastic after all, even though your urls showed metal. I'll admit I don't think I've ever seen a plastic zip tie come lose on anything, but who can rely on plastic for gosh sakes.
I"m not at all saying this is for your car,
formatting link
it the first review relates to your early comment: "I have two Toyota Sienna's, and both of them the steering tie rod boot on the passenger side (and only passenger side) seems to biologically rotted away. I heard this is a common problem. " So I guess it doesn't have to rub.
How about that!
formatting link
including 30 clamps in 3 sizes.
**** And only $20, but for me that brings up another topic. A lot of things on the web seem low-priced or at least affordable until you look at the shipping cost. It's probably $10 on a 20 dollar tool which, unless you
*must* have it, is a big increase. And that was the genius of Amazon, to include shipping, for the most part.
But of course you only got free shipping if you spent over a certain amount. Now it's $25, but it was 35 for quite some time and maybe other amounts. So you have to find more things to buy! What an incentive. Early on I tried to find out what the shipping cost was if I was under the minimum, and I couldn't find it. They pretty much insisted they only sold to people who spent $35 or more.
I wonder who came up with these two ideas. Bezos?
I think they were
One more thing** that might have contributed to Amazon's success is that when they were only selling books, they had afaict an enormous array of books. I say that based on a couple sorts of specialty books I would normally have found only at specialty book stores. Books I'm sure Barnes and Noble and that other big chain whose name I forget, that Amazon drove out of business, wouldn't have. 10 years later though, I looked for a book like that and Amazon didn't have it either. (Maybe it was out of print, but I thought there would still be a page for it.)
**I'm not including working their employees like dogs. I've not been there and I've not seen any videos or even read any narratives and I don't know how to evaluate the statements on that. AFAICT, they don't treat their delivery drivers badly. The ones I see here go at a reasonable pace. I havent' seen them goofing off but they don't run to the doors either. They walk at the pace a healthy man walks.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.