Rear Drive Shaft Gaiters

[Goldstar]

Evening all,

Having successfully changed the steering rack gaiters and track rod ends, I was under the car adjusting the handbrake cable on Sunday and noticed that the drive shaft gaiters were split. No surprise there I hear you say. 2 questions arise.
1. Is is an MOT fail (I have looked at the testers manual online and it mentions CV joint gaiters but not specifically drive shaft gaiters) and
2. If I follow the ROM (47.10.01) and disconnect the drive shaft from the rear axle can I replace the gaiter without following all of the other steps to get to change it?

I have had a search through the forum but couldn't find the answers.

Thanks Paul

[StagnJag]

Hi Paul,

I don't know about MOT failure, but probably yes! Certainly worth doing as you don't want crap getting into the sliding joint.

Yes all you need to do is undo the 4 bolts where the half shaft attaches to the diff and pull the two bits apart. A bit of a faf to get them back together again sometimes but persevere and they will go back together! Current replacement boots are unfortunately rubbish so be prepared to replace them at rather too frequent intervals.

Rgds

Dave

[Goldstar]

Thanks for the reply Dave, as it seems a relatively easy job (famous last words) I will just get on and do it.

Paul

[stagmuffin]

its not an mot failure , simple to do while your at it clean and lube the inner and outer splines on the shaft be sure to remove all the old crud compacted into the end of the female section.you could even drill and fit geese nipples to the outers for future maintenance
steve

[ampotter]

Hello Paul
Replaced drive shaft gaiters about 6 weeks ago and as stated it was a fairly straight forward task. Just remember that there is a 'king' spline which you will need to align on reassembly. I did find it a little fiddly on the exhaust side.

Regards Andrew

[flying farmer]

Don't bother using the crap quality gaiters sold for the job, buy a pair of universal steering rack gaiters from a local motor factors and cut them down to size. They are made of better quality rubber as they have to stretch much further in their intended application, and can cope with the small amount of movement on the shafts with ease resulting in a much longer life
Neil

[Goldstar]

Thanks everyone, will crack on at the weekend (with uni gaiters).

Steve how do you get your goose to sit still long enough to get the nipples???

Is it ok to use a general purpose grease or do i need something fancy

[stagmuffin]

Thanks everyone, will crack on at the weekend (with uni gaiters).

Steve how do you get your goose to sit still long enough to get the nipples???

Is it ok to use a general purpose grease or do i need something fancy

chuckle .......yeah type to quick nearly three letters a minute now cant keep up with myself!! and use a good graphite geese

[pcoleman]

I believe the black molybdenum grease is recommended for this jobby

[ChasR]

On my new driveshafts I was planning to use one of the old gaitors (it is still supple and TBH feels 'thicker' than the new items).

They are doable as said with simply putting the rear of the car up in the air. I think I changed mine in around 30-50mins all in (if you take out the fact that I changed a UJ at the same time ).

AFAIK black Moly is similar and may possibly be CV grease.

[Goldstar]

Good couple of hours in the garage this afternoon saw the split boot replaced (with a steering gaiter as recommended by Neil) bit of a faff refitting but nothing a bit of swearing didn't overcome. Also put my Holley back together with new gaskets, jets and needle valves and refitted it to the car. Quick change of pump tomorrow (current Facet doesn't seem to shut off so got a new one to fit) and hopefully the Holley will now start to run properly. If not it's back to the Stroms I've been cleaning up just in case. MOT next week to see if we can get a ticket in plenty of time for Brands.

Cheers

Paul