Front linkage mud protection

[Aidan]

whilst working on my gear shift linkage this afternoon I pulled off the front mud protection, the rubber joining piece held by 2 jubilees, the 40mm domestic water waste pipe and the remains of the rubber boot and cable tie, and found an inch of mud drying out in there.
I knew the boot had split where it was cable tied to the pipe, obviously some of wales got in. I replaced the boot five years ago with a good used one and de rusted the shaft and painted it
The rubber boot is now obsolete from VW and not available from classic either, and is a syncro specific bit

so I got a universal power steering rack gaiter kit from the local motor factors, 2 boots, trimmable and 4 cable ties, just over £6, and trimmed one end for 40mm and one for 20mm and fitted it instead of the whole vw nonsense, much neater solution, no drag problem and water and mud proof, should keep the new bush and it's lube clean for many years to come. I can't see why VW/ Steyr didn't do this in the first place they must have had access to a whole array of steering rack gaiters and the like but instead went to town with three bits and three fitting parts, weird.

I took a piccie but it was going dark so hard to see what I was doing, will get some in the morning.

[jester1467]

Sounds better to me.

Simple and uncomplicated

Sharon would say like attracts like

Seriously though would love to see the pics, dont think i`ve got anything at all on mine!

Ady

[Simon Baxter]

I have a load of steering rack gaitors at work that I "recieved" that I don't want to sell as they don't suit the rubber grommet thing on the T3's.
Maybe some use, they didn't cost much and they cant really be used for rack boots.
I'll take a picture of them and see if they are any use before anyone shells out any money, no use to me, would probably end up in the bin.

[Aidan]

this thread is no use without pictures

so the original VW/Steyr protection for the front linkage bush looks like this, made up of big thick rubber pipe, two jubilees, 37cm of 40mm plastic waste pipe and a unique little rubber boot


the boot split

and there was an ingress of mud and water, the bush was ok, but there was some wear and contamination of the bush lube

so I fitted steering rack boot instead, difficult to see clearly, the top bit is prop bar, pipes at bottom clipped to chassis, fits on right to the front bush tube and at the left is the shiney new linkage

[syncrosimon]

Awesome, that boot has gone on mine. Another job on the list and a great bit of lateral thinking.

[taigagreen]

Thanks Aidan

[syncropaddy]

Are we talking 251 711 184 c that fits onto 251 711 894 a .....?

[toomanytoys]

My original rubber boot thingy is bowloxd too.. needs sorting...

[Aidan]

Are we talking 251 711 184 c that fits onto 251 711 894 a .....?

oh yes

[Ray]

No boot at all on mine. Another job!

[jebiga41]

so are you just using the gaiter on its own aidan surely the wavin pipe must offer some protection from rocks and the like ???

[Aidan]

it's above the prop protection bars against the underside of the floor better protected almost than the pipes and wiring loom next to it I think it'll be fine, any problems I'll report back