Ball joint dust boot - is it on there?

[RedRider]

Started re-assembling my front suspension today. I removed the dust boot and pressed the lower BJ in, no problem:

Slid the boot back on but it isn't as snug on as the other. comparing with the other new one, they're both slid down fairly close:

The other dust cap is on tight, no so much for the installed one; just a little loose. So is it just a matter of pushing it on there a little harder to set? I haven't had this much trouble slippin on rubber since college.

[RedRider]

Bump. Maybe I can squeeze some Gorilla glue around the bottom to secure the boot down.

[Zeroman]

I wouldn't glue it on.

The dust boots are not designed to be closed. When you grease up the joint the old grease will push out the edges.

I talked to customer service at MOOG about a pin hole in the boot of a new tie rod end, and was told the dust boots were just that....dust boots. He said a pin hole would be no problem as the boot only holds in the grease, but not under pressure. He just reminded me to grease the components regularly.

[RedRider]

Originally Posted by Zeroman

The dust boots are not designed to be closed. When you grease up the joint the old grease will push out the edges.

Good point.

So I worked on this a little more last night, trying to push the boot on far enough that it wasn't loose on the ball joint. What finally worked was compressing the top portion and creating somewhat of a "suction" that held the rubber onto the lower part of the ball joint. Seems to be snug now.

[abig84]

Originally Posted by RedRider

Good point.

So I worked on this a little more last night, trying to push the boot on far enough that it wasn't loose on the ball joint. What finally worked was compressing the top portion and creating somewhat of a "suction" that held the rubber onto the lower part of the ball joint. Seems to be snug now.

some of them are so bad ive actually had to use the ball joint press to push on the boot as they have like a metal ring installed in the bottom of them that have to snap on. really hard to do without damaging the rubber

[swissarmychainsaw]

I re-did mine with Moog and good quality parts.
Boots cracked after one year.

I would not sweat it too much.