Oh how cute! Dem Aussies! I'll spread the word. This is useful item.
Thank you.

 

This is very cool, did you have to re-grease the joints before putting the boot on? Also did it throw off your alignment?

Only thing I don't like are the zip ties, wish it came with metal clamps instead like OEM.

 

This sure makes the job easy though its full rubber vs neoprene. Saves time. How much did the boot cost?

 

don't worry about the zip ties. that's all i use now on steering rod boots and cv joint boots too. don't like messing around with the metal bands and the zip ties last as long as the boot/joint anyway. ymmv.

i saw that boot when i was looking to replace mine recently but i just removed the ball joint by marking the joint, nut, and rod and then counting the turns. worked fine.

thanks for showing us it actually works.
tony

 

Boot all shipped was 52. I think it was 27 for a pair of boots and 25 for the shipping. Wish they would get on amazon prime... I figured the cost of a standard boot plus alignment was more than that.

I didn't go the route of marking the nut, which like you said would save an alignment, since, as you can see in the pictures, many midwestern salty winters on a non garaged car have taken their toll. Didn't think I could get that nut to even budge. Far easier to rail on the castle nut with the impact for me at least.

 

Yikes, why is your boot so torn up so bad? It's like some animal had some party down there.


I'm curious how well this works out. My only concern is with the softness of the boot, but sometimes softer is good. I've seen replacement rack boot 'crack' on the ends because it's so hard (and requires entire tie rod end to come off for it to slide).

It is pricey, but beats having to snap off a nut and get an alignment + downtime.

 

Sorry for the necropost, but I figured I'd add a bit of info to this instead of creating an entirely new thread after having bought a rakboot kit myself. Also so anyone else using the search function can come across this too.

If you don't want to fork out the cash for the whole rakboot kit, you can just use a freezer bag to cover the tie rod end then coat that in engine oil/lithium grease. I used a spray can of white lithium grease which got things nice and slippery. Also sprayed some inside the boot to get it to slide over easier.

It's very, very important that when coating the outside of the raksok/freezer bag and inside of the boot to not get any on the outside, otherwise you will have a miserable time trying to get it on since you no longer have the grip needed to force the thing on. Also feel free to manhandle the rakboot - PTW advertises it as "guaranteed not to tear" and from my experience trying to force it on, it stretched further than I'd ever think it could possibly stretch. I think it's made of neoprene which is why though.

On my first attempt, in frustration I cut off a bit of the outer end of the boot because I couldn't pull it over the tie rod end. Afterwards I watched a video of how it was done and got pissed at myself because I could've just rotated the end upside down (the photos in OP's post also show this but I wasn't paying attention at the time) to get much better leverage to force the boot over the end. 2nd attempt was a resounding success. Lots of effort required but once you get the narrow end over the end joint it's a fairly easy home stretch. The next bit was trying to get the boot over the spring hose clamp, I used a pair of needle nosed pliers to stretch the boot enough to get it over the bits of the clamp sticking out. Then I used the cable tie to tighten down the inner end of the boot, and the existing spring clamp to tie the outer end. Before I slipped the boot into its final resting place I sprayed the inner joint with the can of lithium grease from before, made sure to soak every shiny looking surface then rotated the ball joint a couple times to help get the grease inside.

I'd say the hardest or most annoying parts of this DIY would be hammering the tie rod end to loosen it (try to hammer the joint the end slips into, rather than the tie rod end itself, but if you have to, make sure the castle nut is flush with the stud if you want to hammer on it), slipping the boot over the bend, then getting it over the spring hose clamp if there is one. Also be careful if you stick your head in the wheel well while hammering away - I had my head inside the wheel well when I was hammering and when I stopped that's when I realised my left ear was temporarily deaf because it basically became an echo chamber and the impacts were loud enough to make me deaf for a minute. Wear hearing protection whenever using a rattle gun or hammering something in confined spaces, sounds ridiculous but you'll thank yourself in a decade or two when your hearing is still intact.