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Was helping peecook today on his M109 shop van, he is getting ready for the ECC and the trip to Aberdeen. One of the things that was on the list of things "to do" was to replace the zippered front knuckle boots on his truck.
I have never in my MV owning life had a more pain in the a$$ job than that task! I removed the existing ripped boots okay, but getting them on was another matter. The smaller inner clamp was a pain to put on, but I managed that. The outer one is almost impossible, and I gave up, to return to the task when I have more patience and perhaps a couple tips you all may have. Trying to put the outer clamp on, my hands are greasy, the clamps and boot are greasy, and I'm trying to reach around the knuckle and the axle housing to hold the clamp in the "groove" and as I move around the groove, the clamp keeps slipping out of its position. I need 14 hands to hold it in position while I tighten the screw on the clamp!
Is there a better way to do this?
On the way home, I thought about a bunch of small Vise-Grips or C-clamps holding the outer clamp in place around the circumference of the knuckle, so that I could tighten the clamp with the screwdriver, but not sure if that is realistic...
Oh, I did a search on this topic - I found tips for the solid, non-zippered boot, but not the zippered one. I am not disassembling the entire hub to get this on.
I have never in my MV owning life had a more pain in the a$$ job than that task! I removed the existing ripped boots okay, but getting them on was another matter. The smaller inner clamp was a pain to put on, but I managed that. The outer one is almost impossible, and I gave up, to return to the task when I have more patience and perhaps a couple tips you all may have. Trying to put the outer clamp on, my hands are greasy, the clamps and boot are greasy, and I'm trying to reach around the knuckle and the axle housing to hold the clamp in the "groove" and as I move around the groove, the clamp keeps slipping out of its position. I need 14 hands to hold it in position while I tighten the screw on the clamp!
Is there a better way to do this?
On the way home, I thought about a bunch of small Vise-Grips or C-clamps holding the outer clamp in place around the circumference of the knuckle, so that I could tighten the clamp with the screwdriver, but not sure if that is realistic...
Oh, I did a search on this topic - I found tips for the solid, non-zippered boot, but not the zippered one. I am not disassembling the entire hub to get this on.