Who makes the best hub boot?

[clinto]

Clinto- where are those boots from? They look more like they are 5 YEARS old! That's bad for only 5 months.

Saturn.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?9728-2-month-old-split-axle-boots

But, keep in mind that most of this stuff comes from one place and there are 50 people and businesses selling it. So getting it from White Owl is likely to be the same as getting it from Memphis.

I've done a ton of zipper boots and never found one worth a crap.

 

[rustystud]

I would be willing to bet that what a lot of people think are ripped boots, cut open from debris offroad are actually splits in the rubber from it decaying from the grease.

These boot pictures are a set of boots 5 months after installation. They had come into contact with nothing but grease. No brake cleaner, degreaser, etc. A month later they had linear holes in them similar to rips that were big enough to get 3-5 fingers in.

They literally fell off the truck in way less than a year.

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In all my years, I have never seen a "canvas" front axle boot on a deuce or any 5 ton. I've seen trucks that have been in junkyards since the 1960's that had rubber boots on them.

Did a canvas boot exist at some point? Like canvas as in what old school cargo covers were made out of, pre-vinyl?

My old M135 had some kind of rubberized canvas boots that lasted until I sold the truck. Maybe they where not original military ?

 

[rmgill]

I running some newish since last year 2013 green zipper less silicone boots. I'll check tomorrow and see if they're still good. I had them on before the 2013 Ga rally. They were used at the rally and the truck went through snow and ice that winter.

 

[brianp454]

My buddy installed these on our strucks last Summer and have no issues:

http://www.eriksmilitarysurplus.com/fraxboblsiru.html

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

I'm putting the clamps at the 12 o clock position. You can see I have a slit in the bottom.

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Sounds like I need to try a set from Erik's.

 

[welldigger]

The silicone boots resist grease and dry rotting fairly well. However, they will rip because it's Tuesday.

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

Time to buy!

Any hot new tips?

 

[Valence]

This thread makes me just a little ill. Mixed reviews for the silicon boots - I purchased from Erik's Military Surplus. I just finished putting them on and getting the front end buttoned back up.

It was my first time doing any such servicing so it took me MANY, MANY hours. I would not like to do it again so soon. I guess I'd be faster the next time... But I sure do go though a lot of shop towels dealing with the grease.

 

[FloridaAKM]

I am looking @ replacing boots due to what I see as an oil seal failure coming back from the Mt Dora, FL. MV meet a few weeks ago. The truck has original zippered boots from WRAFB early last year. This info posted does not make me want to tear into the front axels to replace the seals, much less the boots. The leak is covering the RF wheel with oil, but it is not dripping out of the boot. The truck did not come with a slobber tube as it has been MIA from the purchase, so I am wondering if the oil leak is misdiagnosed. Front pumpkin is not losing oil, engine is...........

 

[icecreamman]

Idea

@M1028, here's a pic of my zippered boots and my debris guard is mounted 90 degrees from your mounting. Can anyone get me one of these military rubber coated canvas like zippered boots NOS?

All I need is one. My truck is an '87 rebuild with 7500 miles and are still intact. Everything else leaks but the boots are dry.

The pic needs to be rotated 90 degrees with the guard and zipper pointed towards the front of the truck. Point the left side of your monitor towards the floor for proper viewing

Dave

 

[icecreamman]

To add, I need one original to be duplicated. Mine are still there and are from the '87 rebuild and dry.

 

[clinto]

To add, I need one original to be duplicated. Mine are still there and are from the '87 rebuild and dry.

How do you know the boots on your truck are 25+ years old? Do they have a date code on them?

 

[Clay James]

I put green silicone boots on my M35A2C in Dec. 2011. They got a small tear on the bottom of each one within a few months. They didn't come into contact with anything since I didn't offoad with it. They're still there and there's no dry rot. In 2013 I put on the same kind of green silicone boots on my 109 and they're still in good shape with no tears. They must have been the improved design ones.

 

[MikeON]

I bought some black zipperless boots from Boyce in 2010, installed them in December 2012. They were advertised to be silicone. Yesterday I found a big puddle of gear oil under the driver side steering knuckle, and a big tear in the bottom of the boot. Other surface cracks were visible. The truck has only been driven 330 miles since this boot was installed. Nothing hit the boot that could have punctured it. The zippered boots I installed previously only lasted 1-2 years.
If the silicone zipperless boots are no better, may as well use zipper boots and replace them every year.

 

[MikeON]

Well, I just ordered a pair of black silicone zipperless boots from Ouverson for $37.50 each. They offer rubber boots for $27.50. I would have gone to zipper boots and figure on replacing them occasionally, but since my truck leaked gear oil out the decayed boot, I suspect an axle seal problem that will require disassembly anyway. I will be replacing zipperless boots that were supposed to be silicone but only lasted 2.5 years and 320 miles. I'll post in a few years how the new ones hold up.

 

[cattlerepairman]

I'll post in a few years how the new ones hold up.

Or, IF the new ones hold up, you will post only in a few years!

 

[andy3]

Who makes the best hub boot in 2015?

It would be smart if there was one with a zerk fitting.

 

[brasco]

US Made Zipper Boots

I know this thread is about 2.5 ton boots but I replaced a zipper boot on my M925A2 yesterday and here is my review. Hopefully, this will help other SS members looking for the best zipper boots in 2015.

I purchases a pair of "US-made" zipper boots from Memphis Equipment and I can say that they are far easier to install than ones I purchased last year from Erik's (I'm not endorsing or attacking either vendor - just the facts). I can only presume that the boots from Erik's were some kind of imported boots which, by the way, ripped after less than a year and only a few short road trips.

The US-made boots were much more flexible and were far easier to install. I struggled for hours to install the import boots and the only way I could do that was to get another person to help hold one side while I pushed the other side in place. I think the import boots were just too rigid. A key to getting the boots installed is getting them flipped "inside out" so you can get to the inner clamp and still keep them in place on the "groove". See picture attached. Getting the US-made boot in place took only a couple of minutes by myself instead of an hours-long struggle. I was able slide the clamp into the groove on the boot with no major issues.

Obviously, I can't report on the long-term performance of the US-made boots but from an installation point of view, they are worth the extra cost just to avoid the installation hassle.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Well, they don't list any American made boots for the deuce unfortunately.

 

[welldigger]

Well, they don't list any American made boots for the deuce unfortunately.

My bet is 5 ton boots are still available as n.o.s whereas the deuce market is much bigger and n.o.s ran out a long time ago. Just my guess.