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Re: Grecian White/Apache Red 225
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 7:48 am
by EK283
The rubber boots on ball joints and tie rod end are the ones that frustrate me these days,
Put them in and 3 months later split and leaking grease, simple fix removing all the ball joints for replacement boots NOT !
Greg
Re: Grecian White/Apache Red 225
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 1:12 pm
by Harv
With all the fancy stuff on the market, it still surprises me that you can't buy a CV/balljoint boot with a closeable seam to allow it to be installed (wrapped around and sealed) with the joint intact.
Cheers,
Harv
Re: Grecian White/Apache Red 225
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 4:11 pm
by Errol62
More likely to end up with non serviceable ball joints than something sensible like that Harv. I think Elles FB has no grease nipples in the uppers.
Re: Grecian White/Apache Red 225
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 4:52 pm
by Craig Allardyce
Harv wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2026 1:12 pm
With all the fancy stuff on the market, it still surprises me that you can't buy a CV/balljoint boot with a closeable seam to allow it to be installed (wrapped around and sealed) with the joint intact.
Cheers,
Harv
You mean these Andrew?
- Screenshot 2026-04-21 165106.jpg (63 KiB) Viewed 67 times
Re: Grecian White/Apache Red 225
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 6:58 pm
by Craig Allardyce
More knackered rubber bits. I'm wondering if detergent is doing the damage??????
- DSC_0005.JPG (3.46 MiB) Viewed 55 times
Re: Grecian White/Apache Red 225
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 8:51 pm
by Harv
Ooooh.... I like those
. I learn something new every day.
Cheers,
Harv
Re: Grecian White/Apache Red 225
Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2026 6:44 am
by funkyscooter
Craig Allardyce wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2026 6:58 pm
More knackered rubber bits. I'm wondering if detergent is doing the damage??????
DSC_0005.JPG
I know AI isn't everyones cup of tea and that a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing etc. but I asked Gemini what causes rubber to degrade in a sunless environment.
1 - Ozone. - Causes chemical chain scission, the result is surface "crazing" or small, deep cracks perpendicular to stress.
2 - Heat - Causes thermal oxidation, the result is hardening, cracking, loss of flexibility.
3 - Fuels and oil - Causes solvent swelling/Ozone inhibitor extraction from rubber, the result is swelling, becoming "gummy," or excessive hardening after evaporation.
Didn't delve deeper but the cracking looks like ozone ( lack of ozone inhibitor ), so either #3 (if not actual chemical oil, maybe oil from skin?) is allowing ozone to break it down, or its cheap rubber with a lack of the ozone inhibitor.
Pure speculation but it would be leaning towards cheap rubber if it is happening in a range of situations where #2 of #3 might not be a factor.