rockwell steering axle boots!!!!!!!!

[jon lee]

anyone know where to find replacement boots for my 2.5 ton steering axle cheap ! and maybe some cheap tricks or tips on rockwells. also need to find some wheels and tires reasonably priced in or around georgia. thanks

[Kamikaze12volts]

Here's another solution to the boot problem ...... IF you never go wheeling in mud .... you can throw the oem boots at the garbage , clean everything and install F550 u joint. But the only drawback of this is that you need to be sure that you have good axle seals .... if not that may be leaking.

For the boots ....... ain't no place really cheap. Almost all the same price ... the cheapest one are the zippered version .... you can also have the yellow silicone version .... more expensive but buy only one time.

[oilcan]

Most of the big surplus dealers have 'em. I got my last pair from Saturn.

[randyscycle]

I generally use OD Iron. $28.00 each for the solid boots. The zippered ones are junk and come off in no time off-road. And they are the same price.

For $120 the whole seal kit and boots can be had. You'll need all that stuff anyway when you tear it down to do the boots.

[rustwagon]

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...rockwell+boots

These look like you could make your own, and they would keep your boots in one piece longer.

[Barrman]

I use the one piece OD iron versions myself as well. The are NEW rubber, not NOS. Very thick too.

Yes, the one piece units are a pain to install. However, you will thank yourself later if you find anything wrong while taking the entire front axle apart. Buy the front axle kit Randy posted, spend a weekend and then basically forget the front axle for a few years. Better to fix it in your drive way at home than to wonder how you are going to get it home some cold rainy night in the future.

[randyscycle]

Here's a little encouragement for doing it right. These are what my Rockwell knuckles looked like on a supossedly maintained truck:

[jon lee]

thanks guys, man randy i bet you hade fun cleanning the goo out of there . could you reuse the balls in your axle? my passenger side kinda looked like that on the initial tear down and one of the balls in it looked like you held a grinder to it and spun it gougeing a groove all the way around it but i yanked a spare set of shafts for future f--- ups so i should be good. oh anyone need a set of axles out of 1979 toyota fj 40 welded rear, arb in front, needs pinion seal in rear ''or a set of speedy sleeves from spectre offroad''

[randyscycle]

Actually with all the sand and grease and water mixture, things were in surprisingly good shape. I did all new seals and grease after scrubbing everything well.

I suspect there wasn't a lot of actual miles of driving on the truck like that.

I find that good new boots, very clean axle surfaces and new clamps wll keep everything working well for a long time.