[DeTomaso] Steering Rack Boots- Poor Quality?

[Mike Drew]

Corey,

Those are Wilkinson boots, which are marked with the word DeTomaso at the end. 

Original boots never had such markings as they were not a De Tomaso part. I don’t know where Steve is having them made but I would guess China, rather than Italy. The originals were British.

Attached is a pair of pics of a high-dollar OEM-style heavy rubber boot by TRW, and the Wilkinson/De Tomaso boot. The TRW boot measures 4 5/8 inches long, 1 5/8 ID on the big end and 3/8 ID on the small end. 

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The dimensions of the TRW boot are correct. The Wilkinson boot comes fully compressed in a small box, and takes a set. It stretches very easily to match the dimensions of the TRW boot when installed.

The part number on the TRW boot is 36020015.  Bobby Byars told me it was from a Jaguar application, although I think this boot is used on many dozens of different cars that use a variation of the Cam Gears rack, such as most period Ferraris and other Italian marques, European Fords with rack and pinion steering, and probably most British cars of the era as well. Bobby used to charge me $30 apiece (!) for the TRW boots while the Wilkinson boots are $10.46.  I do t have a source for the TRW boots now but I a, going to search on Google.

The TRW boots are much more substantial, and harder, while the Wilkinson boots are thinner, flimsier, and more supple. I would have guessed that they would outlast the heavier ones, but apparently not?

Mike

Sent from my iPad

> On Jul 17, 2019, at 12:27, Corey Price <coreyjprice at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Mike,
> 
> The boots ripped behind the tie rod end clamp and are cracking at the inside of each bellow. You probably looked at this rack a while ago so I don't know who the boot supplier was. The funny part is that the car has seen zero miles and the rack has probably been used but very little, just to steer the car when moving it around. The same thing happened to the previous set, which were installed when the previous owner rebuilt the rack. The quick look you did cost me about $20 for the boots, if that gives you any hint where they came from. 
> 
> Corey
> 
>> On Jul 17, 2019, at 12:22 PM, Mike Drew <MikeLDrew at aol.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Corey,
>> 
>> I'm interested to know how the boots 'failed'? Did they split somewhere?
>> 
>> Fwiw I used to use TRW boots which were quite expensive but lately I have been using Wilkinson's boots, which seemed decent? So I'm interested to know since I have about five racks in the queue to be rebuilt....
>> 
>> Mike
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Jul 17, 2019, at 10:33, Corey Price <coreyjprice at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> All,
>>> I'm now on my second pair of steering rack boots. The first pair failed
>>> (not having seen any use) and leaked oil all over a few years ago. I
>>> sent the steering rack to be looked at by Mike Drew, and the
>>> replacement boots he installed have now failed. It isn't Mike's fault;
>>> I appreciate his help in looking at the steering rack for me. Where do
>>> I go to get boots that won't fail in a few years, not even being used?
>>> Corey
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>>