Steve P Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 Evening gents, Both my newly fitted track rod end gaiters have sheared resulting in an MOT failure. They have only a couple hundred miles on them. Have I over tightened them? Thanks Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Cobbold Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 Syeve, They are probably repro cr*p, several other reports on here of rubber perishing in the garage. There's a 'PQI' form to fill in here, to try to get the problem sorted. http://www.tr-register.co.uk/pqi/ And IIRC there has been a post describing where to find a good modern, near-equivalent. http://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/52270-perished-ball-joint-rubber-covers/ ( maybe they will do gaiters too) Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john.r.davies Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) This is an example of the advance of technology making things worse, and then penalising us when they don't work perfectly. TREs used to have no gaiter, and rely on sliding washers to seal the joint, with regular greasing to keep it clean. But in the interest of no maintenance, they gave them gaiters. In Small Chassis Triumphs, can't say about TR6s, this is a poor plan, as the TRE is very close indeed to the brake disc, and so gets a lot of heat, which breaks down the inferior rubber. So, for SCTs and maybe TR6s, if you can find a Standard 8 TRE, with grease nipple, your problems are over, but your maintenance schedule increased. A Ford Anglia track control arm had a similar construstion, but I "have exceeded my allocated disk space for attachments" so can't post a picture and you'll have to use your imagination. Only on TR Forum!! Another way out is to substitute the ball-jointed TRE for a female spherical bearing, and drill out the conical hole in the end of the steering arm to take a bolt. You can get boots for sphericals, and they can be replaced without changing the whole item. JOhn Edited June 14, 2015 by john.r.davies Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RonA Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 Steve I fitted new gaiters from this lot a couple of years ago http://www.balljointboots.co.uk/ and also did the top swivels, they still look good as new. They have been recommended on here several times in the past, surprised nobody posted this. From memory No2 fits the TRE and No 3 the top swivel Regards Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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