Graham.

I put a jack under my 1/2" ratchet on the fill plug and pumped up. Amazingly the rear began to lift a few inches off of the ground! Then it broke the bolt loose.

My breaker bar was too long, and so was my flex head 1/2" ratchet, so in the end my "worthless" stubby 1/2" ratchet got the job done.

It's the short one sold at AutoZone.

I have an assortment of ratchets and breaker bars. Using car's weight might be worth trying!!

Oh I forgot to say, after you clean the fill plug of dirt and debris, apply valve lapping compound to the hex bit and fill plug. It provides extra grip and bite, it also stops the hex bit from going cockeyed.

I use it on every questionable bolt I encounter.

Instead of valve lapping compound something gritty like Comet Clenser can be used inside of the hex hole to allow some extra grip.

SAFETY KNOWS NO SEASON
 

Sadly ;

Many still do not use safety stands even to - day, thinking 'this will only take a moment' .

Once you've seen a jack fail you understand how important they are .

Especially Sockets with Allen Head Bits on them come with rounded ends on them. See the attached pics.
You can see from the pics that the flat ended one is going to have more gripping area.

If you cannot buy them with flat ends you would have to grind or file them.

No argument there. I usually lift my cars using low profile high lift 3 ton floor jack on front cross member or on diff at rear. It takes up so much space that I can't get under there anyway, so lift high, slip in jack stands, lower onto stands and remove jack. Nice clear area to work in (after putting chocks front & back of wheels)

Smart
 

Getting safe working habits is very wise .

I bet my Harbor Freight jack is the same one, $98 U.S. dollars some years back, it still works fine .

IMO, everyone who works on and underneath vehicles needs to see the result of taking chances ~ it's not pretty and I puked the first time I saw a head split open like a watermelon :eek: but guess what ? .

I ALWAYS work safely now ! ;) .

After a summer of driving, I checked the 3M 5200 coated boots again today. They have now seen about 12 months of driving. Never cleaned them off, but they look fine. (BTW, they are the original 1985 boots with ~450k km on them.)

Aww groan. I just did two boots on the passenger side with my Dorman pneumatic boot tool. It still was hard. I’ve done this half a dozen times but it still was work. The big problem is access. I cannot get the installer in close with the disk and the dust guard in the way. I do not take the axels off the car.

I tore one boot. It happens. I was careful not to touch my stretched boot on anything. It appears that it ripped where they always do which is right on the seam. I have 1 in 5 rip. It kind of sucks but given the price of the boots it still is a cheap repair if I destroy a boot. I’ll often bring in the old boot and exchange it for a new one. I get looks but on one occasion the clerk said I used the wrong tool and I showed him a selfie of me and my pneumatic tool. They just rip sometimes.

Well I have to say the Dorman 614-001 lasted for me. I have five years on one side and three on another on the SD. No cracks.

Maybe when I do the drivers side on the 300d I’ll remove the disk and splash guard. It will make access easier. You really need to get the spline deep into the little hole in the tools base or the boot won’t slip off. Add oil to the inside of the boot after it is in position to slip it off. Limit oil before or it’ll slip off when you’re expanding it.

I’m having a ton of trouble with my Dorman boot gun. I bought a bunch of boots today at my chain auto parts place and they all split when I installed them. I thought it was me but I checked everything and I’m doing it the same way I’ve done it for years. I’ve done a dozen installs and never had a failure rate like this. I brought one of the boots back to the store and the girl there said she’s seeing a lot of these recently.

I expand it and it stretches but about a minute into the process it just starts splitting. It seems to start exactly at the same point. Right on a mold seam. I’m so bummed. I used to like this system. Now I hate it. I’m using the 614-001 neoprene units.

I do this job with the shaft in the differential. I succeeded on one side but things have gone badly on the current shaft. I ordered some silicone stretch boots 614-002 to try. May have to go to Astoria.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...rman-boot.jpeg

Dorman has a website. I would contact them and let the know what is going on. Also Inspect the fingers on the Pneumatic Tool to see of any of them have sharp edges.

I have a thread about my issues with the Dorman penumatic tool which I believer for mercedes the fingers are shaped wrong and or it does not open up enough.
I can remember splitting one boot for sure and maybe another. One with the penumatic tool and one using a plastic cone made for CV Joint Boots.

I finished the job with the Cone as it was more reliable.

I bought the tool and 12 boots as a kit (also came with Grease packets and clamps) because I had read of people having boots rip using the ATF Funnel.

I used the Dorman boots on another vehicle with no issues but they did not have to be stretched as much.

I am looking forwarded to your comments on the silicon boots.

Astoria has 2 lengths of Boots and I believe I read the longer one has thicker rubber on it. Dorman also has 2 lengths of Boots but I can't remember if the longer boot has thicker rubber.

Out here a single Dorman Boot with the grease packet and clamps 5 years ago $16 each. When you buy 12 Boots with the tool and subtract what the tool would cost by itself the boots with grease packet and clamps were less then $8 each.

Ae $16 a boot ripping one can get expensive because one Member said they would not refund it as he used the ATF Funnel not a Tool designed to expand the boots.

Note that the grease packet that comes with the Dorman Boots is not enough. The Astoria Boots have a much larger grease packet.

Hi,

As you may recall from our prior threads on stretch boots, I’ve been using this tool since 2005. I’ve had pretty good success. I’ve checked for burrs and it doesn’t have any. The rip starts at exactly the same place right at the seam.

I’ve noticed and mentioned on the forum that the feel of the boots has changed over the last decade. The first ones I got were stretchier. But they felt flimsier when fitted. For the past six years they’ve felt tougher. I recall the fist Dorman made boots claimed to be silicone and not neoprene like the 614-001.

Yeah, you’re right 911, the tool doesn’t close down enough over the can. I’ve gotten around that by oiling the fingers and slipping the boot off. It is tight but it works. I’ve ripped a few boots in the past few years recently but this is ridiculous. I now have ripped 4/4 in a row. If they made me eat the $16 I’d be livid.

Yeah that grease packet is small. Years ago I bought a huge tube of BMW CV grease on clearance and I’m still using it to supplement the tiny Dorman packs.

I’ve had really good luck getting exchanges at O’Reilly and Autozone. I sometimes have to show them a snapshot of the pneumatic tool I’m using because they claim using a funnel will rip the boot. But once I show them the tool they give me a new boot free. And the second boot has always worked. I’d say I had a 10% failure rate in the past. So I’ve been through this routine.

I contacted Dorman tech support and they responded in the wee hours of the morning. They are sending me out new boots and they want the ripped ones back for QC.

Boot Failure
 

? Why not just use the original German boots with this tool ? .