Just spoke with Astoria and they do NOT recommend OEM apparently of most brands due to their thickness.

Boots from them are $17.50

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1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

yes the OEM boots are very thick, I have seen the non OEM ones but they don't feel that durable so I haven't used them..... But then again you wouldn't have to spend on a flex gun or various liquids and lubricants to try and slip em over the top
only one side will come off from the shaft but I cant remember which side has the little grove in between the shaft and the spider to tell you that's the side that comes off

Yes, I did a post on this. Clean boots carefully, both "valleys" and peaks" With car on stand, spray 3M Rubber Coating underliner material in 1/4 increments about every fifteen minutes or so and voila, cracks are sealed. I think when I reboot, I am going to spray new boots this way so that there is a layer to protect new rubber -

When I changed the passenger side axle with a used replacement from the jy, I ended up using a similar "coating" product. Upon returning home and taking the boneyard axle to the parts washing sink, I noticed what looked like fresh oil on the boot. Now, I inspected it pretty darn close at the yard before pulling and no problems, or so I thought. Pretty good find actually. Also, puncture was aligned in the same direction as the axle itself near the top of the fold, as opposed to the typical cracks in the boot. Looked exactly like a screwdriver went through it on the trip home. Anyways, cleaned thoroughly and as stated above, I applied a product for re-doing the rubber grips on your handtools. Spray can applicator with, oh, a dozen or so applications over a day or so. No visible flaws in the boot afterward. Something like this should only add to protective ability of boots, especially questionable ones. 3M stuff may be less inexpensive for bulk apps.

FNHB

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1987 300SDL "Rhona" 218k
1986 300SDL "Johanna" 166k - Abducted 5/15 outta SFV Reward 4 info
1984 300TD "Petra" 212k - Parts yard pirate, arrrrgh
1982 300CD "FrankenFemme" 178k - Eyes only TS-XWRKS transplant abomination (loc. classified)
1980 230CE "Lulu" aka "Terminal" 277k - Dying the slow death
1985 300CD "Gerda" 203k - She ain't playin' SOLD
1983 300TD "Svetlana" 240k...and pleading for more. SOLD


"What a heavy load Einstein must've had...F&@%!NG morons everywhere!" - David Lynch