Guy and gals,

im in the middle of rebooting my axles and I noticed the OE boots had a metal ring to keep them from collapsing. I am replacing my boots with Dorman universal boots.

Do I cut the OE ring off? Or leave it and try to incorporate it into the dormans?.

I think i need to cut the ring. But once it's cut, its gone...

It is circled in the attached pic.

Thanks!
dd

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
-------------------------------
'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

I don't exactly know with the Dormans, but it looks like you're all set with yours. I'm in the middle of installing flexx boots on my 300SD and I had to cut them out. Each stock boot should have 3 of them. Get a good metal cutter if you don't want to fight with them as they're pretty sturdy.
Here's a couple of links that might help you: http://dieselgiant.com/mercedesaxleshaftbootreplace.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0bUHxlbBuE&feature=related

__________________
[/SIGPIC]~cirrusman

1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD - Wife calls him "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
[SIGPIC]




1983 Toyota Tercel (Tommy, The little Toyota that could)
1965 Ford F100 (Grandma Ford)
2005 Toyota Sienna (Elsa, Wife's ride)


Gone:
1988 Toyota Pickup
2004 Subaru Outback

1987 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham
1986 Volvo 740 GL Station Wagon - Piece of junk.
1981 Volvo 242 DL 2 Door - Hated to see it go. R.I.P.
1987 Pontiac Fiero GT

Yep cut them out they probably won't fit in your universals anyway.

I used bolt cutters.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

'Doesn't matter from whom you purchase.
You'll be much happier in the long run.

Direct comparison with Factory (O.E.) Mercedes Motor Mounts VS aftermarket
(AKA O.E.M. , O.E.S. , Etc.)

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

I cut them off both of ours when I replaced them. No issues since. I've put 25k on my car since then.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Ok then, off they come...

The OE axle boots are quite something. That rubber is thick stuff. Mine were cracked about halfway through...I wonder how long the Dormans will last. 50k? 100k?

__________________
-------------------------------
'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

If you are speaking of the Dorman ones that are like the Flexx Boots; both have the ability to stetch over the Cans on the Axles.
I believe they must be made of some good stuff to be able to do that.

If you plan to use a Hydraulic Press and Press apart your Axles you have a choice of the Stock Boots or the Flexx Type Boots.
If you intend to stretch them over the Cans you cannot use the Stock Boots.

__________________
84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

No hydraulic press for me. I just stretched the dormans over the can with a funnel.

One axle done, one to go.

__________________
-------------------------------
'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car