Thermoplastics CV Boots for R50

[fleurys]

Well, I finally took 1 hour of my time and assemble my first cv half-shaft with new boots made from thermoplastic. Thermoplastic is a blend from plastic and rubber that can withstand higher and colder temperature. It also resists better to puncture and tear.



The rockford thermoplastic boots are made from a patented blend called santoprene made by monsanto company : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santoprene" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My adventure started when one of my boot teared. Went to check what was available and choices were not that great. I checked the ones from a pinzgauer which also has an ifs, and his were made from thermoplastics. At the time I did not know anything about this material. My friend told me that they were very resistant and seeing him going to places I would not dare (at least not at the time ), I beleived him and started to learn about the stuff.

My research brought me to RockfordCV ( http://www.rockfordcv.com/rcvboot.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) which is the only company I found that carries cv boots for nissan pathfinder. Unfortunately, they did not have anything for R50 (96-2004). They only had boots for 87-89 and 90-95.

Not stopping there, I decided to do some reverse part number searches. I looked at the EMPI catalog for part numbers for the boots of 90-95 pathfinder vs 96-04...no luck.... then I hit the jackpot... The 87-89 pathfinder EMPI cv Boots part number are the same than for a 96-04 ! Bingo...

Called rockford cv and ordered 2 sets of their 87-89 boots. (part number : 166-21 and 166-23). I decided i was going to take the plunge and see. The boots are about 11-13$ each.

I decided to rebuild my OEM nissan shaft with them instead of rebuilding the EMPI crap (that barfed out it's grease 4 days after I installed it!).. I trust a lot more the oem nissan even though there is some surface rust on it, I feel more confident with them..

They fit like a glove and have a nice tight fit around the cv. Was made to go there !

So here you have it : the first (I think) R50 half-shaft with thermoplastic boots. For now they will not go on my truck just yet. I'm keeping them for spare until I put my front strut spacers which will put the cv at more angle. This should be a good test.

All pictures here : http://s435.photobucket.com/albums/qq71 ... d-cv-boot/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;





Foreground = rockford (santoprene) background = EMPI (shiny (crap) neoprene) You can see the difference with the material. The thermoplastic is a lot less shiny and a lot more stiff. It is also noticeably thicker.

[Jayman]

Interesting!

Websites added to my favourites list for future endeavours...

[PiDGE]

good to know

[01R50]

Yeah I need to change mine. This is what I found when I looked under mine last week:




I am just going to replace the entire cv assemblies just to be sure as well. Then new better boots to go on them.

[rmarles]

Just ordered a set for myself; my boots were shot! Will let you know how the install goes