Project of the day- steering rod boot

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

some drag link boot stuff

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Larry, my bay the boot allegedly protects is open due to the slots in the front behind the bumper. The drag link boot may make an infintesimal difference, but most of my collection of crud appears to enter through the slots that are intended to provide cooling air to the Cruise Airs located in the area. Ironically the area tends to stay a lot cleaner than I would expect with most of the stuff entering being bugs, small stones kicked up by vehicles ahead, and dust and dirt from road spray when it rains or is dusty.

I do have shutters in the front, but I only use them in the winter. I cannot say for sure if the shutters keep the area cleaner or not, but they do minimze the draft on my legs.

[James]

Is the clamp a normal thing or the Tech's idea?
If the clamp is to be used, what type of clamp and any special instructions as to how the boot is to be folded, how far from the end of the boot is the clamp installed? Thanks for the help.

Larry,

My parts manual does show a clamp, ( part #504024, Discription - HOSE CLAMP 2"1/4 I HS-36), however my boot does not have one installed.

[truk4u]

Michael,

Stick your head in the steering bay and you will see a wimpy looking black boot that should cost about .50 cents. Just follow the steering rod and you'll see it.

[dale farley]

Gary, Michael, If you open your bottom door by the driver you will see the boot. When you open the door, follow the right-hand wall back about 30 inches and you will see the steering shaft. The boot is a piece of funnel shaped rubber around the shaft. Mine does not have a clamp around it, but it appears to be in very good condition. Since I don't have cruise airs, I get very little debris in that area.

[truk4u]

Jimmy C - Suggestion, next time just post a link of the older threads in the current thread instead of starting two new ones.

[LarryB]

Thanks to ALL for the info. I was unaware of the earlier post. Dale since your boot is also "clampless" and in good shape, I'm wondering if that clamp may not be the way to go. Seems the clamp allows for a bunch more flexing of the boot, shortening it's life.?? No engineer here, just a guess.

[dale farley]

I looked at my boot very closely today, and it has no cracks and there is no dirt or debris in the area around it. I assume this is the original boot that came on the bus. I know it hasn't been changed since I've owned the bus, and I checked all the records from Marathon and Prevost in Dallas, and I don't see where it was ever replaced. This makes me think they last significantly longer without the clamp.

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[LarryB]

Thanks for checking Dale---I'm going to leave the clamp off my boot as well.