Steering u/j gator replacement

[ghost123uk]

Hi all, not been on here for a while!

Just wondering how much mither is involved with replacing the gator on the top of the steering rack?

[bengould]

Bit awkward to get to but not overly difficult.
You'll have to undo the uj, and possibly the rack or column to give you room to get the uj off. But once that's done it's just a case of slip the old one off and put the new one on.

Ben.

[duggers]

When i did mine i undid the steering rack mounts to give some movement. Allows the uj to be undone and enough room to put a new gaiter on. did need to use the pry bar a little to get the uj to go on far enough but a doable job with a little patience, some ramps and an inspection lamp!

[ghost123uk]

Thanks folks

I've got the MOT due in about 6 weeks, if I haven’t done it by then, is it a fail? (remember, this is the top (u/j) gator, not the rack end ones).

[bengould]

I think, if it's split but not letting in dirt it's ok. If there's a big hole in it it will likely fail. Really depends how noticeable it is and how picky your mot man is

Ben.

[scrappy1382]

if its split ... change it. for the sake of around £50 from vw heritage and spending several hours simply replacing it, it saves the unfortunate event of locked up steering when driving because the uj got knackered in the process. i know, i had it almost happen to me. my mate basically grabbed the keys off me and said " we need to make this safe, er now " water gets everywhere it wants to. combine that when driving in rainy weather along with grit and muck unfortunately leads to knackered uj. best to be safe for the sake of around £50.

[ghost123uk]

You're right of course ^^^. I do intend to replace it, I was just wondering how big a job it is, ie DIY or local (village) garage.
Bearing in mind I no longer have a driveway to do it on, never mind a pit or vehicle lift, I reckon it's a local garage job ;)

[mark1gls]

It's not an MOT fail to have a split boot, mine was split for 6 year with no problems, in the end the steering rack needed replacing so that's when I changed mine over. I replaced my steering rack and boot with the engine in the car on the driveway.
I have also fitted a plumbers solder mat (a couple of £s from ebay) over mine to stop it getting cooked by the exhaust down pipe.

Picture from when I swooped over my engine.

[duggers]

I did a temporary fix on mine with some self amalgamating tape for an MOT but for the work involved fit a new one it really isn't that hard a job.
My exhaust heat shield self destructed so i made one from some sheet ally to prevent the heat doing any damage to my minty new gaiter.