Mr Brightside
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- Aug 4, 2010
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Looking ahead to MOT time, I noticed I have the start of a split appearing in one of the steering ball joint boots & as this is now an MOT failure, thought I would set about fixing it.
I know there has been a bit of discussion about some poor quality rubber boots which split very soon after fitting, so thought I would do a little research.
I compared 3 different types of ball joints at my local motor factors & the best ones they had were the Delphi ones, the boot just seemed much better quality that the generic Chinese or Indian ones for about the same price. It still felt a little flimsy though.
I was speaking with the guys at RED9 at Camperjam & they suggested the FEBI-BILSTEIN ones (if you can get them), more or less the same price, just not always in stock. I know Just Jampers list them, but they were not in stock when I wanted them, I ended up ordering them through Andrew Page distribution for next day delivery.
I took the boots off to compare the differences, firstly the boot material just feels so much thicker & stronger. It has a shape that allows it to compress correctly rather than just squash, it has more that just a wipe of grease inside & actually seems to have a decent metal shield covering the joint itself.
See below, first picture is the Delphi with very little grease.
Next one is FEBI-BILSTEIN, looks far superior.
Delphi boot is on the left, FEBI on the right
I actually got a better discount on the FEBI ones also, (£13 ish +VAT).
So based on the FEBI vs the best of the rest I could find, the FEBI-BILSTEIN ones just seem much better quality, I guess time will tell
I know there has been a bit of discussion about some poor quality rubber boots which split very soon after fitting, so thought I would do a little research.
I compared 3 different types of ball joints at my local motor factors & the best ones they had were the Delphi ones, the boot just seemed much better quality that the generic Chinese or Indian ones for about the same price. It still felt a little flimsy though.
I was speaking with the guys at RED9 at Camperjam & they suggested the FEBI-BILSTEIN ones (if you can get them), more or less the same price, just not always in stock. I know Just Jampers list them, but they were not in stock when I wanted them, I ended up ordering them through Andrew Page distribution for next day delivery.
I took the boots off to compare the differences, firstly the boot material just feels so much thicker & stronger. It has a shape that allows it to compress correctly rather than just squash, it has more that just a wipe of grease inside & actually seems to have a decent metal shield covering the joint itself.
See below, first picture is the Delphi with very little grease.
Next one is FEBI-BILSTEIN, looks far superior.
Delphi boot is on the left, FEBI on the right
I actually got a better discount on the FEBI ones also, (£13 ish +VAT).
So based on the FEBI vs the best of the rest I could find, the FEBI-BILSTEIN ones just seem much better quality, I guess time will tell
