Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All
Going to fit new Gaiters this week, searched forum but just see lots of issues regarding quality, hope mine are OK.
Any tips or tricks, do i need to fill them with grease or leave them dry?
Thanks for any advice
David

Personally, I'd smear the insides with silicone grease to help prevent the rubber drying out. I've not ordered enough of them to comment on quality though

Hi did mine a few weeks ago,i did the same smear of grease inside. Bought mine from a morris stockist had no problems as yet, i did have to buy a new track rod end because the rubber was split on that to.When done i just re greased the rack via the nipple inside car passenger side.

It's an easy enough job if you have a ball-joint splitter to release the TRE from the steering arm. I bought 2 'new old stock' gaiters today at Moffat autojumble - I suspect they may really be for a Mini although the seller assured me they are for a Minor. At 50p I thought it worth the gamble!

no need to take TRE off just crack the nut on the streering arm to TRE and turn the rod untill it comes off the tre, fit the new boot to rack and screw the rod back in to the tre one less job

Whichever way you do it, be sure to count the number of turns if you don't have access to wheel alignment equipment and don't forget to put EP90 (NOT GREASE!) in the rack afterwards.

I understand the problem is the incompatibility of the rubber with common EP90 oil. Does anyone know what type of oil that should be used? It should be made a sticky for easy reference.

The problem will be that a very low quality material was used - not the blend of oil.
EP oil has a few extra elements but is still a mineral oil, as per engine oil, axle grease etc..

I replaced a steering rack on another classic (not Minor) about 5 years ago - it split within a year and was only in contact with grease, with a rack that was designed for grease - unlike the Minor rack which was designed for EP90.

Regarding a steering rack gaiter - the metal parts in the rack need to be greased (or oiled), generally the gaiter does not.

The correct oil for use in a Minor steering rack and for all years is EP90 (Above and down to -12C) or EP80 (Below -12C)
See BMC Wksp Manual Section PP, page PP2 for the specification/suitability of all lubricants suitable for use in a Minor.

Moly grease works very well - and doesn't run away and hide in the gaiters....

Did mine last week. A better way to get the TRE's in the same place, rather than counting the turns, is to not disturb the locknut (by all means crack it 1/4 turn to un-lock, but wind it back the same amount to keep it where it was) and wind the TRE off, then measure the distance from the end of the track rod to the face of the nut. Then you're free to wind the lock nut off, do the gaiters, and then wind the lock nut back on to the same distance.

Works even better if you're replacing the TRE's, because the always seem to be different lengths to the ones you take off, you can measure the difference in height (when stood up on end) and add that to the distance you put the lock nut back on to.

I got the tracking checked after doing mine (replacing TRE's and all) and it was spot on. Most tyre places will check tracking for free anyway, just charge if they actually adjust it.

Hi all
Thanks for all the replies. Did the job on Sunday and as per the last post just loosened the lock nut then unscrewed the TRE and then used a depth gauge to check how far along the TRE the nut was so I knew where to put it back to. Getting the gaiter over the rack was fiddly so hope i have been lucky with the quality of the gaiter. I filled the rack with EP90 because i had an unopened carton to use up!!
David

Use cable ties to secure the ends of the gaiters

Yep did that, they sent me two large ones instead of a large and small as ordered, but had some small ones in the garage. Wondering now what to do with the rest of the EP90, I know i shouldn't but cant help thinking the gearbox is quieter with cold thicker oil than after a long run when the warm oil is thinner. Somebody please talk me out of topping the gearbox up with EP90
David

I wouldn't want ep90 in my gearbox but experiment on yours and let us know what happens.

v stiff when cold

Oh, you tried it then?

You shouldn't put EP90 in the box, it eats the bronze bushes apparently.

chrisryder wrote:You shouldn't put EP90 in the box, it eats the bronze bushes apparently.

I heard that synthetic oils can do the same, you never know how true these tales are though.

EP 90 will be handy in the final drive......