I had purchased new boots for the front upper ball joints since they are cracked but otherwise the joints are fine.

First time I went to swap them out I ran into this metal spacer (see arrow in picture below) that's between the boot and the steering knuckle. It's fairly well pressed onto the ball joint taper. Gentle tapping and pulling did not get it off. What is the best way to pull this off without damage? A 2-jaw puller like used for removing tapers?

Thanks,
-Michael

 

Hi Michael,

It certainly looks like you could remove that with a small 2- or 3-jaw puller, maybe a battery terminal puller or even battery terminal pliers. It looks like it would be easier to grip the spacer if you first pull off the metal boot retaining ring and cut off the old rubber boot.

If the puller wants to bend the spacer flange, you could cut a slot in a large washer to slip over the ball joint shaft and put your puller jaws on the washer instead of the flange itself to more evenly distribute the force.

If the spacer is deformed a bit during the pulling process you can probably reshape it with a small ball-peen hammer on an anvil or other flat surface.

Let us know what you figure out and please post photos. Plenty of the rest of us need to do the same job!

Cheers,

Don

 

From where did you source the boots?

 

I support the request for pics.

Btw, you air shock seems to be an Arnott with a Continental bladder.
Am I right, and would that be the way Arnott refurbishes Bilstein shocks?

 

Apparently some of those spacers are tighter than others.When I replaced the upper control arms I found one of those spacers on the floor and wondered if I had left something out during reassembly.After checking the old control arms I realized where the spacer was supposed to go since the other arm still had the spacer in place.So the good news is they can be removed.

 

Thanks Neo! I will try again with the 2 jaw puller.

mbwill, boots were off eBay. There are threads in this forum on replacement boot sizes. I bought them so long ago I don't recall. But Google should turn it up.

paydase, they are new manufacture Arnott springs. They don't do reman anymore.

 

Check this thread for information https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ts-etc-146898/