Hey guys - my car was just serviced and had its annual MOT (government) inspection. The report from the garage was rear outer track rod gaitors split, and from the MOT tester suspension rod outer ball joint dust covers severely deteriorated. I assume these are the same thing, in different words?

The car passed its inspection, so I am guessing that the ball joints themselves are OK.

My question is, how big a job is it to replace these? I am wondering if it is something I can do myself using normal garage tools.

The car is a 2008 MY XKR, 4.2 supercharged.

Thanks for any pointers.

BTW, I did search the thread but came up empty-handed.

 

I'm surprised that it passed the MOT with a spilt gaiter, unless it actually was not split all the way through.

I've not done these on the XK but that are usually fairly straightforward with standard tools such as a decent ball joint splitter and a rattle gun. However, if the ball joint itself is fine, then I often use the split DIY gaiters which superglue together once fitted around the joint. A very quick job which will last until the joint itself actually needs replacing.

You can also buy aftermarket replacement gaiters which are not split but these require the ball joint to be separated so, it most cases, you might as well change the joint.

Richard

 

Thanks, Richard. I was a bit surprised too, but they listed it as an Advisory. I haven't had chance to crawl under the car yet to take a look at how bad it is. The MOT tester says "severely deteriorated" but my garage says "nothing to worry about".

That siunds interesting. I'll google around and see if I can locate some, I could definitely do that myself

Yes, that makes sense. If you have to remove the old ball joint anyway, might as well replace it. Thanks again.

 

The boot replacement process is well described by Gordocat in the X150 Suspension sticky. The inner boot deterioration may not be far behind the outer ones.
I found both the outer and inner boots starting to go on my car’s rear track rods, so just bought new track rods as they are not very expensive. An alignment was needed after the track rod replacement.

 

Thanks, Mike. I will check out that thread!