Becker <becker@hotmail.com> spake unto the assembled masses in
news:UVLyb.88658$oN2.36769@edtnps84:

>
>
> TeGGeR wrote:
>
>> The boots crack due to a combination of cold
>
> cold is adverse only if is beyond freezing point, warmth is actually
> more damaging to rubber.


Winter cold hardens the rubber and makes it less able to flex, hence the
cracking. Of course, winter cold in California as not the same thing as
winter cold in Barrow, Alaska.


>
> and steering stresses. If the
>> boots were on the REAR driveshafts of a front-steering car, they will
>> last almost indefinitely in any environment.
>
> Really, that's a whopper! Do you have any arguments to support that?


Check any Toyota MR2. Up to and including the first 1985s. Very few of
those ever suffered split CV joint boots, since the rears did not steer. We
recently sold our old '86 with 140,000 mi. It had the original CV joint
boots. No cracking of any kind was present in any of the bellows.



>
>
>
>>
>>
>> There is nothing you can do to prevent cracking (except for never
>> turning the steering wheel
>
>
> that won't change anything much, the rubber gets dry and cracked just
> from being exposed to the environment. Main killer for it is ozone
> (no, I'm not an environmentalist) If you ever had the chance to
> inspect a car kept many years in a garage, you'd have noticed that all
> the rubbers aged and cracked.


Splitting hairs here. Most people complaining of split boots are talking
about their daily drivers.


>
>
>
>> CV joints go bad chiefly because the boots split and water gets in.
>
>
> Actually is the sand which mixes with the grease and forms an abrasive
> paste which damages the friction surfaces. Single water will not
> damage the joint unless you hose it into the joint.


Shall we split more hairs? Road water by definition is full of grit. You
*know* what I mean.

--
TeGGeR®