Preserving rubber

[sam]

I recently replaced the CV axles on my pickup. The boots lasted about four years before tearing apart. Is there an effective way to preserve the boots, as well as the other rubber bushings and parts on the vehicle. Would a silicone spray work well? Any insight would be great.

Topic

[Chris]

I’ve heard that silicone spray works good for the CV axles, but I’ve never tried it myself. This is what Scotty Kilmer recommends for “squeaky” rubber bushings: http://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Wrench-L616-Lithium-Grease/dp/B00200EFJA

[Bluesnut]

WD-40 may help some. Talcum powder works well as a rubber preservative but would be dubious on CV boot use.

I think there’s a lot of inferior rubber products being put out there also and that may have something to do with it. I’ve seen quite a few tie rod and ball joint dust boots dry rot and crack after a measly year in use. That of course leads to failure of the tie rods and ball joints.

A few years ago I saw some dust boots that were barely 6 months old suffering from cracking and splitting already. I have to think this is inferior materials being used in the manufacturing process.
About 15 years ago I bought a new metal lathe with belt drive and the belts were garbage after about 20 hours of use.

[sam]

Would the talcum powder not work because it would just wash/blow off? I am hesitant to use a petroleum based product. Any other suggestions out there?

[Andrew Phillips]

[quote=”samq”]Would the talcum powder not work because it would just wash/blow off? Any other suggestions out there?[/quote]
If you’ve ever purchased radiator hoses or drive belts and noticed that white powder that’s all over it, that’s talc. It isn’t that easy to blow or wash off. Other items include: Armor-All, silicone oil, “Liquid Wrench” brand lubricants, lithium soap grease, etc. Basically anything that doesn’t contain a petroleum based oil or grease.

[Author]

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