that's it ..
rubber eating bacteria !
( tell me ..............where does all the millions of lbs of tire rubber
that wears off of car tires every year  go ?
Why are there not 4 feet high berms of tire rubber on the sides of roads
  )

and ...how many pounds  of vanagon tire rubber wear off each year nationally
?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 5:46 PM
Subject: Re: clamps for cv boots, ridged washers for cv bolts

> Actually, where Mark lives, the air isn't very polluted. Less than a
> mile from the ocean, and 98% of the time the wind is onshore.
>
> Probably some mysterious flesh- and rubber-eating stuff they put on the
> roads down in Baja.
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> Bend, Ore.
> 1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people.
> 1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in
> San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.
>
> Sent from my kitchen.
>
> On 08/30/2011 05:08 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
>> hey ..
>> maybe it's the ozone or other pollution in southern California eating the
>> boots.
>> worth considering.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jim Felder" <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 3:13 PM
>> Subject: Re: clamps for cv boots, ridged washers for cv bolts
>>
>>
>>> I am having my local shop save me some of the metal parts of discarded
>>> boots. I am going to try to sew up some leather (or even waterproof
>>> nylon)
>>> boots to replace the rubber.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jim
>>>
>>> On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 4:48 PM, mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have had a lot of early failures of replacement boots myself and
>>>> would
>>>> love to find a source for boots that would last even 1/4th as long as
>>>> the
>>>> originals did. I have had new boots rot off a parked van inside of a
>>>> year,
>>>> parked next to a van with 20+ year old original boots still intact. I
>>>> have
>>>> wondered if it the grease, the rubber, both, or what?
>>>>
>>>> I don't see much need for clamping the small ends either. I guess if
>>>> you
>>>> drive a lot in deep water it might make a difference.
>>>>
>>>> Mark
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Jim Felder wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Let me rephrase that. Never have I seen evidence of either water or
>>>>> dirt
>>>>> in
>>>>> an INTACT CV joint.
>>>>>
>>>>> The constant splitting of this new rubber product everyone has gone to
>>>>> is
>>>>> what has me concerned.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jim
>>>>>
>>>>>