Try doing your own vulcanizing!

The idea is to use a tire repair kit - like the type that one uses for bicycles.

I cut a strip of old inner tube, and then use the vulcanizing adhesive that comes with the kit, for adhering the strip to the torn boot..

BTW: I couldn't find self-vulcanizing tape either, hence - the tip listed above.

Marshall Ruskin

     Dear Vanagoneers!
    
            I searched the vanagon site while reading how to replace a ball joint due to a cracked boot and  came across some info about self Vulkenizing tape.  (see below) I was unable to find out where you get it, what members experience with it was, or what its brand name is?? (All the posters have vacated their email addresses, I hope not due to the tape!)
      If anybody knows anything more about it I'd love to hear from you,  
    
    
    Thanks,
    
    
    - Peter  
    '87 Syncro 84K
    Honda CBR 600  23K
    Reply to:  printstud@bigfoot.com
    
    Date:         Thu, 21 Nov 96 20:05:10 EST
    Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
    From:         jag@cs.rochester.edu
    Subject:      Save your ball joints!
    
    
    Do you have an early 80's Vanagon, or similar vintage VW?  VW uses
    "permanently lubricated" joints in the suspension on the late model
    busses. Grease is kept in and dirt kept out by a flexible rubber
    boot. This works well, saving you (or your mechanic) from having to
    "lube", but only for a while. After 10 years or so, the rubber usually
    cracks, and the previously sealed joint is now exposed to the
    elements. The Bentley manual says: replace ball joint!
    
    
    I noticed this summer that the rubber boots on my ball joints were
    getting brittle and one of them had cracked. However the joints
    themselves were still ok, and the suspension "tight"(*).  Instead of
    replacing the joints per Bentley, I thought about other solutions:
    
    
    Replacing the boot: about as difficult as replacing the joint, since
    the joint has to be taken out to slip a new boot over it.
    
    
    "Renew" the boot: Well how can you do that? Self vulcanizing (or self
    curing) rubber tape is a product, which much like a inner tube rubber
    patch chemically bonds to itself and other rubber. The tape however is
    much thinner and elastic than even racing bicycle tube patches.
    
    
    To apply the tape on the old boots I first thoroughly cleaned
    everything and let it dry. Then I applied a thin coat of vulcanizing
    solution (as found in tire repair kits) to the old boot. The tape
    cures to itself without any extra solution, but the old boots had a
    dry and cracked surface, which needed to be softened to make the tape
    stick. I waited a minute or two for the solution to work, and then
    applied a thin layer (two overlapping turns) of tape stretched to
    about half its original thickness.
    
    
    Before sealing the one cracked boot I also injected a little new
    grease through the crack.
    
    
    When I inspected the joints 6 month later (this weekend) I found that
    the repaired boots still look fine, and were as flexible as when I
    first put the tape on.
    
    
    (*) I checked the front end for "tightness" by lifting the bus and
    trying to rock the wheel in all directions. Is there a better way to
    do this?
    
    
    /Martin and '82 diesel westy
    --
    Martin Jagersand                 email: jag@cs.rochester.edu
    Computer Science Department             jag@cs.chalmers.se
    University of Rochester          Fax:   (716) 461-2018
    Rochester, NY 14627-0226         WWW: http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jag/
    

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