Clio 182 Steering Gaiter

[Davyboy888]

I need to replace the steering rack gaiter on my 2005 Clio 182 Cup Pack and bought a pair of Febi gaiters [Febi part number 21171 and link below]. A questions before I dive into this.

These are rubber rather than thermoplastic. Are the original Renault ones rubber or thermoplastic ?
They came without clips but when I looked at the Renault ones, they appear to only come with one red cable tie. Note you can't buy the genuine Renault ones any more, they only come as part of a track rod kit - to include the track rod which I don't need this time.
Finally I do like Febi parts and use them a lot on VW, BMW etc... but occasionally I have had issues with their parts numbers database or the quality of the parts. Has anyone used the Febi gaiter and are they OK ?

As always, thanks so much in advance for all your help.

febi | 21171 | Steering Rack Boot | bilstein group partsfinder | Official Catalogue for febi, SWAG & Blue Print Spare Parts

febi 21171 Steering Rack Boot suitable for Nissan, Renault Fitting Position: front axle left, front axle right

partsfinder.bilsteingroup.com

 

[Brigsy]

Oem rack gaiters are rubber iirc, well lower spec are definitely.

Any that are dimensionally correct will fit. Ive fitted slightly smaller ones from lower spec clio onto 182 rack before, they were tight as fcuk but worked fine.

Zip tie is my preferred method for securing in situ.

 

[Davyboy888]

@Brigsy Thanks so much for that. According to Febi, it's the same one for just about all of the Clio 2s. The main reason I'm asking I suppose is that a mate of mine came over and took a look at them and said they're (a) the wrong size, (b) should be made of thermoplastic and (c) should have had clips. He then produced a Borg and Beck he used for his Megane and claimed they should look like that - i.e. bigger and made from thermoplastic.

 

[Brigsy]

Megane is thermoplastic, but it doesnt mean rubber wont be suitable regardless as its only a steering rack.

I recall clio 182 being rubber o/s boot which is grey and n/s black. Bascially its the same as lower spec, just tapers up in size for the larger bore on the 182 hpas rack. Oem brown zip ties holding the boot to the rack.

The metal clips for megane rack boots etc are the s***s. You can barely get the tool in to nip it tight in situ so your trying side cutters etc. All mine are zip tied on unless replaced whilst access was easy.

 

[Davyboy888]

@Brigsy Ya you're right, it's not rotating like a driveshaft and is under far less stress from that perspective.

That's right, the OEM ones with the kit have brown/red cable ties.

Right, will go ahead with the Febi ones I've bought. Huge thanks for this @Brigsy !

 

[Brigsy]

Welcome mate.

Ive had a few dilemnas like this in the past on cars where the parts are either unavailable, or not available due to mixing diff parts. My opinion of rack boots, is if the length and rack id is there of thereabouts, it will go. Best off tighter/forcing on at rack end as baggy comes off.

Thin jubilee clip is also an acceptable method of retaining. You can get 8mm thick clips which can work.

 

[Gus]

There is a trick to getting the gaiter on to the rack. I spent hours trying the screwdrivers method with no luck at all - only ended up with cut fingers.

Right.... The trick... You fold the big end lip of the gaiter back on itself about 15 mm. You can then slide the gaiter on to the rack and then unfold the lip on to the rack, you might have to pull a little bit on the concertina part of the gaiter but it will unfold fairly easily.
This method took me 5 minutes per side if that.

 

[Davyboy888]

@Gus Is it the big end that's trickier to get on ? Huge thanks for this though.

 

[Gus]

@Gus Is it the big end that's trickier to get on ? Huge thanks for this though.

Yeah - the bigger end.

 

[Brigsy]

There is a trick to getting the gaiter on to the rack. I spent hours trying the screwdrivers method with no luck at all - only ended up with cut fingers.

Right.... The trick... You fold the big end lip of the gaiter back on itself about 15 mm. You can then slide the gaiter on to the rack and then unfold the lip on to the rack, you might have to pull a little bit on the concertina part of the gaiter but it will unfold fairly easily.
This method took me 5 minutes per side if that.

Thats how i forced 1.2 boots onto 182 rack. About 5mm id difference iirc