fleurys Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 (edited) Well, I finally took 1 hour of my time and assemble my first cv half-shaft with new boots made from thermoplastic. Thermoplastic is a blend from plastic and rubber that can withstand higher and colder temperature. It also resists better to puncture and tear. The rockford thermoplastic boots are made from a patented blend called santoprene made by monsanto company : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santoprene My adventure started when one of my boot teared. Went to check what was available and choices were not that great. I checked the ones from a pinzgauer which also has an ifs, and his were made from thermoplastics. At the time I did not know anything about this material. My friend told me that they were very resistant and seeing him going to places I would not dare (at least not at the time :-) ), I beleived him and started to learn about the stuff. My research brought me to RockfordCV ( http://www.rockfordcv.com/rcvboot.htm ) which is the only company I found that carries cv boots for nissan pathfinder. Unfortunately, they did not have anything for R50 (96-2004). They only had boots for 87-89 and 90-95. Not stopping there, I decided to do some reverse part number searches. I looked at the EMPI catalog for part numbers for the boots of 90-95 pathfinder vs 96-04...no luck.... then I hit the jackpot... The 87-89 pathfinder EMPI cv Boots part number are the same than for a 96-04 ! Bingo... Called rockford cv and ordered 2 sets of their 87-89 boots. (part number : 166-21 and 166-23). I decided i was going to take the plunge and see. The boots are about 11-13$ each. I decided to rebuild my OEM nissan shaft with them instead of rebuilding the EMPI crap (that barfed out it's grease 4 days after I installed it!).. I trust a lot more the oem nissan even though there is some surface rust on it, I feel more confident with them.. They fit like a glove and have a nice tight fit around the cv. Was made to go there ! So here you have it : the first (I think) R50 half-shaft with thermoplastic boots. For now they will not go on my truck just yet. I'm keeping them for spare until I put my front strut spacers which will put the cv at more angle. This should be a good test. All pictures here : https://elstevo3.smugmug.com/Rockford-cv-boot Foreground = rockford (santoprene) background = EMPI (shiny (crap) neoprene) You can see the difference with the material. The thermoplastic is a lot less shiny and a lot more stiff. It is also noticeably thicker. Edited July 2, 2018 by fleurys 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01silvapathy Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Wow man, you really outdid yourself with this one! Glad we have you to mod and figure out stuff for the r50's instead of the older less powerfull wd21's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180sx Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esy Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 nice! even though i don't do wheeling, some heavier duty CV boots would still be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 You should let Rockford know about this in case they were cutting back or stopping production, and so they can market them for the R50... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleurys Posted May 18, 2010 Author Share Posted May 18, 2010 Wow man, you really outdid yourself with this one! Glad we have you to mod and figure out stuff for the r50's instead of the older less powerfull wd21's hahaha.. Tks... ...(hey don't start another wd21 vs r50 war hahahaha) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleurys Posted May 18, 2010 Author Share Posted May 18, 2010 You should let Rockford know about this in case they were cutting back or stopping production, and so they can market them for the R50... Good idea... I just finish writing the sales person that sold me the boots. He has pictures and full story... The ball is in their camp now. ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Wicked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleurys Posted June 24, 2010 Author Share Posted June 24, 2010 (edited) On 5/17/2010 at 11:30 PM, laxman0324 said: You should let Rockford know about this in case they were cutting back or stopping production, and so they can market them for the R50... SUCCESS ! RockFord has modified their boot fitment catalog.... you can see this now... Edited July 5, 2018 by fleurys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 How did you go about ordering these? I can't figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleurys Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 How did you go about ordering these? I can't figure it out. you have to it the old fashion way : talk to a real person : 1-815-962-1411 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 you have to it the old fashion way : talk to a real person : 1-815-962-1411 That is great! Ty, I think you can manage that, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 you have to it the old fashion way : talk to a real person : 1-815-962-1411 Time to get on the ol' rotary phone... That is great! Ty, I think you can manage that, eh? One would hope so at my age. If not, I think I have some real problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxLOUDOGxx Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 I just tried to purchase a set for my pathfinder for both axles. I went to there website and parts prices. Called them. not in stock and there prices are higher and wouldn't honor there website prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxLOUDOGxx Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 (edited) 166-21 $12.93 new price over phone $18.25 not in stock 166.23 $13.52 new price over phone $19.60 not in stock the guy was questioning my prices and where I got them. "must be a old price sheet" even though it was from the website. http://www.rockfordcv.com/Bootkit_list_prices.htm#BK166-21 Edited November 6, 2014 by xxLOUDOGxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebelord Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Yup, they havent updated that since 2010 it seems. My POC with them is Ashley. She was able to have them put together the kits to send out to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawairish Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 That sucks. After seeing this post linked from the other thread, I was planning on picking up a set, too. The website's got a pretty solid price compared to RockAuto stuff. They give any timeframe for getting them re-stocked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxLOUDOGxx Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Rebelord, so you where able to purchase a kit? I was going to buy all 4 for my front axles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebelord Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Ya I bought my kits back in July or August. Sent from my Moto X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxLOUDOGxx Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Thank you, I'm going to try and place a order again soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke90 Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Just an update if you're interested, I ordered two sets of both 166-21 and 166-23 today. Total cost was $75.90 plus shipping and they will be shipped out tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmy Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 did you have to call or can they be ordered online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxLOUDOGxx Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 placed a order with Ashley this morning. super nice. $75.90 plus shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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