Front Caliper Pin BOOTS installation...of all things...

[RayRay]

I'm not a mechanic, nor do I play one on TV...but I consider myself an accomplished parts swapper. So why am I having such difficulty installing new rubber boots for the caliper pins? The two small ones are okay; it's the long one which I cannot for the life of me get installed correctly. It's either folding up, or sliding too far, or coming back out where it came from, or all three. Any tips?
TIA...

[ryanprins13]

Doing this when you try to slide the pin in or once the pin is in and you move it back and forth?


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[RayRay]

I found the problem, but originally I was having difficulty with the long rubber boot collapsing and not enlarging inside the hole for the pin. Couldn't get it to 'pop' back into shape once fit inside its home, or couldn't fit inside the hole at all while using the pin as a guide. Even tried varying sized outer diameter sockets to attempt initial fitment into hole, but no luck.

Finally discovered a reeeeeally handy tip, thought I'd share it here...

Fit the long pin boot into the correct pin hole. Do NOT attempt to install the long boot into the wrong hole.

This tip worked like a charm on both calipers, left and right. Hope this helps someone in the future.
:tmcouldn't find the smiley for banging my head)

[Sleeper]

Lol! We all have those days :^)