Upper ball joint boot retaining clip (1 Viewer)

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TexLexican

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Can’t seem to spread the clip apart enough to fit in the correct spot. What’s the trick? Thanks.

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The wire supplied in the boot kit is not meant to be a "clip" like the original. Rather, bend it out straight and wrap it arount the boot twice. Then, using two pairs of pliers pull it tight and twist the ends together like a locking wire. Twist it tight enough to where the boot feels snug when you try to rotate it by hand. Finally, bend the pigtail in out of the way for safety but not so as to allow it to puncture the boot.
 
That's one option, although I've never seen Toyota instructions.

My method is to push one end of the ring up to the correct groove, and then using your finger or small screwdriver, slide your way along the clip around the ball joint pushing the clip into the groove. I wish I had a video to demonstrate...
 
Treat it like you slide a key into a key chain ring.
 
The boot kit ring has far lower strength than the factory fitted ring, so I reused the factory ring and tossed the one from the kit.

I made 2 hoops attached to the ring using zip ties to stretch the ring. If you could get a second person to push the ribbed portions of the boots through you'd be done clamping the boot in a minute or less. That way it doesn't cut through the new boot compared to prying with a screwdriver.

Overall, cut the old boot for ease of removal and use zip ties to get the ring on the new one. Cut the zip ties when you got the clamp on at the right spot.
 
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