Swivel gaiter kits; rubber or leather?

[Ken]

Re chrome versus Teflon on swivel joints, the government is intending to ban chrome plating from 2024 but is considering modifying their position on this as hard chroming  is used on the bored of hydraulic systems etc and they're unsure of alternatives. It does seem likely though that before long chrome plating is likely to be banned. Where that leaves plating of swivel joints is a question, presumably they are hard chrome plated. It's likely to become more difficult to get done or impossible and therefore more expensive. Perhaps this will push manufacturers towards Teflon coating.

[Betsy1969]

Regarding the suggestion of (re)manufacturing a "better" rubber gaiter then the 1st port of call should surely be Charlesworth Mouldings
Who are members of our club.

Sorry Alan , I think that's who I meant
I take your point about costs and likely demand etc

Regards Andy

[Ed Straker]

I have used the Wittsend pattern gaiter with an Italian leather jacket sourced from a charity shop.

I modified the design slightly to lengthen the leather so I could get a three fold seam to lace together.

So far so good,  will be undertaking an inspection to the two year anniversary this weekend.

[NoBeardNoTopKnot]

...(re)manufacturing a "better" rubber gaiter....
Charlesworth Mouldings
.....
I take your point about costs and likely demand etc

Sorry to mislead. It's rather odd in both colour and feel, thus not immediatly apparent, however looking closely, the Britpart item IS leather. It's good enough.

Hardly pricey, (£30 all in) I wouldn't attempt to make similar for the price, and looking closely, it'll do the job.

I think Wittsend is saying it'd be some very brave man ready to manufacture a concertina offering  in rubber? Standard practice for 'enthusiasts' of our marque is to spend weeks in the quest to save a tenner.

 
You had to smile, and it's long enough ago for few to remember, yet the old forum featured a post from one of our proud number - where living in the back of beyond - had few qualms to spend what must have been 15-20 mins of his time, and further 15-20 mins for his supplier to make the change. Mind, other couriers are permitted a premium. This, wait for it... to be sure he got charged the Royal Mail subsidised price, a price RM are reluctantly forced to charge as part of their licence/universal service obligation). And,  , spent time to let us know...

And no one says a word.

Face it, we are 'careful'. Do we see any proposed rubber item move off the shelves at what would by necessity be a £40-50 additional premium?

Really?

[diffwhine]

The rubber gaiter is not the same as the leather option. The rubber one is available as a "concertina" type gaiter much like a CV joint gaiter. The leather one is a loose fit stitched assembly. Both do the same job, but nobody is suggesting making a replica out of sheet rubber as far as I can see.

[GlenAnderson]

The current Britpart offering is chrome tanned leather, with it's characteristic silvery grey colour. I have just fitted a set and they're absolutely fine.

Chrome tanning is, I think, cheaper; but it's the process used for work gloves and suchlike, and as these things get thoroughly impregnated with Vaseline on initial fitment, and then oil seepage through their working lives, I don't forsee anything other than a repeat of the long working life of the previous yellow leather set.

[Daisythelandie]

Fitted leather gaiters when I put 'Daisy' back on the road after a full rebuild in 1999. The MOT guy questioned the gaiters saying, tongue in cheek, I hope you're not trying to hide something... He could see everything was new. The gaiters are still good today though I don't do many miles to be honest.

Dave.

[Theshed]

Thought I asked this question earlier but I dunno where it went 
I was wondering if I buy some old leather clothes to make a pattern, does it matter about quality and do I still need to do the vaseline thing ?

[Wittsend]

Well, I'd say you need some half decent leather and the "treatment" is to water proof the leather. Repeated applications of Waxoyl or Owatrol will help keep the elements at bay.

[whitehillbilly64]

The Young bloke is doing a Ground up Restoration of his RRC.
We did a batch of swivels with POR15, after we sand blasted them. Epoxy filled then sanded on My Lathe. He set them on a large bearing, spinning them, whilst spraying. After a couple of weeks, dust specs could be felt, so back on the lathe and polished with 2000 wet and Dry, wetted with Kerosine. Came up real good.
We are going to add Gaiters. One set being added to my 80ich.
He came to me yesterday and suggested adding a Zip instead of Lacing them together, out of chamois leather.
Then I can unzip to check and clean.
My Guess is he will make a set and try them.
Any Thoughts?

whitehillbilly

[Wittsend]

Why not ...

Brass or nylon

[whitehillbilly64]

Was thinking Nylon, but now you mention Brass.....

[William]

After getting myself trapped in muddy zip-up coats I'd worry about mud getting between the zip teeth.
I used cable ties through the gaiter thread holes - checking the swivels is just a matter of snipping a few and then replacing them. Takes seconds...

[NoBeardNoTopKnot]

After getting myself trapped in muddy zip-up coats I'd worry about mud getting between the zip teeth.
I used cable ties through the gaiter thread holes - checking the swivels is just a matter of snipping a few and then replacing them. Takes seconds...

Zips don't take too much crud to stop working, and it'll be more work to sew them in.  String is awkward. Cable-ties and snipping one or two to inspect make a lot of sense to me.

[Theshed]

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I just went to LR Supermarket site to order Britpart swivel kit at £20 +Vat, then they show Genuine LR at £60 + Vat. Do LR still do genuine gaitors and are they worth 3 time the price ?