life expenctancy of axel boots?

I've been through two pairs of the "PE" brand boots in as many yeats on my swing axel bug. They claim they are made in Germany too. So why do i have to replace them once a year due to cracking and splitting?:vader I usually only drive my bug 4 times a week if that. What's the deal? Has anyone else had the same problems or am I doing something wrong?
:cry
PS: they're the design that looks like the OG 'large 3-rib' design. Not the 'accordian' type.

PPS: Does anyone have any feedback on the quality and longevity of the accordian ones?:vader

[ Edited on 2-2-06 by oval TOFU ]

i would think that you should get several years out of them, especially if you kept them clean and free of dirt etc..

Are they making contact with the gearbox support horns? If that is happening you may need to lift the engine and gearbox a bit using a thin piece of metal under the rear gearbox mounts. Or your front gearbox mount has sagged allowing contact to be made. Or bot sets of gearbox mounts may need to be replaced.

I can accept if the axel is mashing a hole in the boot on the frame horns when i jack the car up, but the actual surface of the boots are perishing from just being fitted to the car. They're quite clean as I'm on sealed roads most of the time. They're definately not filthy... One would think it would last at least 2 years, possibly more since i don't drive that much..

your not alone many of the "german made" boots are actually brazilian and repacked in germany...know this as fact....12mths are the life of brazilly boots..genuine vw may be abn answer cheers steve

i had the accordian type coloured boots on and they lasted for years(still on my old gearbox)
when i changed boxes put so called german ones on and were fine until i stopped driving my car and went to move it and they shat themselves

jnr356 wrote:i had the accordian type coloured boots on and they lasted for years(still on my old gearbox)
when i changed boxes put so called german ones on and were fine until i stopped driving my car and went to move it and they shat themselves

Yeh, the same thing happened me to too. When I had a gearbox rebuild but the car wasn't on the road for the good portion of a year, the boots just started cracking and then just tore really easily after that. What a crock. And at about $15 a pop each time, that's a bigger crock.

[ Edited on 2-2-06 by oval TOFU ]

havent had any probs with mine yet (except getting the damn things on) will have to see what brand they are, they have been there for 12months plus, and i only had to replace 2, the others have been there for who-knows how long (before i bought the car)

I used to get 6-12mths out of mine, but they were on a lifted kombi so it is to be expected as they rub any way.

I found the older they were(when I found some used ones) with slight cracking all over, the better they lasted.

Ihad some that lasted no longer than 2mths :cry