Bellows

[georgew48]

I have a special spray treatment that is made for the rubber seals on my 5th wheel camper to keep the slide seals from drying out and cracking due to the constant flexing of the seals during extending and retracting of the slides. It also keeps the sun from destroying them. I was wondering if I could use this same spray on my outdrive bellows for the same reason. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Bellows

Welcome to iBoats . . .

not much sun gets on the bellows anyway, so it might not do much for you.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Bellows

I don't think it will help much. Drive bellows live below waterline, and they are pretty good rubber quality. You ought to just change them using Mercruiser parts on the schedule. In my lake and my boat they always look good so I cheat and leave mine on an extra year sometimes.

I feel qualified to call the rubber good by reason of my 25 years in the tire & auto fixing biz.
And I feel it's smart to use the factory part because of how much it protects! Broken bellows allows that wet stuff in!

 

[alldodge]

Re: Bellows

I have a special spray treatment that is made for the rubber seals on my 5th wheel camper to keep the slide seals from drying out and cracking due to the constant flexing of the seals during extending and retracting of the slides. It also keeps the sun from destroying them. I was wondering if I could use this same spray on my outdrive bellows for the same reason. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

:welcome: to iboats

The one thing that seams to keep the bellows in good shape is keeping the drive down. Storing with the drive down keeps the strain off the boots. Only issue is remembering to bring it back up