tie rod grease on brake rotors?

Hey guys,

I've had some braking issues with my XJ '00. In a moderate to hard stop, it would pull to one side...driver side. It has done this every since I bought it used 4 years ago and even after putting on new rotors and pads. At first, I thought the tires I had caused this...bfg KO's, but now since I have new different tires, it still does this.

Well, put it up on jackstands and did some looking around...discovered that the passenger side tie rod grease boot has a rip in it and the grease from it is getting onto the backside of the rotor...I can see some grease on the other edge of the rotor.

I can put a new tie rod on it, but this seems like a safety issue...even with a new tie rod grease boot...if something were to rip it again, the grease would get onto the rotor affecting braking performance.

Shouldn't there be some sort of 'grease shield' on the tie rod to prevent this? The tie rods are really close to the rotors.

Well, I did some searching for a repair manual for my XJ...and came across this on one of the ebay ads:

(Please scroll down to very bottom):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1999...20453775415QQptZMotorsQ5fManualsQ5fLiterature

Obviously the pictures doesn't show an XJ, but it does show some sort of cover/shield for the tie rod...shouldn't the XJ have something like this?

thanks.

Energy Suspension TRE boots, polyurethane: http://www.jeep4x4center.com/energy-suspension/jeep-cherokee-xj.htm#tierod

thanks...but this seems more like a design/safety flaw...even poly isn't invulnerable...

funny enough when I grease my tie rods, i put an index card or a piece of an old cereal box between it and the rotor, i had this problem once from a hole in the boot there squirting grease onto the rotor. When i'm done w/ that, i slide a rag back there and pivot the tie rod around a bit to get any grease that will puke out of it, out. Then just pull the rag toward the boot go back and fourth a time or so and remove.

BTW does anyone have a source for RUBBER replacement tie rod & balljoint boots only? I'm not a fan of polyurethane on any level, so the energy suspension stuff is out.

You should be able to get something from most parts stores, NAPA for sure.