Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

[Gary B.]

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Thanks,


Gary

[Ray G.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

Thank YOU Gary

[Gary B.]

[Gary B.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

I want to give people an update about the “new repro” tire lock boot that eBay seller jbcorvetteparts is currently selling. An NCRS colleague just purchased one of those new repro boots and he contacted me and sent me photos. Unfortunately, that new repro differs in obvious ways from original GM boots. By way of background, the first six photos below show a GM NOS tire lock boot. Notable features of authentic GM boots are that the rubber feels a bit thin or flimsy, resulting in the boots not maintaining a nice bi-symmetrical shape, the edges or corners on the top side are not sharp, and there is no mold parting seam.

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Contrast those features of a GM original boot with the features of the new repro boot, shown in the last three photos.

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The new repro appears to me to have distinctly sharper edges around the periphery on top, and there is a very obvious mold parting seam. Unfortunately, those incorrect, non-original features are not detectable in the one photo provided by the eBay seller (see 2nd photo in post #1 above). It’s not clear to me that the photo on eBay is actually a photo of the repro boot being sold. And I think that photo could be intentionally misleading on the part of the seller. And as I said in my previous posting, the seller never answered my question when I asked him if there was a mold parting seam. In my option, that seller is not being forthright with buyers who are looking for a boot that will pass muster with NCRS judges. I do think that that repro boot is a bit better than another repro boot that I’ve seen.


Having said all this, that new repro boot is $16, whereas NOS GM boots are $80 to $100. Those are the options we currently have.

I hope this information is helpful to people.


Gary

[James G.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

Great photos illustrating the differences.
Thank you.

[Anthony C.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

6CE2CBC3-EDD8-47DA-A4D9-C97ADF3D114B.jpgHi this is what my 75 original key boot looks like if that helps

[Gary B.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

Anthony,

After having looked at many tens of original tire lock boots and comparing them to NOS GM service replacement boots, I believe this is a case of the production line part and the service replacement part being identical.

Gary

[Joe L.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

Anthony,

After having looked at many tens of original tire lock boots and comparing them to NOS GM service replacement boots, I believe this is a case of the production line part and the service replacement part being identical.

Gary

Gary------


Well, I've got 2 NOS examples of the GM #3841701 [not for sale] but after spending 45 minutes trying to dig them out I came up empty. I must have "mis-inventoried" them in the tote bin of another parts group. That will mean a lot of looking as I have many tote bins of each parts group and I do not have the time or inclination right now. However, in the process I did come across NOS examples of the GM #3797485 license plate frames. These are the originals that were supplied with my 1969 and never installed on my car. I'll picture them in another post.

[Gary B.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

Joe,

No need to track down your ms-inventoried tire lock boots. I’ve inspected GM NOS boots in the old paper, GM envelope packaging, the crinkly, brittle plastic GM packaging, and the most recent flexible plastic GM packaging and I’ve not seen any difference in the boots. Those changes in GM packaging probably span more than 40 years.

Gary

[Fred H.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

I believe David Sokolowski 3103295334 has OEM boots

[Harry S.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

Gary, I've seen and felt many original boots over the years. I never paid much attention to them but thinking about them now, I believe they were much thinner than the current boots that are available. Thoughts?

[Gary B.]

[Gary B.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

I believe David Sokolowski 3103295334 has OEM boots

Fred,

Are you saying David S. has used, originals? Or NOS unused?

Gary

[Fred H.]

Re: Reproduction of spare tire lock boot, GM #3841701

He may have both, we got a nice used original for our 72.