Disco 2 ACE front actuator gaiter replacement - steps required

Hello, wondering whether it's worth replacing or trying to repair the front actuator gaiter on a Discovery 2 TD5, as follows:

When replacing the gaiter on the front ACE actuator on a Discovery 2 TD5, am I able to remove the nut at the top of the actuator arm that joins it to the bushes long arm and separate the actuator arm enough to slide the old gaiter off and put a new one on?

Or do I need to remove the whole arm or any other nuts / ACE pipes. Reading the RAVE manual (60-63) it seems it only describes how to replace the whole arm and not just the gaiter, I am hesitant to remove the whole arm.

Any help much appreciated, relevant also to https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/ace-actuator-removal-tool.199728/ and https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/ace-rubber-gaiter-replacement.225003/

See below images for context.

My front ACE actuator gaiter has completely torn and separated into two parts:


https://cloud.egami.ch/index.php/s/j6UgTsfZVjw0BLD

I have a replacement gaiter and the tool to remove the below nut:


https://cloud.egami.ch/index.php/s/ocNmIp39RSZiG8P

Not sure, but I think someone has done it on here or D2BC.

I have a new ram to chuck on the front.

The rod is threaded so may be some form of nut.

Page 1003 of RAVE

Page 1003 of RAVE

Page 1003 of RAVE

You can get it on without removing the actuator. The difficult part is getting the nut off but if you have a tool for that, it's not too hard a job.

Alpinejim said:

You can get it on without removing the actuator. The difficult part is getting the nut off but if you have a tool for that, it's not too hard a job.

Click to expand...

I'll give it a go, at least taking off the top nut and trying to squeeze the gaiter off, and post the outcome

egami said:

I'll give it a go, at least taking off the top nut and trying to squeeze the gaiter off, and post the outcome

Click to expand...

How did this go?

I'm looking at the same situation.