Shock boot - yay or nay?

[wkeryder4]

Hey everybody,

So I've been having this flapping noise that I hear whenever I'm driving with the radio off and I think I've finally found the source. I'm installing my new coils tonight and I got the front up and I noticed that both my rear shock boots have pulled themselves off the shock body. Should I look into replacing them or just pull them off and leave them off? I know they are there to keep debris out but if I replace them I'm thinking it will probably just happen again. What do you guys think? These are the bilstein 5100's by the way.

 

[ebg18t]

Boots keep a lot of the crap off the shaft. Keeping the area clean helps the seals stay clean and last longer. I suggest keeping the boots. Use a zip tie to stabilize them if needed.

I wish I could put boots on my Fox's, but I just get then rebuilt every other year.

 

[wkeryder4]

I guess I could just continue this thread instead of starting a new one. I'm stuck lol. I'm putting 885's up front and I can't get the lower ball joint back up to the hub. The coil is at full compression and the hub won't move down any further. Any ideas? I hope this isn't because I'm still on the oem UCA's. I'm planning on getting new ones in the near future but I'd hate to have wasted the past few hours.

 

[LTDSC]

Boots keep a lot of the crap off the shaft. Keeping the area clean helps the seals stay clean and last longer. I suggest keeping the boots. Use a zip tie to stabilize them if needed.

I wish I could put boots on my Fox's, but I just get then rebuilt every other year.

They also can hold a lot of crap on the shaft and seal area. Just depends on the boot. I don't have them not want them.

 

[ebg18t]

They also can hold a lot of crap on the shaft and seal area. Just depends on the boot. I don't have them not want them.

Very true Sam. This is one of those things with so many pros:cons that there is no perfect answer. The boots I have seen on the 5100's seem to be decent when properly affixed.

 

[tchlong03]

I'd say ditch them if you get in soupy mud they can possibly fill up and dry in there.

 

[wkeryder4]

I ended up cutting them off. It was definitely the boots that were causing the noise and when I opened them up there was some dry clay and mud down in the bottom of them.