What are you all's opinions on shock boots? Should they have them or should they not

 

i like them without

ps: make a poll

 

can't now after i made the orgional post.....

 

what about the shaft rusting? how do you prevent that?

 

I don't think that the boot makes a difference on rusting. First it has little holes in it, and second, it is not perfectly sealed.

I ran mine for a while w/o boots, but w/ all the mud I go through I got worried about ruining the seals.

 

Leave the boots where they belong, on 80's show trucks.

 

i have been thinking about not running boots on my new shocks that i get today.......

i wonder if i can run them upside down without a problem.....i got the Skyjacker Nitros.....

 

which way you run a shock depends on the type of shock, call skyjacker, they will be able to tell you if they can be ran upside down or not.

 

sounds like a good theory but now the boot is just holding the mud, the seals will not get trashed while mudding it would be from excessive mud stuck there for a long time. the boots help keep the mud/sand/dirt/moisture inside around the shock boot.

Only plus to shock boots is they will keep rocks from hitting the shaft and putting nicks in it, that will cause the seal to leak.

with no boots the dirt washes away when you wash it and they dry on their own.

 

good call^^...........and Skyjacker said no......

 

hmmmm.....i wonder if i should leave my new shocks white with black/no boot or paint them silver with black/no boot....

silver w/black boot:

 

I get it. I would have never thought that either...I like it w/o shock boots (the way it looks)...I wish I would have never put mine on now.

 

The Bilstein 5150's dont even come w/ shock boots i dont think... I'm goin w/ the 5100's and I'm gonna leave mine off...

 

i've been thinkin bout takin mine off also

 

boots are bad mmmmkay!

 

i think i am going to put them on.......since i have a steering stabilizer on the front, i don't want to keep an open cylinder on the front exposed to rocks.....so i don't want 1 boot on and 4 off........

 

suit yourself

 

i installed the boots that came with my ranchos

 

the holes in shock boots are to allow the trapped air out of the boot while collapsing and extending, not really any affect of letting water or dirt out of the the boot. But like Beard said, without the boot, the shock is more apt to being able to be cleaned, and taken care of, without even having to do it manually. With the boot, the contaniments are allowed to sit atop the shock body against the shaft, ruining the seal.

 

^^good call......i will install them and see how they look without and decide then....

what about painting them silver? should i leave them white?

 

Looks is not the issue for me: they help keep crap off the piston rod when offroading. Boots are a good idea.

 

id keep them on just to keep dirt and dust off of them...

 

paint them silver again. or just get the bilstiens.

 

i think i will paint them silver again.....whouldn't be too hard since i have a clean slate to work with.........but they will be silver after the MI meet Saturday..

 

I vote keep them and paint them silver. They will look real sharp.