Shock Boots?
- Thread starter Jeep
- Start date
What's a shock boot? I havn't run a shock boot since i put the lift on. No adverse effects i've seen. And, most Jeeps you see pics posted of don't have em either. Most of the trucks that have shock boots ussually have about 5 shocks on each wheel with 3 or 4 steering stabalizers with an 8 inch block. At least that's how it is down here. :dunce:
Tylor
Tylor
Living in Utah, which salts and sands the roads during the winter, I've found that shock boots are great for hiding all sorts of grime, sludge and crud and concentrating it in the area where the shaft seal is located,as well as rusting the paint off the shockbody where it hides under the boot........sounds like a great way for the seals to fail prematurely, and perhaps for vendors to sell more shocks? At the very least, it's a great way to spot the poser from the non.........while I've never had a set of seals fail, I also haven't run shock boots for 10 years......hardly scientific, but loaded with speculation, and a fairly lengthy run-on sentence too......hope this helps.
Starboard M
New member
If you get them in hot pink they add a couple of horse power. :dunce: Like what 92jeeper said, I see them mostly on the trucks that never leave the mall.
small pederson
New member
oh my. :confused1jjvande said:
I run them on my Bilsteins just cause they came with them already on and they where attached so well I just decided to leave them. The drain holes where really small so water could get in but I doubt much dirt will. Other companies the boots seem to be crap though and quickly fall off.
jammerjamesharmon
New member
If the shocks are mounted shaft down and body up, I think they are good, to keep the shafts protected from flying rocks. Might even in this configuration cut holes in the very bottem to allow drainage. The other way they are bad news as stated above they keep all the crap in and no way to drain.
james
www.geocities.com/jammerjameharmon
james
www.geocities.com/jammerjameharmon
Starboard M
New member
That link doesn't work. www.geocities.com/jammerjamesharmon is what it is, I thinkjammerjamesharmon said:
jammerjamesharmon
New member
Roxtar
New member
Being the contrarian I am I'll have to dissagree with the crowd here. I feel they help a lot. They keep most (not all) of the mud and grime away from the shaft seals. Shaft seal failure is the main reason for shock failure. Look at motorcycles. Street bikes work fine with standard wiper style forks. Off road motorcycles, however, all use boot style protectors for the reason I just mentioned. I work in the hydraulics industry. Whenever a cylinder is in a very dirty environment we recommend a boot, or bellows, to protect the rod and seals. It only makes sense to use the same approach to protecting your cylinders (shocks) in the muddy off road environment. Yes, you should pull them down occasionally to check for junk caught inside. I do every month or so and have yet to find much, they do their job pretty well.
Just because something is used by posers doesn't mean it's intended use is wrong.
Just because something is used by posers doesn't mean it's intended use is wrong.
xj92
New member
My rancho 9000's came with boots, but they weren't on the shocks. I got the 2 boots for the fronts on no problem, but the rears wouldn't go on over the already installed pins, so I left them off. Been about 2 years now and no problems either way. I also ran some Pro Comp 3000's for about 2 years with all the boots on, never had a problem. Lived in Utah at the time. If you like them, put them on, if not, leave them off. You'll probably upgrade, trash them in an accident, have to buy a different-length shock, or sell the vehicle before the seal fails either way.