To boot or not to boot...
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
From: Port St. Lucie, FL
To boot or not to boot...
... that is the question.
I installed the dust boots on my new Rancho RS9000XL shocks. I see from many pics that a lot of folks leave off the boots.
Here in Florida we don't get into dusty conditions very often but mud and water crossings are the norm. In those conditions do the boots trap and hold contaminates or protect the shock shafts and seals?
I installed the dust boots on my new Rancho RS9000XL shocks. I see from many pics that a lot of folks leave off the boots.
Here in Florida we don't get into dusty conditions very often but mud and water crossings are the norm. In those conditions do the boots trap and hold contaminates or protect the shock shafts and seals?
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 165
Likes: 0
From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
... that is the question.
I installed the dust boots on my new Rancho RS9000XL shocks. I see from many pics that a lot of folks leave off the boots.
Here in Florida we don't get into dusty conditions very often but mud and water crossings are the norm. In those conditions do the boots trap and hold contaminates or protect the shock shafts and seals?
I installed the dust boots on my new Rancho RS9000XL shocks. I see from many pics that a lot of folks leave off the boots.
Here in Florida we don't get into dusty conditions very often but mud and water crossings are the norm. In those conditions do the boots trap and hold contaminates or protect the shock shafts and seals?
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 487
Likes: 1
From: L. I., New York
I think you should get the boot it always serves as protection, if you think that water will get trapped in it then get a hole puncher and pop a couple of holes in the bottom where no one will see it and it will let the water out, which I think the boots already com with the weep holes already punched out. Just my.02 Good luck and post some pics.
Eternal ***erator
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 18,270
Likes: 3
From: Niagara, New York
all for booty, 
but IMO say no to boots. in the NE they just trap all kinds of road salt and screw up the seals. I had the boots on my old F150 and the shafts on the shocks when i changed them out where all corroded and rough, which i am sure is what destroyed the seals.
but IMO say no to boots. in the NE they just trap all kinds of road salt and screw up the seals. I had the boots on my old F150 and the shafts on the shocks when i changed them out where all corroded and rough, which i am sure is what destroyed the seals.
JK Super Freak
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,633
Likes: 0
From: Forsyth County, GA
I am installing my Ranch SPort Lift next weekend with the RS9000XL shocks ... after much Google Searching I have decided NO BOOTS.
I installed a boot on a HD SS I put on my JK about 2 months ago. After researching the boot issue ... I went out and cut the boot off. Sure enough after only 2 offroad excursions it was full of sand and damp dirt .....
I like the Factory Shocks Self cleaning hard plastic boot. SOmebody should design these for aftermarket shocks. It protects the shaft from rocks and flying debris but nothing gets trapped.
I installed a boot on a HD SS I put on my JK about 2 months ago. After researching the boot issue ... I went out and cut the boot off. Sure enough after only 2 offroad excursions it was full of sand and damp dirt .....
I like the Factory Shocks Self cleaning hard plastic boot. SOmebody should design these for aftermarket shocks. It protects the shaft from rocks and flying debris but nothing gets trapped.
Last edited by dmhines; Jul 16, 2010 at 07:30 AM.
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JK Freak
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 686
Likes: 0
From: Land of the rising sun
I say no boot, after 1 good trip out in the Florida mud the little drain holes will be clogged up and they'll hold everything in. I lived there for 7 years, and after 1 year of mud wheeling I had to get new shocks due to all of the rust on my shock pistons. I'll never put boots on my shocks again.
