I was looking at my front suspension as I was replacing the steering stabilizer I snapped last weekend and I noticed my drag link boot was split on the wheel side as well as pretty misaligned (stretched on one side, collapsed on the other). I dont know if this is due to the 2.5" lift or just part of how it sits but I was wondering if there was a way to correct this. I see they offer a special boot for the TRE (here) but I do not know if that will work on the drag link. Any advice? While I am at it should I get the TRE boots just because or do they make much difference?

 

Are you talking about the regular synergy boot or their first ten misalignment boot?

Same thing happened to me except the boots were on the tie rod. These boots aren't designed for the drag link. They're used for the tie rod to keep it from flopping up or down when you're running hydro assist. These boots definitely help that.

I do believe they had a problem with them splitting because the link you provided is the updated piece with the metal cap. I switched to these after my old ones split.

Because the drag link needs to move with the suspension geometry, I would recommend not using these boots on your drag link. Read the item description.

 

Just replace the boot.

 

Synergy boots are frustrating in general. As Yamaha90 points out, the DL is intended to allow for misalignment....definitely don't use the TRE low misalignment boots on it. You can get a replacement boot for the DL, or find an aftermarket one. I recently replaced my Synergy TREs and noticed the boots that came on the replacement joints were much better.....and held on with a sort of clip rather than the dumb spring. IDK if they've changed styles or if that was just on the replacement joints, but seemed better than the clear ones that originally came with the part.

If you decide to put the low misalignment boots on the TR, I will say they've improved these a bit from a few years ago. The metal now snaps over the bushing part, and they seal much better around the stud than they used to. Typically this kind of boot is used for hydro assist setups cuz the TR can't have the normal misalignment with that......but you can use them if you just don't like the TR flopping around in general.

 

Are there any other aftermarket boots that I can throw on the synergy DL instead of one of theirs again? Im going to look over everything else soon and see if I should replace any others. I have had them on for a solid couple of years now.

 

There's definitely something out there, I just can't recall what it was. An old co-worker had similar issue and ended up finding a non-synergy boot that worked well. Unfortunately that person is long gone and I can't recall which boots they were......just that he did indeed find a good replacement. Maybe someone else will chime in.

 

Important with Synergy's drag link boots not to over lube them during servicing. It can split the clear plastic or pop the springs off. The tie rod misalignment boots aren't as picky.

Based upon a scary incident a few years ago, I don't recommend the metal caps and I'm surprised they've started offering them again. I had the tie rod fall off in Moab while pulling into a parking spot. This came after the drive over to Moab and a trail run. Had it happened during either of those segments of the day I might not be here. The cap prevented the taper of the Synergy tie rod ends from properly seating in the knuckles (Reids). I was able to torque the nuts to spec with the metal caps installed, but the tapers went seated. I removed the caps out on the trail and have run the misalignment boots alone since that time successfully. I contacted Synergy, who said they'd had a similar report from another customer. They pulled the caps from their inventory and just sold the boot.. New ones may be OK, but be very careful when installing. In my case there was insufficient clearance between the bottom of the knuckle arms and the TRE. This caused the cap to jam when torqued down. Synergy claimed there's wide variability in the depth of the taper on various knuckles.

 

That's an interesting comment on the low misalignment boots. I tried these a few years ago and they were horrible. I couldn't accept how much of a gap the rubber/poly boot left around the stud....allowing crap down in the joint. I mean, I know in theory pumped with grease it's not allowing water and dirt in the joint itself....but still. I scrapped em at the time and went back to regular boots. I decided to add these back a couple months ago. I don't recall getting a metal cap with the older ones at all.....so was surprised to see something included this time. I immediately noticed that the rubber cap fit more snug around the stud this time. I am 90% sure that when I torqued things down, the metal cap was not even making contact with the knuckle.....which I sense in your explanation was a big issue. I'll have to remember to look closer tonight, but I believe there is a small gap between the metal cap and knuckle, which would lead me to believe the stud it pulled snugly up in to the knuckle.

 

Yes, check by all means. Could lead to a serious incident.

 

One of the lessons I learned the hard way is to make sure the DL ball joint is NOT at an angle.
I had to replace the boot and level the joint so the new seal compressed evenly.

What not to do below