I Was wheeling yesterday and my rubber boot on the front drive shaft got torn. Does the boot need to be there or can I just leave it how it is?

 

You should replace the boot. It's there to keep dirt out.

 

The boot is there to protect the splines. You can live without it for a good while. I would just wait till you end up replacing the whole DS down the line. Here is a real world scenario where it could cause an issue over an extended period of time......say you go to regear, you're going to have to compress the DS to get it off the pinion flange at the diff. If that is rusty and such at the splines, you will get it to compress, but it might not want to extended again when you go to reinstall it at the pinion. Other than that, it's not THAT big of a deal. You can drive with it for quite a while like that. The boot on my rear ripped the first time out. I drove about 3.5 years like that and it only caused an issue when I regeared.....the very issue above.

I avoid mud, but as davescott pointed out....you'll get dirt/mud in there as well if you're in to muddin'.

 

You good with out the slip joint boot, most aftermarket driveshaft don't even have one

 

this is true....however after market driveshafts are greasable. still, you're fine for a long time.