Dr. Zhivago

So, I noticed today when hosing down the truck to wash off the bulk of the mud and crap from yesterday's run, that the driver's side rear shock boot had fallen. It is still attached to the shock itself, but it's no longer attached at the top. The shaft is now exposed as the boot is resting on the shock body. I'm not really sure why this happened.

Anyway, my question is this: Do I really need shock boots? Since I'm going to have to put the truck up on jack stands to fix this issue, should I just yank off the boots and be done with them? Or should I leave them on?

Thanks for your input.
G

SoCal4Running

Loose the boots and put zip-ties on the shafts so you can check your travel.

Dr. Zhivago

Hmmm. Interesting idea. I don't know if I would need that information though since I really don't care. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

By the way, I posted this question a bit too soon. I had forgotten how the boots were attached on the Bilsteins, and it was just a matter of pushing the boot back onto the retaining collar at the top. So that problem is fixed. Plus, it was wet and muddy underneath when I had looked earlier. It's since had time to dry so I stuck my head back under there and took a closer look and fixed it.

G

Tacoma Dude

I'm actually interested in this.
I bought a cornfed lift kit from another member and the rear shocks did not have boots, so I'm curious...
1. are they necessary to keep out dirt and grime?
2. why would you want to check for travel (ziptie trick)?

Dr. Zhivago

A lot of guys run without shock boots. They're mostly to prevent damage to the shaft as there are seals on the shaft to prevent crap getting into the shock itself. It has "Wipers" on it to clean the shaft as it moves through it's range of travel.

I was just curious to see what other people had to say about it.

The zip tie would slide along the shaft when the shock moved and were it ends up would be the max travel you would have gotten out of your suspension during articulation. I suppose some might need that information, but I'm not one of them.

G

Tacoma Dude

Okay, yeah I figured the seal would be good but was wondering if anyone's every encountered any problems that they wouldn't have had if they'd bothered with the boots.
As far as the max travel - I understand what the zip tie would be for, but why would you want to know?

Dr. Zhivago

Bragging rights?

G

RsaidF

I just put on a pair of shock boots to prevent them from getting nicks.

Arnold

I stopped using 'em because all they did was hold water in which left rust marks on the shock body. If I lived in a dry area I'd probably run 'em though.

SoCal4Running

Shock boot usually do more damage than good, they hold in water, dirt, grime, which is worse than letting the seals wipe it off; especially if you never check them.

Zip ties on the shock shaft are used not only to check for travel but also to see if your shocks are to long (dont compress fully). Many people assume that shock shaft travel should be equal compression and equal rebound but this is usually not the case.

If your rig is stock with stock suspension stock travel shocks are fine but when you customise it the provided shocks dont always work the best.

Dr. Zhivago

Good points SoCal. But I am talking about the shock boots that come with the Bilsteins. They aren't sealed at either end, so they won't hold anything in. As for the shock travel part of the deal, I know what to expect from the shocks I am running and don't need the information provided by putting a zip tie on the shaft. Still, that would be good if I needed to quantify some unknowns in that area.

Thanks for everyone's input!

Peace.
G

WATRD

I tend to fall on the no boots side of the fence. Unless it's a show rig where you need a splash of color as an accent, they serve no purpose and in the case where they collect grime, their use can actually be detrimental.

CTB

Just to throw my two cents in...

I haven't run shock boots since I put my Rancho's on for the exact reasons that WATRD and SoCal mentioned.

Tacoma Dude

Interesting... maybe I'll keep my $$ and just use my Procomps naked.

WATRD

When you are making a series of modifications to a suspension system, sometimes those mods require you to change the length of the shocks. You can do all the measuring you want and doing suspension extension is easy, but compression is not fun and can be dangerous in the shop. Chains wrapped around the frame and a floor jack have "Darwin Award Winner" written all over it

So, when you want to see if the shocks you are running are bottoming out, the most practical thing do is put a wire-tie on the shaft and wheel it. Once you have got it pretty well dialed in, you can take them off. It's just a measuring device.

Shocks don't like being bottomed or topped out very much, in fact they hate it. So, once you see if the wire-tie got slammed up against the shock eye, you know whether or not the shocks are limiting your up travel and doing the job that limiting straps or bump stops are supposed to do.

Tacoma Dude

Ah... Thanks Rob!