Dust boots necessary?

Neptune15 · Jul 5, 2012

I only just realized that my dust boots on my FRPP dampers are installed wrong. I had a shop put the springs on the strut, and they put the dust boot on before the bump stop. Stupid me didn't realize anything was wrong at the time, but I took a look under there today and lo and behold the dust boot is crammed to the bottom of the spring, strut exposed.

I really don't feel like taking it apart, but if it means shorter strut life than I guess it leaves me no choice. I was wondering if I could just cut them off, and if anybody ran struts, or more specifically, FRPP struts without the boots without issue?

Geezer · Jul 5, 2012

Yes you can use the strut without the boot. It's not a perfect situation but will work. The boots job is to prevent "heavy" dirt from collecting on the exposed piston shaft. The top seal of the strut is what actually wipes the rod clean. The boot just reduces the work it has to do. There's lots of struts/shocks that do not use boots. They're much more important on off-road shock and struts. The worst case scenario is that a shock/struts life can be reduced over time depending on the environment the shock lives in.

On the other hand, the people you paid to do the job should be responsible for correcting the installation error.

felixthecat · Jul 8, 2012

I'd take it back= its not your fault for that. I've caught myself a couple of times doing that too. Easy to do if your not paying attention.On the front struts the bump stop goes on 1st then the dust boot. On the rear the dust boots go on 1st & then the bump stops. & since they are tearing down the front end, that means to check your toe again= rear first & then the front.

Neptune15 · Jul 9, 2012

I'm considering just cutting them at this point. If they go bad, it's an excuse to get coilovers [thumb]

felixthecat · Jul 13, 2012

Neptune15 said:
I'm considering just cutting them at this point. If they go bad, it's an excuse to get coilovers [thumb]

Just go back & have them put on the dust boots & set the toe. Its not your fault & no big deal. If you wanted coilovers you should have gotten them. Would you use them? probablley not. I'd enjoy the FRPP set up that you have.

Neptune15 · Jul 18, 2012

No way I'm letting those guys touch my car ever again. If I didn't mention it already, they put my spring on upside down the first time around, but that I did see. I figured that was just a fluke mistake, but having messed up on 2 aspects of a ~5 part assembly is just embarassing. They really looked professional and all too.

I went to town with a pair of shears. We'll see how long these struts last.

Before:

After:

Neptune15 · Jul 19, 2012

Just a small note to add.

While driving today I noticed the front struts seemed to work a lot more efficiently than they did. Much more comfortable now. And it wasn't a placebo effect. This caught me by surprise. Makes the mechanic's mistake even more mind boggling.

I didn't think a little rubber insert could affect the mechanics of a strut controlling hundreds of pounds... but live and learn!

Dust boots necessary?

Neptune15

Geezer

felixthecat

Neptune15

felixthecat

Neptune15

Neptune15

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