Yesterday I had the Toytec front adjustable coil overs, and rear Toytec springs installed and my new tires put on! :clap: Aside from a few adjustments and tweaks I need to make it turned out well and looks to be a great set-up.
For the new rear shocks Doug suggested the Pro Comp 9000 shocks which I went with. I didn't open the boxes and just took them to the shop yesterday morning. Last night I noticed that the shocks did not have any boots or cover on them, just the bare shaft. So my question is...should I take the shocks off and install some kind of boot on them? It seems like some kind of covering would be nice to protect them but I also know that some boots can be a pain.
Go bootless. Boots will trap sand and dirt against the shock strut which will make them fail prematurely. Without the boots you can just rinse this stuff off.
i dont run boots on my jeep which sees a fair share of disgusting, sloppy, silty, and dusty materials. i dont know any wheelers that actually do run them. at the shop, they always put them on a strictly street truck.
I think all of the photos I have seen of the new adjustables show the shocks without the boots on. I did wonder about this as well. I guess the spring is in the way of any big rocks hitting the shock, so I am sure it is fine. You should be washing off the mud and stuff after any runs anyway...
You can go bootless but if you do a fair amount of wheeling in harsh sandy gritty environments, the shock piston will get pitted and fail. I run boots. As long as you inspect the drainage holes at the bottom of each boot, you should be fine. I do a lot of sandy type four wheeling.
If you take your FJ off roading where there is a lot of mud you dont want shock boots, they just trap crap.
however, if you hardly go off roading it would be better to have them.
If you wheel in the desert or other dusty dry conditions i would wear boots.
I talked to one of the techs at Walker Evans Racing just last week about my shocks. i have a rear that looses the nitrogen. i was told by him that they recommend running boots on the rear shocks because of where they are mounted, on the front side of the wheel. he told me they see a lot of them with nicked shafts from stones being thrown at them from the tires. the nicks then eat up the seals and you get a bad shock. i have always stayed away from boots because i have seen them fill up with mud, but now i'm going to put a pair on mine.
the factory shocks had guards covering the shafts....... maybe Toyota is smarter than we think?????
Actually that makes alot of sense. So OME shocks might be the best way to go.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum
3.7M posts
122.7K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Toyota FJ owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, accessories, mods, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!