my struts or spring or whatever usually has this rubber protection on it, now its sticking out and off of it.... is that bad?

Oh I hate it when the rubber breaks lol you could have problems, mine are broken too, I have to replace my sturts soon you may too.

:'(
damnit i'm so poor

I'm gonna jack it up and duct tape it

those guys aren't that much money.. pull the struts off and put things back together right.

if you're talking about the rubber "sleeve" on the end of the springs, they're not necessary, but they will keep down noises and squeaks.

i'm gonna do that when im not knee deep in snow :P

i've been hearing grindings which worry me

hey man i got the same problem.
meh...i'm just gonna wait until it gets really bad and then replace the shocks/struts/springs with aftermarket stuff.
but what's really scary is...the rubber boots that keep **** from getting into my cv joints are all torn up. one or two are still barely hanging on the others are gone.