Are they an absolute necessity or can we get by without them? A mechanic I spoke to who is installing my KYB's on said it is not an absolute necessity and said it shoudln't be a problem without them. If anyone feels otherwise, let me know. I will need to locate some locally.

Is there any place that supplies a universal boot that anyone has had success with? Advance Auto told me on the phone that they have two types of universal boots in stock, but would not guarantee they will work for my 1995 SE.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

The boot is there to protect the strut/shock from dirt and road grime.... I would DEFINITELY put them on and I'm sure many others will agree. I'm not too sure about that mechanic

edit:
And if he plans on leaving out the boot, what about the bumpstop???

 

I recommend buying OEM Nissan dust boots. They will fit over your KYB's no prob and will help protect the shock piston. You should go ahead and replace them as long as the suspension is apart. Cheap insurance.

I would be wary of the 'universal' boot that you're talking of as there is no guarantee that it will fit with the OEM mount.

 

As you know, I'm getting the H&R springs with the KYB's installed. The mechanic said that he could use the existing bump stop, but suspects that due to the lowering effect that he may have to cut the dust boot, rendering it useless.

I'm sure this is been posted before, but with the search feature down, I haven't been able to check it out. What do you do with the stock dust boots when used with the lowering springs, if anything?

Thanks.

 

When I swapped out my stock suspension for the AGX/H&R combo, I kept the stock boots and didn't cut anything, including the bump stops and dust boots. I haven't had any problems with bottoming out or anything.

Not sure why your mechanic would want to cut the boot. I've heard of some people cutting the stop, but that's it. H&R's won't drop the car that much so you should be able to keep your setup intact otherwise.

 

Of course your not bottoming out, your hitting the bump stops. Thats what there designed to do, stop you from bottoming out.
The drop does cause the boot to be compressed a bit, especially OEM boots. You can cut 1/4 of the OEM boot to stop it from being compressed all the time. This may lenghten it's life a bit too. Your mechanic is a smart guy, listen to him, he's right!!!

You definately should cut some of the bump stops in both the front and the rear of the car. It makes a huge difference on how your lowered max rides over larger bumps once it's lowered. Motivational rear mounts also give you back 1" of much needed rear suspension travel. Everybody who has them installed notices the difference. Mine are waiting for spring to come, thats when Max goes down again, only this year he's getting Eibachs instead of H&R's.

 

So no H&R/ Tokico like you had discussed earlier? What struts- still the AGX?


On a side note, I got KYB-match dust boots from advance auto. THey were about the same cost as OEM but had the already-trimmed bumpstops. Email or PM me and I can get the part number.