Strut Boots?

[deej]

When I first got my Pathy 4 years ago, it needed new struts so I had the dealership put in new lifetime warrantee parts and labor genuine Nissan struts. I took it in the other day and they said both strut boots were cracked open and I asked how much if I had them replace them, they said about $400 parts and labor so I said "they should be covered by my strut warrantee", they said "no, they aren't" so I asked "would leaving them the way they are void my strut warrantee?", they said "it might"

 

Should I have to pay to have the strut boots replaced? The way I see it, those boots are NOT a sealed unit and all they do is protect the shaft from scuffs that could wreck the strut. All of the boot is still there, it's just cracked open. I've done struts before on other vehicles and it's a bigger PITA than I want to do right now but I don't want to have to fight with the dealership if the struts ever need replacing. Is this a "cut and dry" REPLACE THEM BOOTS or would I have a legit arguement if the struts need to be replaced by warrantee?

[vengeful]

The rubber strut boots for $400 P/L! You've got to be *Squeedly-Spooch*ing me! That is freaking outlandish! I can't imagine the parts cost more than $10-15, so they're charging you $360 to do something that a Pep Boys Auto Care Center does for $65 a side!

 

Ridiculous!

[thatguy03]

sounds like u have to supply your own vaseline too

tryin to r*** you

[88pathoffroad]

They're not worth replacing and no, they shouldn't void the warranty. My shocks have had no boots for years and they still work fine.

[RedPath88]

To Boot or Not To Boot, that is.... a question that is often up for debate

 

On one side, you have the argument that the boots protect the shaft from scratches and keep dirt and grim away from the seals.

 

On the other, is the belief that the boot actually increases the damage done to seals once something does enter boot... by not letting it out.

 

As you said the boots are not sealed... so stuff can get in. One reason they are not sealed is to allow drainage of any water that gets in. Also, if they were sealed then they would not be so willing to compress with the shock/strut.

 

I think it boils down to what type of off-roading you do and how hardcore you are. The more you jump into mud holes the more crap will get into and stay inside the boot. But in the case of desert running/beach driving, they may actually help more by having them on by letting less sand get to the seals.

 

 

My Yota has Trailmaster SSV's and I installed them with the boots, 9 or 10yrs ago (soon after the SSV's hit the market) and they still work perfectly. With the Nissan I chose to not install the boots on its ProComp ES3000's... Why? because I really do not think it will hurt... I know several people who, like 88, have been running bare shocks for years and they have had no issues because of it.

 

Bottom line.. " Leave Them" as you should be alright, in my opinion

Edited March 30, 2006 by RedPath88

[Precise1]

I also run 'naked' shocks. My thought is that at least I can clean and inspect them. Same goes for struts in my book. $400 to replace rubber boots ?? NO WAY IN HADES !!! I'd just leave them alone. It shouldn't void the warranty, and do you like the way the 'new' struts ride ?? How many miles on the truck ? How many before the last ones failed ? How many miles on these so far ? How long do you plan to keep it ? You can see where I'm going...

 

B

[deej]

I also run 'naked' shocks. My thought is that at least I can clean and inspect them. Same goes for struts in my book. $400 to replace rubber boots ?? NO WAY IN HADES !!! I'd just leave them alone. It shouldn't void the warranty, and do you like the way the 'new' struts ride ?? How many miles on the truck ? How many before the last ones failed ? How many miles on these so far ? How long do you plan to keep it ? You can see where I'm going...

 

B

Yup, I totally get you The Pathy had 119,000 kms (70 kmiles?) when I got it, the struts were the originals and leaking. I've got 180,000 kms now and they aren't leaking yet. The reason they said they never put new boots on when they replaced the struts was because they were fine then. The way I see it is if the $35 boots were suppose to be "protecting" their new struts, they should have replaced them when they replaced the struts. The warrantee, AFAIK, is only on manufacturers defects of the strut which should be pretty easy to identify if they fail (including leaking), they should not leak if they were built right, with or without the boot (a glorified "dust cover"). All in all, Nissan is usually pretty good with their products and that's who would here from me if the stealership tries to get in the way......

 

Oh yeah, they can blow the $400 "boot job" out of their a$$!

[Mr. Pickles]

I vote leave them or rip them off. Besides, I bet you'd never be able to actually get them replaced under warranty when they die. There's almost always a hidden clause that can be pulled out.