The rubber boots. Nay

No boot or the hard plastic or metal ones that are actually part of the shock. Yey.

 

Here is what I plan to do when I get my newly ordered shocks with exposed shafts. The rear shaft will take a bit of a beating with pebbles and debris being kicked up from the front tires. That can damage the shaft and effect the seal and cause a leak, causing the shock to need to be replaced or rebuilt. I plan on just making a rubber shield 1/2 maybe 2/3 around to enclose the shaft partially, most of the length of the exposed shaft. Tie wrapped to the body to help deflect debris. Then I can clean the shafts inspect them easily. My Fox ATS steering stabilizer is in front but it's rather protected, and after three years 30K miles it looks and works like new. I think it's more of a risk to get water and mud trapped in the boot and cause issues you can't readily see. There is some more maintenance with this type of shock for sure. Two schools of thought for sure. Good luck.

 

Motorcycles went away from fork boots decades ago. The risk of corrosion was higher than the risk of denting a shaft.

Of course, most offroad bikes have plastic rock guards...

I run no boots. No problems yet. If I ran someplace where there was rocks everywhere, and it was dry, I may choose different.

 

My last dirt bike was a 1986 Kawasaki KDX200.

It had fork boots.

Blue ones.

I loved that bike!

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opcorn:

 

I wasn't aware this was a touchy subject.

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Rancho 9000's here, I tossed the floppy front boots and cut the hard plastic ones from the rear. It has been like that for a full 48 hours now and I can report no issues.


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Personally I toss em in the trash. Seen more damage from them being installed then from them not being there. The shafts are extremely hard not like they nick or dent easy.

 

We don't use them in South Florida. They hold dirt, sand & mud.