So I know dust boots are important if you live in areas with salted roads/dusty air.... But are they needed in rainy conditions? I just drove around in the rain, then checked the shock rod, and it has some drops of water on it. My intuition says water and koni shock doesnt mix, but i see so many people not running dust boots. Whats the deal?

 

Dust boots aren't necessary, really. Unless you see oil coming up out of the seal, or coating the piston rod, then you won't have water drops going in.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by riceforlife &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So I know dust boots are important if you live in areas with salted roads/dusty air.... But are they needed in rainy conditions? I just drove around in the rain, then checked the shock rod, and it has some drops of water on it. My intuition says water and koni shock doesnt mix, but i see so many people not running dust boots. Whats the deal?</TD></TR></TABLE>
I've been running my Koni dampers for years with no dust boots or shrouds whatsoever in not only rainy conditions, but in Northeast salty slush as well.

There are seals in the damper to keep the oil in and contaminants out. You'll be fine.

Southern Californians' reaction to any weather other than sunny and dry just cracks me up sometimes

 

FYI - I saw the title & figured I would post this - just ordered these "boots" for my aurora rod ends I am using as end links
http://www.sealsit.com/rodendboots.asp

 

dustboots are for 4 wheel drives.

 

I don't know that I'd go so far as to give dustboots a thumbs down. They're not BAD, and definitely not restricted to any specific drive layout.