Element

iTrader: (5)

Primarily for the guys who ditched the entire stock shock/spring assembly and went with a new front setup...what are you all doing for the dust cover on the front Bilsteins? I know the rears come with new ones, but I'm in a bit of a twist because I haven't been able to find a place that sells the OEM front shock dust boots.

Kurt D

iTrader: (2)

I cleaned and reused my stock ones per the instructions. The bump stops are also built into them.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

My KYB GR2 shocks didn't have boots in the front either, but I destroyed the originals trying to get the old dead shocks off. So I ran bootless. Never had any issues in the nearly 40k I put on them. I just figured since they didn't come with any maybe they weren't all that necessary.

VinR1

iTrader: (17)

Mine wouldnt fit inside my intrax springs so I tossed 'em

libertyforall1776

iTrader: (2)

The stockers are discontinued. Maybe you can get the Koni dustboots as replacement parts and use those? Or anyone upgrading to Konis in the front, should have some extras...

Element

iTrader: (5)

Both of my shock/spring assemblies are so rusted at the top, there's really no way I can see to disassemble everything and still get the dust boot off intact, so I can't use the stockers. Running bootless doesn't worry me a whole lot since the car is nice-weather only now, but the one thing I'm wondering about is bump stops - would something like these work for the front? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HAL-BC01/

SuperSport01

Bilstein has an internal bumpstop.

libertyforall1776

iTrader: (2)

It DOES?! First time I've heard this. Can you show proof or have a photo?

libertyforall1776

iTrader: (2)

If you cut the shock rod close enough to the dust boot, you should be able to get it off intact... The non-OEM version I saw at Advance Auto is not as thick of a plastic -- more of an accordion design.

Element

iTrader: (5)

That's what I'm going to try and do at work on Monday. Figure hacking the old shocks up doesn't cost me anything (at least to try), vs spending another $150 on parts to put the new shocks in.

I've seen the soft, flexible design a lot; they're pretty common on off-road shocks, but a lot of guys don't like them since once water, mud, etc get in, there's no way for anything to get out of the bottom, since they're not open. I'd run no boots before I'd run those, really.

Just a pain in the *** because of another dumbass GM design.

libertyforall1776

iTrader: (2)

^ If it's any consolation, I destroyed my dust boot trying to get it off on my RS where the passenger shock mount had failed and the sleeve was solidly fused to the shock -- definitely a "winning design". I was lucky enough to find the discontinued parts at a couple random shops...

Good luck (and skill).