I rotated my tires today and noticed that the dust cover that goes around the piston part of the front strut has ripped around the top. It slides all the way down the strut now, and the piston is exposed. I figured it was there to keep debris from getting dragged by the piston into the shock, but maybe not. Does it hurt anything? They are tokico illuminas.

 

thats what it does- protect the very delicate seals inside your expensive shocks
You can try our vendors for a replacement- or Tokiko,
put some duct tape on it for now
The smallest particles do the most damage!

 

Damn! I just taped the hell out of them with about 25 separate pieces of electrical tape (im out of duct tape). It was a bitch getting that tape on there with the spring in the way. I noticed that the other side is starting to rip, too. Doesnt' tokico have a lifetime warranty? I've had them for about 2 years now, but they seem like they are ok so far. Im not sure Im ready to buy new shocks and pay for install/alignment, just for a little dust guard problem. What would you do?

 

anyone?

 

get a mid side water bottle, cut it out, put around it, then tape it up.

 

Thats a good idea. It might be kinda hard to get it past the spring, though, unless I crumple it up.

 

Thats an interesting question if the boot is warranty
Failure of the seals is covered- but would they blame you for driving with a broken boot

Give them a call- find out