Do you need to have strut boots/mounts installed when changing shocks/struts on the front suspension?

Question

I own a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS and was curious if strut boots/mounts are required to install new shocks/struts on the front end of the car. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

The boots are usually OK unless damaged, how-ever the bearing plate that sits on top of the strut may need to be replaced if it is worn or damaged. The mounts if your referring to the rubber mounting parts should come new with the new struts.

Answer 2

   Required? Only if known to be bad.  Advisable? Yes, particularly if there are 60,000+ miles on your car.  The relatively minor increase in the cost of the job is more than outweighed if you decide not to, only to have a mount fail in ten thousand miles.  If that were to happen you would wind up paying all of the labor costs again, including alignment, and then you'd probably be saying "Why didn't I...". The boots on the other hand are not as important.  While serving a purpose, if one were to crack it wouldn't necessarily require re-doing the job but could be put off until the next change.  Consider it hedging your bets.

Answer 3

they are not that exspensive so i would it cost twice if you have to go back to repair an annoying squeek

Answer 4

sometimes they are wore out also.. the rubber boot maybe mount maybe not so much....with out boot the mount wears so.. with out looking it would be hard to say if your are bad or not