Strut Replacement: Issue with KYB boot

[DAZ88P]

Hi All,

So have replaced all my shocks with KYB's along with strut tops and bearings at the front. Driving much nicer now but having an issue with the new boots and bump stop arrangement.

The day after doing them I noticed that that the boot had come loose from the top holding arrangement which can be seen in the photo attached (I think it is a crap system compared to the original zip tie at both ends). It is basically a plastic ring which inserts into a recess in the rubber boot. After seeing this I first checked the KYB website to confirm the BSK003 bump stop and boot kit was correct, which it is. So I thought I may have secured the bottom of the boot to high up the strut base and when compressed it had popped the top out of its recess so I moved the bottom of the boot down as seen in photos attached.

However it has now popped out again so before I go and do it a 3rd time was after some advice. So if anyone has had experience with these before, should I be securing it even lower again? or should I just flick these and get the holden boot which zip ties to the strut at the top and bottom?

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Just use a zip tie on that boot.

 

[DAZ88P]

Just to confirm the bottom is zip tied and not the issue. The top keeps popping off.


Will try and zip tie to the bump stop then, just wanted to check I wasn't missing something obvious.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Was a bit confusing as you only showed pictures of the bottom. I've fitted KYB's a few times and never had them pop off the bump stop. Is it clean and dry? If there is any grease or oil on the boot or the bumpstop, it will pop off.

 

[DAZ88P]

Yeah thought it might have been a bit confusing after I posted, just wanted to show what it was that I changed on the second attempt.

Was definitely dry, might have had a little bit of grime from my hands but too much of a coincidence for both sides to come off. Will give another go tomorrow and probably secure the bottom of the boot even lower down the strut body to 100% rule out the over compressed pop off theory of mine.

 

[Brett_jjj]

I had the same problems with some KYB brand strut boots on my VS, so I removed them and fitted genuine boots and theyre been good ever since..

 

[DAZ88P]

Yeah wish I had bought a set of originals in the first place but don't want to have the struts out for a 3rd time.

Managed to get the boots re-attached without removing the struts and secured the bottom further down, drove to work and off again. Called KYB in the hope of getting a tip or fix for it but have never heard of it before.

Unless someone has an idea today I'm going to just scrap the ring system and try and cable tie the top as seems to pop off no matter what. It is surprising though it feels pretty solid when I was putting it on.

Few photos attached to show the top arrangement.

 

[Brett_jjj]

Yeah, theyre the same as the ones I tried. Ive still got mine somewhere, I just put them back into their boxes when I removed them again, they were still pretty much brand new. Maybe they would work better on actual KYB struts.

 

[DAZ88P]

For those interested - nothing I tried fixed the issue with the KYB boots, so got some original boots from holden and all sorted. Much better design in my opinion and cost $41 for the pair.

Not sure what other brands boots are like but after having the struts out 3 times in a week, I would definitely recommend going originals from the start.

 

[HSV126]

just to follow up on this, the genuine boots are a better fit and are cheaper, i found this KYB system to work quite well with pedders lowered struts,
perhaps the travel on the genuine strut is too great, forcing them off