Put the boot in

One of the worst jobs on many cars is having to replace worn out shock absorbers – or dampers as they are correctly known but rarely called. Some just wear out over time but a good quality unit such as the Boge Sachs struts on the previous project Saab 9-3 were still in fine fettle after a hefty six figure mileage – but if the rubber or plastic protection boots (or gaiters) had split and started letting water and road dirt in, the damper seals would have been damaged, the chrome plating on the damper shaft scratched – and the inevitable corrosion ruining the damper seals, which will start to leak.

So, when we found that both boots on our Nissan were split, we set to and renewed them. The driver’s side was really bad, the passenger one less so – and it was only really noticeable when the car was up in the air that you saw the state of them. We were a bit surprised to see them this bad on such a youthful car.

Even so, they had to be renewed in order to preserve what are still good strong dampers. With a bit more thought, the strut could have been removed without taking half the car apart and