Help identifying this part of suspension

[My_FirstCar]

Could someone tell what these rubber parts are called on my front suspension? They seem to be broken. How important is it that these are replaced? I’m getting my rear coil springs replaced soon so was just wondering if this was worth doing these at the same time. The car is a Mazda 2.

[President Merkin]

The yellow part is a bumpstop, the corrugated piece is just a dust cover. Replacing either requires disassembling the strut assembly.

Edited by President Merkin on Wednesday 21st June 14:07

[Rushjob]

AKA gaiter

[My_FirstCar]

Do you think it will need replacing urgently?

[sherman]

My_FirstCar said:

Do you think it will need replacing urgently?

It is not an imediate problem but will over time let in more dust and dirt to those moving parts. It will fail faster than if the gaiter was fine but its hard to say how much faster.

[Benmac]

My_FirstCar said:

Do you think it will need replacing urgently?

No, it'll be fine until the springs are being replaced if you're doing that relatively soon.

[aka_kerrly]

Strut dust cover seams to be tangled up, you maybe able to jack the car up and rotate the rubber cover/stretch it back out without having to remove the entire strut.

I'd get a pressure washer up in those arches before doing any work on that car. Looks like a fair bit of mud build up, I expect the arch lip is also full of mud which will accelerate the rust process.

[My_FirstCar]

Yeah. I am getting getting the rear springs replaced soon however the rears don’t have the gaiter, only the fronts. I’ll think I’ll just leave it until it starts to become an issue as I already have some other parts to be replaced soon so don’t want to lose all my money haha

[LuS1fer]

In the old days, motorbikes used to have fork gaiters to protect the forks. When looks became more 8mpirtant, they ditch the gaiters.

Over time, dirt and grit tarnish and pit the chrome, leading to failure of the seals but regular housing should minimise that. Easier to cut them off once they fail as they can trap grit inside.