I had my old Bilsteins mounted the opposite (with the boot), but everyone recommended that I reverse them. We haven't had rain here in three or four days, so I was pretty surprised when tons of muddy water flowed out when we took them off. The new ones (THANKS SCHLUD!!!! You gave moral and suspension support) were from Schlud and he didn't have the boot, so I didn't have the option. I'm kinda worried about grime getting on the shaft, but others apparently haven't had any problem yet, so we'll just have to wait and see.