[EF You]

the reason your old one looks that way is because its worn out. when you put the new one on, it will crunch down slightly, but not as bad as the old one. the second picture is how they install. from my experience, those ball joint covers are garbage. i put them on my civic, and they dont seal too well along the base, and end up spewing all of the grease out. wouldnt matter if the balljoints had grease fittings, but our cars have sealed ones, so you cant really refill the balljoint without taking the suspension apart again. IMO you should just buy new balljoints and leave the covers that came with them on. but its up to you