i noticed the other day that my tie rod boots were all in tatters so i ordered polyurethane boots from victoria british. sadly those dick licks sell shity (albeit cheep) products and the boots didn't come with any sort of instructions. what's worse, they don't seem to fit snugly over the tie rod. does anybody have any experience with these replacements?

 

No personal experience myself with replacement boots. Did you check tie rod ends for play.
Good chance that they are damaged if the boots were bad. I would recommend replacement
of the tie rods and have the frontend aligned. rx7doctor

 

the drivers side outer was slightly ripped when i installed lowering springs about a month of driving time ago, much longer in actual time because my car has been in storage. now that one is wide open and the passenger outer is starting to tear. could they still be good? i cannot tell if there is any play because they are kinda hard to move. my steering is so numb there is no way i could tell that way. could this have happened because i lowered the car?

 

Don't think it happened because you lowered your car, probably just old and worn. Way to check tie rods for wear is to lift vehicle off suspension, take channel locks and squeeze tie rod end up and down. There should not be any up and down movement. If it's too much
trouble to lift car, take to a tire shop you can trust and most offer free frontend inspection.
rx7doctor

 

I will only buy OEM boots, they have the metal ring that requires you to press fit the boot on, last a loooong time. Vic's is good for alot of stuff, just not the boots.

 

I bought all the parts to rebuild my steering on my car from Victoria British. I am very pleased with the, Tie Rods, Control Arm Bushings, Idler Arm, and Pitman Arm. The Pitman arm came ready to add a Zirk fitting on it for future lub. That is really nice. Like Slammed said, buy all OEM stuff. It is well worth it.