In case you do tear it, does it just expose the closed knuckle joint?
Given the number of axles that are out there without a boot fitted with closed knuckles, is it really a bad thing?
Just curious.
No, this is more like tearing the boot on the axle of a front wheel drive car. The grease flys out under rotation and sand, dirt & water go in. The close tolerances in the CV joint are ruined fairly quickly.
Older vehicles with closed knuckles have rubber and felt seals that ride on a hemispherical metal surface and completely seal the grease and joint.
Newer light duty vehicles like a F250 have open knuckles with sealed U joints open to the environment and sealed ball joints top and bottom rather than tapered roller bearings.
Any Fuso owners from other than USA or Australia on here? These guards are present in Australia and not US. What about ROW (rest of world)?
A lot of FGs have not been sold as 'off-road' vehicles in the US. I think in the early years a majority were sold to landscapers or used to plow shopping mall parking lots in the NE states subject to heavy lake effect snow. Too much for a pickup truck & they didn't want to pay the big bucks for a Mack or Kenworth. They wouldn't worry about protecting these boots from obstacles.