Evereybody rubbing or spraying rubber parts with silicone spray is simply killing their parts faster. Silicone spray removes the UV resistance of the rubber causing it to deteriorate faster.
Use 303 aerospace protectant. Most marine, RV and private aircraft supply shops carry it. It is the only thing that will protect the boots. There are a couple non-silicone tire dressings sold by 3M that work, but they are hard to find and hidden among products with silicones.
www.303products.com
If you read the bottle of silicone spray, nowhere does it say it protects rubber. Its sold ONLY as a lubricant, because it doesnt protect! How people got an idea that it protected is beyond me...
I use silicone spray for mounting motorcycle race tires. Its negative effects dont bother me, as a set of tires only has to last for 3-4 days at the track spread over a couple weeks.
I never understood this common misconception that it protects... It doesnt, and most tire manufacturers will NOT warranty a tire for sidewall failure if they find it was treated with products containing silicone because it just strips the UV protectant off and allows UV rays to murder the tire.
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Matt
2003 Jetta Wagon TDI 145,000MI
1999.5 Jetta TDI 287,000MI
2001 Suzuki SV650S 26,000MI
2008 Yamaha Vino 125 11,000MI
http://www.crazymatt.org
