you have to keep them clean, mud and clay will ruin your boots, but it will ruin your seals too, control arm bushings, and bearings. you have to hose all that out after every muddy ride, so i just make sure all that is clear. it depend where you ride. i had my prairie a week before i had a stick go through the plastic cv guard and i got a new boot, the manual, and aluminum cv's after that never had another one go. but i had sticks go through my fenders (300 bucks ), had a big metal bumper and skids on that but still got pushed into the plastics a few times and the fenders poked out a little and had to replace the fender extensions a few times