After replacing the passenger side strut insert and buttoning everything back up, I notice the inside edge of the ball joint boot is cut horizontally just where it faces the control arm. Could this have been caused by pinching the boot when the strut was pulled down from the tower, or was it likely to be pre-existing? (I have yet to do the second strut, and don’t want a repeat; the other BJ boot is fine)

I did not loosen the BJ-to–control arm bolts at all. Instead, I partly compressed the spring inside the wheel well, and then pulled it outside to finish compressing the spring until the spring seats were loose. I noticed the control arm seemed VERY far down, but I was focused on not stressing the brake lines, and not on the ball joint articulation.

The floor jack was under the control arm initially (with a stack of 2 x 4’s to avoid hitting the brake rotor shield). The control arm ended up falling off the jack (probably during tightening the spring) and I was supporting the strut against my leg to finish the spring compression. The 3/16” rod hooked through the sway bar eye was –completely- inadequate to hold the strut by itself (adding a second rod hook did OK).

With the control arm so far down, and me holding the strut just outside the fender, did the ball joint bend far enough to pinch a hole in the boot? Any thoughts or experiences? Any replacement boots or repair available? (3M insulating putty?)(Have not done the BJ movement test yet)
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Jim (90 244DL 170K miles)