On my 99.5 7.3 I notice the boots under my turbo that hook to the heads looked like they were squashed or coming off, so I loosened the lower clamp and straightened it out. But when I tightened it, it caused the boot to move up toward the turbo. Truck has 140K on it. There is no soot on them or in the valley. Is it time to replace them or could I install another hose clamp in the middle to keep them in place?

 

They are probably oily inside the boots. Take them off and clean them then put them back and tighten them up. If you have never taken them off, I would take all 6 off and clean them.

 

After cleaning everything up, shoot a little hairspray on the mating surfaces before you put it back together. The sticky stuff help hold the boots in place.

 

I like to take a few passes with a scotch-brite pad on those types of surfaces; it helps to slightly roughen up the surface so the boot/tube/hose gets more bite on the connector - besides, what guy uses hairspray???? LOL