Hmmmm, not good. Before I had mine replaced I called Spartan also and basically got no sympathy. Although I didn't really expect any.
Now I have an 04 Tbird with the same issue in spades.
Here's a suggestion,
Pretty much all of the boots are rotten but still in good condition. So I went in and cleaned them up using Brake Clean and then wrapped Resue Tape around the joint to form a new boot. Not sure yet how long it will last but i have a lot of faith in rescue tape from past uses so if it works for a year or two, I'm ahead of the game.
If you do try it, I would suggest filling the joint with grease using a needle adaptor on your grease gun and then clean the surface well, being careful of course not to admit any junk into the joint.
Attached is a photo of one of the tie rods on my bird. I just happened to have some green so I used that as an experiment. The rest will be black of course. I also put a loose tie wrap to help support the tape.
https://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Tape-R...ds=rescue+tape