front strut upper nut removed

Hi .
Thanks to anyone that can help me with my air suspension problem .
I own a 1997 LSC with the front bags giving up .
I got a couple of front air strut from a 1996 marks VIII that were good and have no crack .
Those were mounted on a car at the junk yard and were full of air .
They look like the expensive OEM replacement part
I wish I had found this site before because I made a big mistake .
I removed the upper center nut and released the air from the bag through the top .When I did that the center axis went down .
When removed and all the air was out I was able to push back the axis but an o-ring seal came out in the same time .
I guess my question is : Can I fix my mistake and have the top put back together or did I kill two good front struts by ignorance , now good for the trash can ;(
I really need to know soon since my compressor might die from keeping up with the leaks .

RE: front strut upper nut removed

Welcome!

Unfortunately, you'll probably have to remove the strut to reassemble. Of course, new o-rings would be in order. I belive this has been done before.

For excellent parts and service, see www.americanairsuspension.com

RE: front strut upper nut removed

Thanks .

I'm glad to hear it might be saved after all .
I'll call them tomorrow .This forum is a treasure of information and I have never seen such an organised , helpful forum about the commitment to a single car .
I love my mark VIII and was dreaming to have one since they were new .
Now with the back up of this site I can have a used one and keep going .
If any other suggestion let me know .
Thanks again .

chris

RE: front strut upper nut removed

I just want to let everyone know that , yes , it can be put back after changing the o ring and no that it won't be any leaks consequences after it .
I have performed this over the week end and it works great .
I must precise that the struts I'm working with were , almost new , first generation fomoco ones , not aftermarket .
Maybe the quality is better .

thanks for this great website

chris

RE: front strut upper nut removed

Glad to hear. So the struts are in the car now?

RE: front strut upper nut removed

Yes they are in the car and they work great .
There's no leaks at all and it holds even after a few days of not using the car .
Like I mentioned they also are close to new fomoco replacements with not a single crack or blemish on them .
The one it replaced were second generation and the rubber was cracked wide open in two places at the top .
American suspension were sceptical it could work after I talked to them on the phone but I guess the internal sealing parts are well engineered because the external visible one I had to deal with , after pushing back the shock axis in position was an o-ring that goes into a conical , like a tiny funnel placement . It then get squatched when tightening the upper bolt .
That's all .