Front Strut Air Bag

DLF

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So, I'm starting to get into the '98 LSC I just bought. Going through the entire suspension, and upgrading to Cobra hubs, brakes, wheels, etc.

And I found this on the driver's side. Apparently changed out just before I bought the car, dated 12/10/08, but the bag doesn't look right to me. Any thoughts? Bad install? Over inflated?

Any advice would be appreciated.

And, yes, I'm going to replace the upper control arm ;)
 

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It looks broken!?

The strut is fine, the bag is just "cocked" for lack of a better word. I guess I'll call Arnott tomorrow.

I was thinking about letting the air out of the bag, compressing the strut, and seeing if that made a difference.
 
that is a busted strut, the bag is fine, sure it just looked crooked like you said, but what happened is the shaft inside the strut is busted, it happened to a mark i had in my shop once. you better stay away from it, or unplug the elec plug that powers the solenoid and stick 12 volts to it and let it empty out, that is a very very dangerous situation you have, do not drive on that until its replaced. seriously i had an ex-buddy of mine almost decapitate himself in my shop when a strut full of air off the car blew up in his hands, its no joke the side of his head and eye were black for 3 weeks. the whole metal top of the strut blew off into his face. this was the same way as your strut, the inside metal cylinder was broken in two...
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Thanks!

I'll let the air out of it tomorrow (12v to the solenoid is better than just removing the solenoid?) and take it off of the car.

That side of the suspension did droop farther when i put it up on the lift, so it may in fact be busted.

Let's hope Arnott stands behind their products!
 
Busted!

Busted!

Jamie, You were right on (again :rolleyes:), it definitely busted, thanks!

Now I have to go to war with Arnott, and their non-transferable warranty :frown:
 

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Talk to the previous owner and see if he will help.

Yeah...

I've sent an email and left a voice message for the "Used Car" dealer I bought it from, hoping they have the invoice. Arnott says if they call, they'll replace it under warranty. :D
 
good luck getting it replaced i hope you dont have to pay. on another note, you'd think i know a thing or two about these cars huh?? LOL!
 
To make a long story short, Arnott wasn't willing to warranty the unit, because they felt it was damaged due to an improper installation, and since I didn't install it, I couldn't argue very much.

However, they were willing to give me a discount on a couple of replacements (I wanted a matched set), so it could have been worse.
 
I would likely fail miserably in a parts business. That strut was obviously 'new', whether or not the original purchaser still owned it.

How do you improperly install a strut to cause a failure like that? If I'm in charge at Arnott I would've covered it under warranty.
 
If I were you, I'd sell the new strut you'll receive and forget about Arnott. Clearly it's a company to definitely stay away from. Nothing new here really.
 
Well Personally i had really good luck with them... they worked well with me when i over haled my air ride... i guess someone will always have problems with a company..
 
when you get them in there packaging they are simi rolled up like they should be so when you inflate them the unroll like there supposed to... i don't know if they got it in the mail like that the person packing it was on drugs.... it had to be while installing it.... like they installed one and left deflated for a long time or something i don't know....
 
curtis you dont understand what broke on it, inside that air bladder is a standard charged strut cartridge and the rod snapped inside causing the whole strut to majorly over extend. that strut was not installed improperly, thats a plain old defective strut and thats total b.s that arnott would not waranty it no matter who bought it, its new, and it snapped, thats why i always shoot down arnott, many people have had good luck with them, that will never be enough for me to ever say anything good about them, i have seen tons of their product in the last 10 years parting out mark VIII's and everything i have seen is garbage. usually its a year old or less strut from them leaking, or rides like a strut with 400k on it.
 
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