When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The time has come to start replacing my air shocks. The air bladders are fine, but sadly the conventional hydraulic damper parts of my shocks (all 4) are absolutely goosed - the worst one being front drivers side, which bounces around like crazy.
At the moment, I can't find any used front shocks for less than £180 GBP each - but have found these brand new aftermarket ones on ebay.
At £215 each, they seem like a bargain (I'm on a budget) My question is, has anybody on here bought & fitted these shocks? How good are they? They're available from several ebay retailers, the brand is usually listed as "Maxpeedingrods". They do have a 2 year guarantee, but that would be worthless if one fails & I have to pay for fitting/removal more than once!
I've researched many options, refurbed shocks as far as I'm aware, only have refurbed air bladders. Used shocks, obviously come with the risk that the damper core could be as badly worn as the ones I already have. New Arnotts are crazy expensive here in the UK, as are new Bilsteins. I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has tried the chinese aftermarket option - thanks!
The second hand ones, if you know their history, may be a better bet.
I would have thought that the Bilstein dampers units would be the last to go. Is there an electrical connection to check?
The electrical part of my suspension system is fine as far as I can tell, I recently had a compressor refurb, new ASM & 2 level sensors - I can feel the CATS adaptive damping working & the air levelling works as it should. My local Jag specialist diagnosed the hydraulic part of each shock unit to be the problem. I suppose at 137000 miles, even the best quality hydraulic shocks are going to fail sooner or later.
I agree, decent used originals would be best, but I can't find any with verified history or mileage for sale. I'm disinclined to try the chinese option without hearing from someone who has tried them - so for now I'll have to keep looking I guess.
I haven't used the Shocks you are speaking of, but I'll give some insight, of what I've learned about most Chinese products. A lot of stuff is made in China, and if it was made for a large Name Brand company, it is usually pretty good, if not excellent quality. As it is being overseen by the Parent Company. That being said my experience with the so called Chinese Knockoffs, have been poor at best. They look good, and seem to perform well at first, but the life span is terrible. Once in a while you'll get something good, but not usually. Just my 2 cents worth. Hope it helps.
That's pretty much my experience also. Bought an unbranded chinese set of rear droplinks for my old X-type - great at first, but 100 miles later CRUNCH! popped ball joint. They seem to have sold a few of these air shocks & also do compressors. If I could find a satisfied customer I'd be inclined to risk it.....maybe!
I've got one sat here in it's box which I'm planning to fit tomorrow. It was suggested to me by another Jag owner who had fitted it to his own car and was happy with it. Although it has a CATS socket in the top I don't know whether it actually has the CATS active damping or just a resistor, as I know this can be an issue with some of the rebuilds that are available.
I paid £200 for mine, just use the 'Best Offer' feature on the auction listing. Might be able to get it for less but I've not tried!
While I can't comment on Chinese air struts, I do caution you strongly on used or "rebuilt" struts.
My own 07 XJR had a slowly leaking rear strut at 100K miles, though it rode and handled beautifully. So, I sent all four struts to a rebuilder in Florida and proceeded to overhaul the suspension arms, bushings, bearings, air compressor, etc. Much delayed, the shocks returned just in time for a long planned cross country trip. And so the nightmare began...
I have now spent thousands in towing fees, out of town repair costs and car rental fees, etc. The rebuilder has refused to refund the $1000+ I spent for "rebuilding", and has sent a succession of worn out, leaking, miss indexed, and generally worthless replacement struts instead. I have now installed 10 of their struts (most recently including all four "guaranteed to be right this time" just five days ago). Yeah, right. The dampers were shot on at least two of these, and the RF exploded like a pistol shot on the second day of driving, dropping the front end down on the bump stops at 70MPH and ruining yet another vacation trip.
My considered advice is to use the Bilstein B4 replacements, or switch to steel springs. I went the rebuilt route given the desire to maintain sport (XJR) struts and CATS. That was all a Scotman's dream.
If the Florida outfit persists with no refund, I will post the above with their name shortly. Then, I believe I will go with the Arnott steel spring retrofit (~$1,300), as much as I hate to use aftermarket stuff in any good car. The Bilstein units are stupid expensive for what they are (~ $3,700 per set), and (I believe) not available in the sport/XJR type. $3,700 is simply too much $$ for a $10K car.
Ironically, the reason our Jags are nearly worthless on the used market is because renewal parts are obscenely priced, IMHO.
Too bad youre not in the us. I would sell you these arnotts i just removed from a customers car to do a conversion. I replaced first the front pair and then the rear pair. They have less than 15k miles on them. When his compressor went out and the valve block was corroded and need to be replaced he had enough
I've got one sat here in it's box which I'm planning to fit tomorrow. It was suggested to me by another Jag owner who had fitted it to his own car and was happy with it. Although it has a CATS socket in the top I don't know whether it actually has the CATS active damping or just a resistor, as I know this can be an issue with some of the rebuilds that are available.
I paid £200 for mine, just use the 'Best Offer' feature on the auction listing. Might be able to get it for less but I've not tried!
Ben
I'd be very interested in hearing from you once you've installed it & tried it out, I had wondered about CATS as there's no reference to compatiblity in the ad. Good luck with it, please let me know how you get on.
While I can't comment on Chinese air struts, I do caution you strongly on used or "rebuilt" struts.
My own 07 XJR had a slowly leaking rear strut at 100K miles, though it rode and handled beautifully. So, I sent all four struts to a rebuilder in Florida and proceeded to overhaul the suspension arms, bushings, bearings, air compressor, etc. Much delayed, the shocks returned just in time for a long planned cross country trip. And so the nightmare began...
I have now spent thousands in towing fees, out of town repair costs and car rental fees, etc. The rebuilder has refused to refund the $1000+ I spent for "rebuilding", and has sent a succession of worn out, leaking, miss indexed, and generally worthless replacement struts instead. I have now installed 10 of their struts (most recently including all four "guaranteed to be right this time" just five days ago). Yeah, right. The dampers were shot on at least two of these, and the RF exploded like a pistol shot on the second day of driving, dropping the front end down on the bump stops at 70MPH and ruining yet another vacation trip.
My considered advice is to use the Bilstein B4 replacements, or switch to steel springs. I went the rebuilt route given the desire to maintain sport (XJR) struts and CATS. That was all a Scotman's dream.
If the Florida outfit persists with no refund, I will post the above with their name shortly. Then, I believe I will go with the Arnott steel spring retrofit (~$1,300), as much as I hate to use aftermarket stuff in any good car. The Bilstein units are stupid expensive for what they are (~ $3,700 per set), and (I believe) not available in the sport/XJR type. $3,700 is simply too much $$ for a $10K car.
Ironically, the reason our Jags are nearly worthless on the used market is because renewal parts are obscenely priced, IMHO.
Sound advice thanks. Rebuilds cost around £350 each here, absolutely futile if the damper core is shot.
Too bad youre not in the us. I would sell you these arnotts i just removed from a customers car to do a conversion. I replaced first the front pair and then the rear pair. They have less than 15k miles on them. When his compressor went out and the valve block was corroded and need to be replaced he had enough
I've been jealously browsing some US classifieds, there seem to be quite a few people selling decent, used units for way less than you can get them here! Any idea what it would cost to ship to the UK? ;-) I'd guess the whole set would weigh in around 40 kilos. Depending on how much you're asking for them, it could be worth my while! A good, used set with only 15k on them is exactly what I need!
I fitted my new Chinese air-spring today. The reason for replacement wasn't that I felt a particular problem with the ride quality, but was getting a very annoying knocking sound when going over bumps, almost like a low frequency boing rebound type of noise. My car has done 221000 miles so unsurprising that something might need attention!
The job was pretty straightforward, but it helped that I've already refreshed pretty much all of the suspension arms and bushes so it's all been apart before. I had to go through the pain of getting the lower shock bolt out the first time using a lot of heat, but this time the breaker bar freed it up no problem.
The new air-spring has a longer body than the original, but the fork end at rest is shorter. This actually made re-fitting a little easier (I didn't disconnect the lateral arm, just pushed it down to give enough clearance to get the old unit out, didn't even have to do that to get the new one in):
The new unit was supplied with 4 new nuts on the studs, however the built-in washer on these was a lot smaller than the originals, so i refitted the original nuts.
I was expecting to have to re-set the ride height with SDD but it actually seems to be pretty much spot on already. I'll drive it for a bit and then re-level if I feel it needs it.
Ride quality seems pretty much the same to be honest, although as I said, I didn't have a problem with that before. The 'boing' noise has gone, although the car is not completely silent over bumps still - the fact that the other 3 air-springs still have 221000 miles might have something to do with that!.
Obviously time will tell as to the longevity of the unit, but for £200 each delivered, so far so good.
Ben
On every aftermarket air spring i have ever seen including arnotts they are not cat shocks and are not adjustable firmness. They have the wiring but plug into foolers that send the correct ohm reading to the module.so no fault message thats why theyre cheaper than oem
Any idea if the CATS adaptive damping is functional on the new unit?
Not yet, when I've driven it a bit more I hopefully will be able to see whether it feels like it, although I wouldn't be surprised at all if it doesn't have CATS given the cost. Not sure of an easy way to check definitively whether it has it or not though.
When my system sets the shocks to firm, it's a much better car to drive. (I think the firm airbag setting takes up some of the slack from the worn out damper cores) A bloody switch would have been nice though! I find CATS often doesn't react fast enough to be really useful. I also don't like the ride set to soft at motorway speeds, I would have liked a choice!
If the aftermarket shocks don't have CATS functionality, I'm starting to think that having both types of shock fitted to the same car could produce some strange results...
10-17-2018, 04:28 PM
Chinese aftermarket air shocks
