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I know this subject has been beat to death on here, but i have a technical question... I was driving around yesterday (luckily 1000 feet from my driveway) when i heard a loud POP. The front of the car sank. the front Passenger (america) side had blown the boot off where it connects to the top part of the strut. The metal band which held it on was no where to be found. The rubber/plastic boot seems to be in ok condition, What i am wandering is, is there such thing as Replacement Bands or do you think a large generic hose clamp and some sealent would be strong enough to handle the pressure? Ive already ordered a new Strut from Arnott but if i could fix it i would love to save that $550.
Any opinions?
after i repositioned it
Last edited by Catsgame; May 29, 2015 at 05:17 PM.
That appears to be just a dust boot that came off when the internals came apart. I have not found any repair kits so far so I think you are doing the only thing you can which is replace with the Arnott assembly.
I think youre right, I put a hose camp on tight. They didnt have a correct size cv clamp like the one that came off... Anyway when i lowered it down and started it up, it was still leaking tremendously from somehwere. I couldnt see since the wheel was back on but it must be some internal injury. I changed a Rear over to Arnott right after i baught the car so ive probably been living on borrowed time running the other 3 oems.
That appears to be just a dust boot that came off when the internals came apart. I have not found any repair kits so far so I think you are doing the only thing you can which is replace with the Arnott assembly.
Yes, the outer tapered plastic gaiter is just a dust cover. The actual air spring bladder is mostly inside the metal cylinder. You can see just the lower end of the bladder in your photos. Arnott claims to use Goodyear replacement bladders, but so far no one has learned if we can purchase bladders directly from Goodyear. If you figure out a way, please let us know!
OEM Bilsteins here at David Manners, a UK supplier of many years. I say this because I used to use them when I was rebuilding a Mark 2 in the 80s. As I lived in Birmingham, they were conveniently placed. No on-line internet ordering in those days !!
I thought Arnott weren't doing replacement bladders any more ?
Fraser, I think you're right, but at the time they were refurbising air springs/dampers they claimed to be using Goodyear bladders. It would be great if someone could discover how to purchase these bladders directly from Goodyear. The steel clamps appear to be similar to those used on CV joint boots, but may perhaps be stronger. The tools for tightening that type of clamp are generally available from racing suppliers.
Apparently this is strut is a replacement built in 2011 by ThyssenKrupp. Rascally Germans lol the people i baught this from were definately not mechanically inclined so im sure they Spent thousands to have this done, you would expect it to last more than 4 years.
ThyssenKrupp own Bilstein, and you can see Bilstein on the label, so I would think it is an OEM unit installed sometime in 2011-12 by the owner at the time. It's puzzling to see a Unipart part number on it. Maybe Unipart supply Jaguar with spares.
Update, I put the new Arnott Strut on. It seems to be perfect now, Riding like a brand new car. THat makes 2 down, 2 more to go... hopefully the two remaining OEMs hold on untill its cool outside again
POP goes the Air Strut
