My right front strut has failed (air shoots out from the top) and will not air up whatsoever when it's below 40 degrees F. I bought a strut from Suncore under the impression that it would work with CATS. After I received the strut, I looked it over and the top where the CATS connection plugs in looks completely different (dome shaped) but looks like there is a couple electrical prongs inside. Suncore sells them as new, aftermarket struts that work with CATS. I've found some on eBay that look similar. Does anyone here have experience with these type struts and does CATS plug in and work?

https://suncoreindustries.com/p-56-f...my-tab-content

 

If Suncore says they are CATS compatible then fit one ! However make sure you ask them and get confirmation.To be compatible the existing connector must be able to fit and not cause a CATS fault to be flagged when the car is started. Full compatibility would include the ability to switch between Hard and Soft.

 

Upon further inspection, maybe the CATS connector will fit. I was able to look at the car today (it's stored for winter) and the CATS connector is long and skinny, like the hole on the new strut. It turns out I was just not remembering what it looked like correctly.

I did talk to Suncore today and was told that this is a "comfort" strut, but the website sells it as fitting the XJR, even though the XJR came with "sport" suspension. It seems like all the strut manufacturers, other than OEM, are making only comfort struts or are not differentiating between the types any longer (like Bilstein).

Anyways, I'm going to go ahead and install it. I think the connector will fit, and that was my main concern. If the difference between comfort and sport is so great that it throws off the handling of the car, I will install another Suncore strut on the other side.

As an aside, you can see evidence of the blown top seal on the strut in picture #2. The red gasket material is turning to dust and there is a visible hole in the gasket (at about 3 o'clock near the plug receptacle).

 

'CATS compatible' is a bit ambiguous; it could mean that: it has a dual state damper which switches between hard and soft; or it could mean that it has a single state damper and has a resistor which simply 'fools' the damper control circuitry into 'thinking' that it has a two state damper so that it doesn't throw a fault message.

If it's the latter then you really should fit a pair; mixing a proper dual state damper with a single 'average' state one on the same axle is not a good idea.

 

Sorry for the ambiguity, but I was concerned with whether the connector for CATS physically fit the new strut. It does. I was under the impression that the CATS would be fully functional. I'm unsure whether or not it is functional, but I fit the Suncore strut today and it is at least not throwing any error codes. Here is what Suncore's website says (which doesn't give me much faith that it's fully functional):



For those curious, the following pictures show the differences between the OEM XJR strut and a Suncore strut:








So far, I've only driven a few miles and only up to about 50mph. It seems to handle fine, but I haven't exactly tested it thoroughly... I suppose I'll be the guinea pig for the new Suncore struts. I'll try to update this thread in the future and let you all know if I run into any problems.

 

I reckon it doesn't have the Hard/Soft damper switching. Suncore are being economical with the truth. Yes it is an air spring and compatible with the air springing of the car, but say nothing about the damper component. I suspect it has spoofing inside to fool CATS that there is a kosher. Bilstein unit there.
Maybe you should ask Suncore if it has the same ability to swap the damper setting between Hard and Soft like the OEM Bilstein units.

 

Yep, definitely worth asking.

 

There have been some developments over the last couple months...

I bought and fit another Suncore strut to the other side. I didn't fit the new brass air fittings or new o-rings at the time because I have a history of replacing something that isn't broken to only end up breaking whatever it was I replaced. So I figured I'd take it one step at a time.

The first new strut fixed the catastrophic failure that caused the front end to sink and which prevented it from rising. However, if I let the car sit for 3 or more days without starting it, the entire car would sink down. I figured there was probably a small leak at one of the fittings. I've also been getting a rattling noise from the front end at low speeds over small, successive bumps, and the ride has been atrocious.

A couple weeks ago, I decided to replace the o-rings on the front air fittings. It was supposed to be a simple job that should only have taken a few minutes. That's not what happened. As I loosened the nut on the fitting for the air line, the brass piece it screws into unscrewed from the top of the shock. I didn't notice and proceeded to do the same thing on the other side. Then I waited until the air stopped coming out. As I proceeded to remove the nuts I then noticed the entire assembly was spinning and not just the nut, so I held the bottom piece with some vice grips. Too late. The bottom piece (on both sides) had disassembled itself (pictured below).




Unfortunately, it is impossible to reassemble that piece while the strut is installed, so I had to remove both struts. Once I pulled the driver side strut out, I noticed it was making a noise. As I turned the strut back and forth, something slid back and forth inside the shock tube. So that is what was causing my front end rattle.

I removed and reinstalled the brass fitting to the strut and I then reinstalled the one Suncore strut and the old OEM strut that still worked. After I finished, I started the car, but the suspension would not air up. Wonderful.

I decided I'd had enough with these Suncores. Rebuild Master Tech (RMT) had their rebuilds back in stock, so I ordered one of those. I installed it today. The car aired up immediately and the front end rattle is gone. Pics below:

RMT




OEM




Side-by-side






Visually, you can see the top seal on the RMT is much different than OEM. Also, the shock boot is a bit longer. I just installed it today, so we'll see how it holds up.

I'm not happy with the Suncore struts at all. I have not contacted them regarding the problems. Maybe they'd warranty one or both struts, but I'm not interested in using their parts anymore. After these problems, and the vagueness of whether CATS is fully functional, I just don't trust them. I will just have to chalk these Suncores up as a loss.

 

 

Suncore are rebranded Arnott

 

 

 

Arnott struts have a machined top and different coil at the top. Arnott designed new struts are also available for Sport and Comfort .

Arnott-designed new struts are an excellent alternative for aging air suspension systems because they provide the luxury, comfort, and auto leveling of air springs but replace the older original active damping shock with a new, custom-valved shock designed to provide a great ride at a more affordable price.

Arnott no longer re-manufactures struts for the X350 or X358 Jaguar XJ series.

https://www.arnottindustries.com/pro...air-suspension

 

I much prefer the large single tube, active B4 replacements. eCATS does perform the desired control I'm looking for from the X350.

 

Ditto David: Buy new B4 bilsteins (or replace the entire mess with steel springs)

I'm on my fourth rebuilt strut failure within 9 months, and would have been far, far ahead (time and money) to have used new B4 Bilsteins in the first place. Wish someone had advised me so. Lesson learned..

Back story is that I had one rear strut with a slow leak last Spring, and sent all four struts out to be rebuilt. The car rode and handled superbly before I did this

About rebuilt air struts:In addition to potential air leaks, you are also saddled with old core internal dampers of unknown condition and specification. My first (air leak) RF rebuilt strut (failed within 10 days and 1000 miles) was replaced at huge expense (towed to Denver; ruined our vacation) with another rebuilt strut which had NO damping left at all. The RF wheel bounced like a basketball all the way back to NC. I replaced it at home. The car still didn't ride or handle properly. Now, I have two more (rebuilt) struts leaking air

As an aside, the XJR "sport" struts are different from the far more common "comfort" struts in at least two ways: The air volume is smaller (higher spring constant), and the internal damper is (baseline) stiffer to match the higher spring rate. The chances of getting the correct sport damper, in good working condition, combined with a correct (air volume) and reliable bladder is not good, based upon my experience

Finally, the upper (all four) and lower (rear) rubber strut mounts are all wear items. Getting rebuilt struts with these items correctly replaced is sketchy (eg the pics of your first Suncore struts)

I believe the above is what motivated Arnott to move away from the rebuilt strut approach. I wanted to retain CATS, so I went with rebuilt struts. Again, live and learn...

 

 

I should have in the beginning, but they're so darn expensive. Bilstein also no longer differentiates between sport and comfort struts and only manufacture one type. So if you go with Bilstein, you have to replace both at the same time.

 

I was going to buy RMT before going with the Suncore, but they were out of stock when I went to order.

 

John

You're right - only one Bilstein type (that I'm able to find available). We XJR owners don't have a lot of options (which is what took me down that 'ol rebuilt road, sigh...).

Even given this, wish I'd gone with new Bilsteins. Air leaks or not, the dampers inside most used core struts have seen a lot of miles and years

As an aside, I feel like Jaguar NA have shot themselves in the foot with stupid parts pricing. It serves to continually reinforce the idea that Jags are unreliable and crazy expensive to fix. Which is exactly why these lovely cars are so cheap on the used car market, and also why many, many sane people would no more buy a new Jag than fly around the moon. Resale is really, really low

 

We should bow at the feet of the Depreciation Gods, primarily, a 2013 XJ-R can be had at the price of a Honda Accord, and so much nicer. Also, get a 6 year maintenance plan.