air ride help, faulty shock :(

[pittaway]

hi people,

ive got a problem with one of my air shocks, its developed over the last month but i only ues the car a few times a month, so not used it a lot since this started occuring. i brought the shocks unused but second hand off a member on here (ant) and they have been wonderfull for the best part of the year


basically, the front drivers side shock seems to be sticking in places adn creaking going up and down with the tank fully charged it will send the bag fully up, bit if theres not enought pressure there is stops half wa an the car need a nudge to send the shock up,


also when you let the air out the bag, the shock fails to drop, and stays up, if you drop both front it will go down, but really juddery and creaky, and doesnt seem very healthy at all   its also messed up the ride of the car as the shock stays completely still and doesnt bouce.


ivew taked a video to try to show you what i mean as its hard to explain...

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/pittaway/?action=view&current=SNC00044.flv


think im gonna have to replace the shock??


http://www.easystreetair.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=688


heres what i have on the front an im pleased with them, apart from this starting to happen, the others are all fine,


any ideas or suggestions what i should do?  maybe email the company who makes them and try and get it repaired/ serviced? anywhere in the uk that could help with this, dont really wanna but another 2 brand new as the others are superb and this is practically brand new itself.


help!!

[fatdaddy]

have you checked that it IS actually the strut at fault and not a restriction or physical jamming somewhere?

there is no UK dealer

[ant]

sorry to hear that ant.

has the shocker been subjected to any side load?.... left and right rather than up and down?

ant

[pittaway]

it has a few times when ive dropped car car dow on the side now and again, do you think this could have bent the internal shaft??


i have checked and it there are no other physical restrictions.

[fatdaddy]

ok, then you need to try taking off the pipe close to the strut to see how fast it drops then.

 in turn you need to eliminate
1 that the strut itself jams
2. that the suspension jams without the strut being active
3.that the jamming ceases without a pipe on the strut
4.that the jamming ceases without the pipe connected to the valve

[how have you checked it ? ]


btw, I have  four of those units in black.

 

[ROD]

Just my 2p............Is there some sort of suspension travel limiter as standard on these cars? ie like my Merc has on the rear? Cos it looks/sounds like the susp has somehow been forced past it ,and needs weight to force the susp back down past it as the susp drops?? Has it got a a/roll bar or summat that is binding by going "over centre" as the susp is on full height? ...just some ideas ..........

[pittaway]

thanks for your help

i also have the black ones

i will try those checks tomorrow fatdaddy, thanks for  your input

on my car there is no limit on the suspension, my car is origianlly a base model fiesta, has no arbs or anything like that, i guess the only thing than might stop the car from moving could be a bush in the lower arm maybe??

i will have a look tomorrow and do some investigation and get some pics of the problem area up.


thanks for your help

ant

[fatdaddy]

dont fret over it.
its a pain but we'll sort you out 

[fatdaddy]

you done anything bout this ?

[tony_]

i have a pair of these ... new and unused if your interested

has your shock been bottoming out?

[pittaway]

emailed you tony

sorry everyone, ive been off work and no funds to work on the car.

ive had 2 magazine shoots this month, for max power and fast ford. went really well

the shock that was causing a problem has collapsed now inside and is well and truly dead, the car is off the road untill april now to get ready for a new season.

will have updates and progress thread soon when work starts on it again

thanks

[pittaway]

i have a pair of these ... new and unused if your interested

has your shock been bottoming out?

hi matey

ill have these shocks off you, could you pm or email me please,


thanks