ryan-in-oregon
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2009
- Posts
- 538
- Reaction score
- 3
Now many of you may wonder why but I'll explain.
In the event of a trail side puncture again I decided to try and repair my old air spring. To do so I removed the the strut assembly and seperated the shock and air spring. Since I knew where the hole was I cleaned it up really well and repaired it with a bicycle tube repair patch. For the repair in the Aluminum sleave I cut a thin piece of Aluminum and duct taped it in place. (This is to prevent further damaged through the hole) I let it sit over night and reinstalled it about a week ago to try it out. So far I have driven around the city a couple of times hitting *** holes to check the integrity. Amazingly it is holding. Knowing what I now know I could have repaired this trail side and gotten out with zero damage. (Although the damage I did get is just minor dents and scraps on the undercarriage) The strut can be removed in about 30 mins with the proper tools on hand. I think a patch kit will stay in my tool box now!!! This type of repair will likely only work on a puncture type failure, I would'nt count on repairing a rotten one. I'll drive it around a couple more days and reinstall the replacement strut this weekend... Sorry but I didn't take any pictures.
In the event of a trail side puncture again I decided to try and repair my old air spring. To do so I removed the the strut assembly and seperated the shock and air spring. Since I knew where the hole was I cleaned it up really well and repaired it with a bicycle tube repair patch. For the repair in the Aluminum sleave I cut a thin piece of Aluminum and duct taped it in place. (This is to prevent further damaged through the hole) I let it sit over night and reinstalled it about a week ago to try it out. So far I have driven around the city a couple of times hitting *** holes to check the integrity. Amazingly it is holding. Knowing what I now know I could have repaired this trail side and gotten out with zero damage. (Although the damage I did get is just minor dents and scraps on the undercarriage) The strut can be removed in about 30 mins with the proper tools on hand. I think a patch kit will stay in my tool box now!!! This type of repair will likely only work on a puncture type failure, I would'nt count on repairing a rotten one. I'll drive it around a couple more days and reinstall the replacement strut this weekend... Sorry but I didn't take any pictures.
