Air Strut tube corrosion concerns

[Karkinca]

Just purchased a 06 LR3 with 89K on the clock this past weekend. Did the LR dealer inspection, and while I was expecting a plethora of recommendations to come out of the inspection, there were only a few to my surprise. All major drive line components were in excellent shape.

1. Trans line seeping a bit at cooler. (Going to fix right away)
2. Inner and outer tie-rod ends. (Know this is a problem area with these but there was little to no play when he tried to show me, and even admitted the alignment could be the reason for the slight pull and not the ends) LCAs replaced already.

But thing that got me, which I have yet to see on any forum, was his concern for corrosion build up issues on the tube section of the strut causing issues with the bags. Has anyone had issues with this before?

 

[Houm_WA]

New to me. It could be dependent on the way the vehicle was used and what part of the country. It's odd because I thought those struts were made (at least on the outside) of either stainless steel or aluminum. Neither should cause corrosion issues. Am I missing something? Is the material inside steel and more susceptible to rust? What parts was he referring to? Did he show you the trouble spots?

On the plus side, as you approach 100k miles you'll want to change those out anyway; at least in front. My passenger side strut went **** at about 102k miles and my driver's side one, while still good, is going to be changed in a few months (now at 120,800).

 

[Trynian]

As Houm said I can't imagine actual corrosion on the air bag casing. It is aluminum.

Now if that diagnosis is actually referring to nicks in the airbag housing on the outside. usually due to the upper control arms starting to make contact when extended then the actual shock needs to be replaced as it is extending more then it should.