strut top update

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 05 Jul 2005, 02:51

ActivaV6uk · Post by **ActivaV6uk** » 05 Jul 2005, 02:54

ouch what was the milage and age of the car? and it looks almost like the top cracked!
Andy

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 05 Jul 2005, 03:27

M REG about 100,000 miles,what has happened is rubber has perished let water in rusted metal hay prestow,mind you i have for about a year now been telling customer his front spheres where kna***rd,i know it would not have stoped this but it probably brought it on sooner,i also did the other side because it was cracking,and replaced his front and centre spheres,loads of dosh he he regards malcolm

paranoid · Post by **paranoid** » 05 Jul 2005, 03:33

WALLOP!!!!!
Does this happen much in the UK?
I have always tried to keep a check on this with my 2 xants, soaking them in rust eater, loads of grease etc.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 05 Jul 2005, 03:40

you will probably find in rust eater and grease will agrivate this,as they will rot the rubber regards malcolm

dan.2cv · Post by **dan.2cv** » 05 Jul 2005, 03:50

No pics of the car with it all removed......there's no pleasing some people!!
Does this damage leave the inner wing undamaged? Is it just a case of bolting on a new top plate?

paranoid · Post by **paranoid** » 05 Jul 2005, 03:57

Yeah know what you mean!
but I do try to be carefull, I try not to throw it around and I am very wary of that rubber.
Made that mistake on a motorbike cush rubbers once rotted them out,chain snapped flew right up me Jacksie OUCH

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 05 Jul 2005, 03:59

only bonnet damaged not the inner wing at all regards malcolm

paranoid · Post by **paranoid** » 05 Jul 2005, 04:29

CITRONUT.....What sort of nick was it in, only mine seems well looked after but there was a bit of rust around the strut top

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 05 Jul 2005, 12:26

Hmm - looks like that one would definately have failed the screwdriver test!
//NiSk

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 05 Jul 2005, 13:36

well paranoid i dont think the rust bug cares how well the car has been looked after,if thers is any rust showing around strut top it means it on its way out,try haveing a look at the under side of the strut top,as the other side i changed was a bit ruty on top but when i took it of the car the underside was breaking up,you sould be able to see this with it in situe if you shine a torch up there regards malcolm

mark g · Post by **mark g** » 05 Jul 2005, 14:20

Wow!
Am I right in saying that if your front spheres are not up to scratch that this problem is more likely to happen, as the forces on the surrounding metal are higher and not absorbed by the suspension properly?
Mark G

sbraud · Post by **sbraud** » 05 Jul 2005, 17:01

Probably not a coincidence, but mine went at 145k on a ‘95. Thankfully not as dramatic as above…
I seem to recall someone posting that the top plate composition had a fault in its makeup/casting on early models.
Worth keeping an eye on these early ones, me thinks.
Cheers
Steve

Chrispy · Post by **Chrispy** » 05 Jul 2005, 17:31

Holy sh!t...that's nasty. Do they all do this or is it only certain models/ ages affected? My 99's strut tops looked a little brown-ish so I coated them in wax-oil to restrict the spread of the brown stuff. They feel solid though and I can't push anything through them. Thing is though, a new strut is £140, so it would be nice to be able to replace the mount on it's own.

Chrispy · Post by **Chrispy** » 05 Jul 2005, 17:33

Ah yes, and it's not only Citroens this happens to. I saw a BMW 535i (E34) with the same thing happened. The rubber mount had deteriorated to such a degree that the strut had gone through and bent the bonnet. Albeit not as badly as the bonnets are a fair bit stronger on those cars, but nevertheless the same issue.