Knackered strut tops?

Dommo · Post by **Dommo** » 24 Sep 2010, 09:57

As posted on my for sale thread, is this a good sign that my strut tops are about to fire through my bonnet??

Dommo wrote:I've taken some photos of my current strut tops, albeit not very good photos - good old iPhone camera
Offside

Nearside

What do we reckon to the condition of these? The circular bit that the strut gaiter sits in is pretty much flush with the rest of the underside of the strut top, Dave - is yours like that? It doesn't look it in the photos but I can't tell, as mine doesn't look it in the photos either!

Cheers!

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 24 Sep 2010, 10:06

They - to me, though no expert look actually VERY good! The lip is to hold the Gaiter up...

Xantia tops tend to rot the mounting plate first, rather then push the rubber out..

Other opinion will follow, but I personally wouldn't worry about them from the looks of those pics...

Paul

Dommo · Post by **Dommo** » 24 Sep 2010, 18:47

You reckon? So what is it I'm looking for to decide if they're knackered? I assumed that because the lip for the gaiter is so far up, it was a sign that it was going up into the strut top when it shouldn't?

It's a swine getting the gaiters back on, and the position they're in in the photo is where they naturally sit in service high, I didn't have to pull them down or anything!

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 24 Sep 2010, 21:14

I should take a picture of some buggered ones I got in the shed....

They do seem to fail in a different way to XM strut tops.

Paul

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 25 Sep 2010, 08:24

in my experiance or on the one's i have seen, its the domed section above the inner wing that rots ans seperate's,

and the flandge that hold the gaitor stays put,

regards malcolm

n.wotherspoon · Post by **n.wotherspoon** » 25 Sep 2010, 13:14

On mine the mounting plate, flange and gaitor all look OK & are still in place - The domed section has disintegrated on the drivers side and using a torch & a mirror from the top side I can see deifinite fatigue / perishing cracks in the dome on the passenger side

Xantidote · Post by **Xantidote** » 27 Sep 2010, 15:27

Well, FWITW, without looking back at other threads, it seems perhaps there are two methods of failure, disintegration of the dome, and disintegration of the flange. Maybe one leads to the other?

Nick had terminal trouble with the dome.

Whilst neither of my S1's top struts failed in spectacular fashion, I replaced the nearside 18 months ago, and the offside just a month ago. In both cases, the rubber protection to the underside of the strut (ie. within the wheel arch) had dropped away from the strut, revealing serious rusting of the underside of the strut. From within the wheel arch, I prodded and jabbed with a screwdriver to remove laminations of rust, and find good metal. On both struts, I ended up with a small hole, about 1/4" dia, in the flange, more or less between the dome and the front fixing bolt nearest the outer wing of the car. I replaced each strut on the basis that they both had a limited life, and I didn't want to have a problem miles from home one stormy night! Also for peace of mind, and the MoT was not far off. Both inner wings were fine, with no signs of rust, but I brushed waxoyl over the mating surfaces nevertheless.

Just had a quick look at the old offside strut in garage, in particular around the bottom of the dome, adjacent to the hole I'd made. Here I find the rubber's lifting, and been able to peel this delaminating rubber back for a few inches in each direction around the circumference where it joins the flange, to reveal rusty metal, but jabbing with the screwdriver gives sounds of solid metal.

Changing topic slightly, very recently fitted new front spheres, and spilt a little LHM from the nearside sphere which the rag didn't catch. Thought the LHM would sit on the top of the flange and give added anti-corrosion protection, and was surprised to find it leaking through between the underside of the inner wing, and the strut's flange, despite there being the rubber "gasket" to take up any unevenness. So presumably water can lie in the same area, encouraging corrosion.