Loose hydraulic strut

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 10 Feb 2005, 15:01

I changed my rear spheres at the weekend which has improved the ride of my Xantia greatly.
When I was changing the spheres, with the car jacked up I noticed that one of the hydraulic struts seemed to have play on it, i.e. one was solid and didn't move at all, the other seemed to move up/down a couple of mm. I wasn't sure whether the ram was loose inside the cylinder and had play that way or not.
The struts are held in place at each end by a spring clip (both of which were in place) but only the end with the sphere on seemed to be loose.
Should they be loose like this or is this a sign that I need a new strut?

jeremy · Unread post by **jeremy** » 10 Feb 2005, 15:25

Certainly BX ones are meant to be like this - its the reason you have to have pressure in the strut while you crack the sphere loose.
They go tight when supporting the car and so don't rattle in use.
jeremy

bernie · Unread post by **bernie** » 10 Feb 2005, 16:49

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Should they be loose like this or is this a sign that I need a new strut?
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No need to worry, it's normal to be loose when the pressure has gone.[:)]
They will be held firmly once the system is pressurized[:)]