Nitrogen Air Strut

[Wilfred]

Hello

I got a 15yo Ls400 with air suspension. I can hear clanking when turning so it might need bushings and whatnot.

However i just came across this

http://planetsoarer.com/nitrogen/nitrogen.htm

Is this worth doing and spending money on the bushings or should i just wait for the airsuspension to die (because it will) and then start spending money.

Thanks

[Econ]

I don't know that the fix you linked to would work on the LS400. In fact, I don't think that they're talking about the same type of suspension at all. I believe that the Soarer (SC in the US, right?) gas shocks are different from the LS400 air suspension.

The LS400 air suspension uses pneumatic cylinders to raise and lower the ride height of the car. This requires that air be pumped into/released from the shocks themselves. A sepearate ECU controls the air suspension (it's located in the trunk).

Gas shocks are a different type of shock. They're completely sealed and rely on the gas and oil to provide a varying degree of bound/rebound resistance for the springs. Generally, they're used on a sportier setup (hence the use the SC) and don't have any sort of controlled response. In it's simplest form, it's a gas-filled bladder that is compressed by the oil forced through the channel by the spring action.

The gas filled shock provides an increasing resistance to further compression at a non-linear rate, which provides an effective progressive spring rate (the rate at which resistance to compression rises is disproportionately greater than the increase in force required to compress).

[Wilfred]

Thanks for the info. Thought they were the same but they must be different.

[maxed_out]

My dealer told me that there once was a kit to DIY your own rebuild on the struts. Anybody verify or comment? I have a spare strut with i'm thinking about sacrificing.