stevem9
Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2013
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 6
- Location
- Humberside UK
- Website
- j-l.co
- Your Mercedes
- S212 E250CDI & S212 E350CDI CDI 2012 & 2013, A couple of MLs, a CLK320 and a Merc Power Jeep
Having recently had a slow leak necessitating the replacement of a rear air spring on my car (and finding it an incredibly easy job, it's described elsewhere but with two people you don't even need to remove the shock top mount making it a 15 minute job) I found some springs at just over £60 each from a UK based supplier so, as this is about £200 cheaper than the Arnott ones I've always used previously I though I'd give one a try given they had a 2 year warranty.
As always I replaced the air supply connector with a push fit and fitted it using liquid PTFE sealer designed for the job
These are pretty much 100% guaranteed to seal and can be put in before you mount the spring making the job so much easier, just push the hose in once you've got the spring in place. If you need to get one of these they have an M8x1mm pitch thread and the hose is 4mm.
All went well with the job and I set off on the first longer journey. After about 4 hours there was an almighty BANG and the rear of the car collapsed. The new spring had burst.
Once home I got in touch with the suppliers and sent them a number of photos including the one above showing the spring damage and they offered to send me a replacement. I asked if this had happened before and initially they said no so I asked for it in writing that this was a unique instance and just bad luck otherwise I wanted a refund. After a couple of days they came back and said that no, it wasn't unique, it had happened a number of times before and they refunded me. I bought an Arnott replacement.
So a warning to all. The cheap air springs have a history of failure, they can easily leave you stranded and take out your compressor and perhaps other things too (mine exploded on the motorway where it could easily have caused an accident as it was on the outside lane and some distance before I could safely get over to pull up.)
As always I replaced the air supply connector with a push fit and fitted it using liquid PTFE sealer designed for the job
These are pretty much 100% guaranteed to seal and can be put in before you mount the spring making the job so much easier, just push the hose in once you've got the spring in place. If you need to get one of these they have an M8x1mm pitch thread and the hose is 4mm.
All went well with the job and I set off on the first longer journey. After about 4 hours there was an almighty BANG and the rear of the car collapsed. The new spring had burst.
Once home I got in touch with the suppliers and sent them a number of photos including the one above showing the spring damage and they offered to send me a replacement. I asked if this had happened before and initially they said no so I asked for it in writing that this was a unique instance and just bad luck otherwise I wanted a refund. After a couple of days they came back and said that no, it wasn't unique, it had happened a number of times before and they refunded me. I bought an Arnott replacement.
So a warning to all. The cheap air springs have a history of failure, they can easily leave you stranded and take out your compressor and perhaps other things too (mine exploded on the motorway where it could easily have caused an accident as it was on the outside lane and some distance before I could safely get over to pull up.)