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I received my air struts today and what a bargain! The right rear strut I received appears to be a Porsche OEM strut in a generic white box. The strut was stamped with "made in Germany" and has the Porsche part number stamp in at the top. The left strut is a generic with little to no markings, however the quality is on bar with the OEM one. After examining both struts I feel pretty confident in saying that a lot of the components in both struts seem to be made by the same supplier.
Unfortunately one of the brass pressure valves arrived damaged on one of my struts, but beside that, I am really happy with my purchase. This turned out to be a phenomenal deal! My rear suspension doesn't need rebuilding yet, but when it does i'll be ready with these.
Last edited by DIYDanCars; 03-15-2019 at 10:28 PM.
I received my air struts today and what a bargain! The right rear strut I received appears to be a Porsche OEM strut in a generic white box. The strut was stamped with "made in Germany" and has the Porsche part number stamp in at the top. The left strut is a generic with little to no markings, however the quality is on bar with the OEM one. After examining both struts I feel pretty confident in saying that a lot of the components in both struts seem to be made by the same supplier.
Unfortunately one of the brass pressure valves arrived damaged on one of my struts, but beside that, I am really happy with my purchase. This turned out to be a phenomenal deal! My rear suspension doesn't need rebuilding yet, but when it does i'll be ready with these.
You got to it before I did! I havent been home to check them out until now... I can reflect this exact sentiment - Seem to be OE quality. The one is marked "Made in Germany" with some signs pointing to a ground off VW, etc logo. Typical of this type of part being made by an OE supplier.
They really do seem like excellent quality. No "stink" of poor quality rubber, paint and welds are good. The adjuster plug is present, and even the little stud for the cover is there (something that would probably be left off on a low quality unit)
Glad to see that two of us experienced the same thing/received the same parts.
I will be installing mine this week - Will report back!!
Thanks again for all of the interest and conversation on this thread - very enlightening.
-Will
Update - Struts are installed and working perfectly. They ride well, dont leak air and install like OEM. They even include the new air line locks/nut. All I had to do was switch the OEM o-ring from the nut over to the new nut because the o-ring that was on there was the wrong size... Other than that, no issues at all. Definitely a good purchase for $80!
Will keep you updated on the longevity of the parts, but I dont expect any issues.
Interesting in the photos. The one on the left isn't painted, where the one on the right is not only painted, but painted over the bolt heads holding the mounting to the strut. If I had to guess - these were perhaps rebuilt with new air-bags.. the paint over the bolt heads sounds very familiar to alternator's I've seen "rebuilt" - where it's mostly cleaned up, maybe new bearings and regulator - and then rattle-can'd with silver paint to make it look pretty. Not that it means there is anything wrong with them - but the marks on the bolt heads on the left side one makes me think those have been disassembled at some point, and missed the spray-can stop on the way out the door.
If I could find the same sort of deal for the front struts on my 958 CTT - I'd be all over it just to have them on the shelf ready to throw in.
Interesting in the photos. The one on the left isn't painted, where the one on the right is not only painted, but painted over the bolt heads holding the mounting to the strut. If I had to guess - these were perhaps rebuilt with new air-bags.. the paint over the bolt heads sounds very familiar to alternator's I've seen "rebuilt" - where it's mostly cleaned up, maybe new bearings and regulator - and then rattle-can'd with silver paint to make it look pretty. Not that it means there is anything wrong with them - but the marks on the bolt heads on the left side one makes me think those have been disassembled at some point, and missed the spray-can stop on the way out the door.
If I could find the same sort of deal for the front struts on my 958 CTT - I'd be all over it just to have them on the shelf ready to throw in.
You might be spot on with that analysis. It is an oddity that there seems to be one OEM top cap (VW logo ground out confirmed) and one "aftermarket" top cap. Either way, the car seems to ride well, the air suspension doesnt leak at all and cycles through all positions. The adjustable suspension damping also seems operational as well. I'd say it was an $80 well spent!
I will go through and rebuild my old struts with new O-rings/eliminate the corrosion and keep those for a rainy day.
I've never worked with the air line fittings before (the new struts came with the new fitting, new lock ring and the "holder" for the lock ring) but it all seemed fine other than replacing that incorrectly sized O-ring. Sprayed it with soapy water and no leaks.
UPDATE - After a few thousand miles, everything is A-OK as far as the air suspension. It still rides well, no leaks, cycles all heights, etc. Still a job well done for a nice price as far as I'm concerned. I've even let the car sit for 5 days and the suspension didnt leak down at all. Will keep you guys posted if anything changes down the road.
03-15-2019, 08:39 PM
