Shocking Bentley air struts...3 cars down within a month
 

Funny how some things happen as after the replacement of my front GT struts my friends FS strut failed last week.

I didn't think much of this as parts do wear and it is a known problem for these heavyweights. However, it cant be a coincidence as another friends FS also failed within this time period.

We've had pretty hot weather lately but I doubt they can kill the air strut so easily. Each of our cars have covered different mileage but in terms of manufacture year we are all around a 07.

Has anyone tried replacing just the air bladder section on the strut?

J

struts
 

Had my car in service last week, and they informed me that I had the Arnott struts installed. All functions work as normal.

Arnott New and Remanufactured Options
 

Arnott offers both Arnott designed new struts as well as remanufactured O.E. Struts for your Bentley. Remanufactured struts are tested, cleaned, painted and rebuilt with new air springs, improved seals and more. They will support the vehicle's active damping functionality but we don't know the actual miles on the damper.

The Arnott new struts are made with an all new custom valved shock damper designed to provide an excellent ride. Many think the ride is BETTER than the replaced OE but that is most likely because over time your OE Shocks slowly wear out (think of Monroe’s ad campaigns where they want you to replace traditional shocks after 50k) and since ours are new dampers they often provide a better ride than worn out OEs with 100k, 200k or more miles on them.

We think the Arnott designed new struts are an excellent alternative for aging air suspension systems because they provide the comfort and auto leveling of air springs and a brand new shock damper which should provide many more years and miles of smooth riding.

We stand behind all of our new and remanufactured air struts (as well as our air springs, compressors and coil conversion kits) by offering a Limited Lifetime Warranty for as long as you own the vehicle and have a 30-day money back guarantee if you don't like the ride.

To see all of the Arnott options click here: http://www.arnottindustries.com/products/bentley

Does the Arnott shock also support the various Bentley active damping functionality settings (Comfort, Sport, etc) like the stock shock does?

struts
 

Not sure which Arnott struts I have. But my car function like it should.

The Arnott Remanufactured OE Struts support the Bentley's active damping functionality but not the Arnott designed new struts.

thanks, so I must have the remanufactured struts.

As vehicle models such as the A8 D3 and Jaguar XJ 350 get older and older so do those original struts. We are finding higher failure rates in the proprietary shock/dampers and even some that have already been remanufactured. That is why after 10 years or so we start designing our own as an option.


They are a good alternative since they still maintain the smooth air suspension ride and auto leveling and the internal shock offers a great ride all at a more affordable price.

Question, why the new ones cant/don't support the oem functions?

The OE struts have proprietary technology.

thank you very much for answering my question.

Hello Fasttoney,
Not necessarily, if you do have the "New" design you would not know it because you think " But my car function like it should", and again if you do in fact have the "New" units you would think this because Arnott places a resistor in the strut wiring/plug that fools the vehicles suspension control module into thinking the active dampening is present as to not show any fault codes in the system, so yes one would think all is as it should be because they can raise and lower the vehicle, but the height of the air bag is only half of the rides height and firmness/softness, that part of the ride control and feel comes from the active dampening.


As for my feeling on the setup, I do not think it was proper to place the OE style wiring and plug on their "New" design, why, because it lead some to think that they where getting 100% as original OEM design, and any next owner of said vehicle with the "New" design would not able to tell by looking at it, NOW if Arnott where to have put their resistor in just the plug end/cap, then the installer and anyone looking at said vehicle could tell that the struts are not OE design, as they are not plugged in, hence no wiring to the strut to fool anyone.....

thank you for that Johnny. So, are you saying I can't tell because no measurement for the different comfort levels?

Sorry,
I don't quite understand your question, the vehicle will raise and lower to the ranges of height measurement for said settings, but that is only the airbag side of the suspension, the active dampening will be non existent if you have their "New" design, meaning the reaction times and rate of dampening on road feel will never change for sport or comfort etc. as there are no active dampeners In their "New" design.

Understood. thank you again. I'm just learning the system.