Hydraulic Shock Replacement or AHC Globes? (1 Viewer)

[pawlije93]

My 2002 Lexus LX470 ride has felt washboardy and rough over bumpy roads and railroad crossings which I frequent during my commute. I was hammering my pinch welds this weekend and finally got a view of my shocks and they all look like this (see photo). I’m guessing they could be near the end of their rope due to rust? Or do you think the rough ride is due to the AHC globes with possible burst membranes?

 

[GremlinMobile]

That's a healthy dose of woolwax. Others will chime in I'm sure, but from what I've learned, to properly diagnose, you have to follow the ABC's of calibrating your AHC by setting the correct heights and pressures, and after that, do the volume test to see how many tick marks get displaced when you go between Low and Neutral. That will give you a measurable health gage on the globes.

 

[HokieCruiser]

holy wool wax batman...time to order some new parts

 

[pawlije93]

lol I was not the one who caked the wool wax on. I am cursing the dealer who sprayed a fire hose of this stuff before I bought it. I’ll run the AHC measurement test but I assume it’s a combo of the bushings and rusted shocks most likely.

 

[SteveH]

Ride issues are more likely to be globes, since your 'shocks' are just hydraulic rams. As GremlinMobile said, Get Techstream and baseline the pressures, the clean the shocks thoroughly and look for fluid leaks. Hard to tell a shock leak under that wall of Woolwax. If they aren't leaking, leave them alone.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Rough ride means globes, generally.

If the rams aren't actively dripping fluid, they're probably good.

Connect to techstream to get good intel.