Sources for AHC Accumulator Globes (3 Viewers)
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I’ve got a good used set of globes if anyone needs them: For Sale - LX470 AHC Accumulator Globes Spheres
This looks awesome except that a quick Amazon search shows the only 36mm open ended slugging wrench to be $68. Any suggestions for a better source? I like this idea better than just a big box wrench for my rusty spheres. I don’t currently have anything this big other than adjustables.
Anyone here ever replaced their globes before they failed? I'm at 200K miles, globes never been changed i'm thinking about just changing it out for peace of mind, dont have them to fail on a long road trip.
So what if they fail? Not like truck will drop. It just going to get firmer...
I did replace at 200k not much difference in ride
I did replace at 200k not much difference in ride
BullElk
SILVER Star
^^^ That is absolutely nuts, IMO. You’re not even giving your LX a chance to be a LX. Then you’re going to say how expensive LXs are to own. Nuts.
Bought mine off Ebay $22.00 shipped
Have you ever ridden in an LX with blown accumulators? It's baddd bro, Any dip in the road and you get ejected from your seat. I bought an LX with blown globes 30 miles away, on the way home, any expansion in the bridge makes me wanna throw up.
As far as I know there’s no catastrophic failure of globes, they just slowly deteriorate over time. ‘Failed’ is a subjective measure. Below 7 ticks we call failed, but is the ride significantly worse than 8 ticks? I doubt it. Surely completely shot long overdriven failed globes can be unbearable but you get there by degrees.
Swap them out when you can’t stand it any more. Or go by the 7 tick rule. Mine only dispel .5 liter from the globes and accumulator when I’m swapping the fluid. I’m calling that failed and looking for new globes. Without some indicator though of permeated membranes, it’s just your call on the ride I guess.
Swap them out when you can’t stand it any more. Or go by the 7 tick rule. Mine only dispel .5 liter from the globes and accumulator when I’m swapping the fluid. I’m calling that failed and looking for new globes. Without some indicator though of permeated membranes, it’s just your call on the ride I guess.
When i say failed, i meant completely failed, as in the nitrogen diaphragm ruptured and you basically have an empty canon ball. The last LX I bought, all 4 were ruptured, the ride home was absolutely brutal, i had no idea how bad it was until i got on the highway and hit some dips. Imagine taking a car, remove all the shocks and just drive on springs, that's what it feels like.
Then yes, I think most everyone would suggest to change them well before they get that far (obviously not everyone does). Count how many ticks the level in the reservoir changes L-H, I think it should be more than seven. Swap them sooner or later depending on how the ride feels to you.
shtbrwn86
SILVER Star
You got yours from Japan? Most of the OEM ones I see on ebay are from Japan, but the price seems pretty good ($900-$1200) range, however all the ads mention extra shipping or customs costs or whatever. Did you have to pay extra on top of the cost of the globes/shipping?
My 05 135k originals were working and managing 8+ graduations when I started considering the same. I swapped out just the rears first (higher pressure, hints of aeration) to see if I could tell a difference. I could not, but graduations rose to 11ish. Old globes were robustly intact upon removal. AHC pressures remain in, but on the high side of spec. I've elected to hold off on doing the fronts for the time being.
I don't know what that experience is worth in your situation, but good luck either way.
01 LX470 w/ 106k miles. The graduation test was showing 6 ticks and was like this since I bought the LX in 2018. Over the last year the ride in the back seemed to have gotten stiffer. I did a full flush a year ago and it didn't make a perceptible difference. Front and rear pressures are 6.7 MPa and 6.9 MPa, respectively. Decided to replace the globes with new OEM. When bleeding out the lines to depressurize the system, there was A LOT of foam coming out. The globes appear to have been originals with sticker date on them. After changing out the globes, I'm getting >12 graduations (couldn't count exactly since the fluid level at Lo was above the tick marks). Combined another full flush with the globe change out. End result - can't tell any difference.
I went from 7 to 14. The wobble stabilized for me, especially in the rear. Now I can really feel the difference between soft and sport suspension setting. I also changed out the steering column bushings and helped the feel as well.
What about the pressures now did you adjust the torsion bars? I would think they would maybe need to be loosened if the new globes gave lower pressure
Thanks for the thought! The pressure actually increased with the new globes by about ~0.3 MPa. Not sure if that's within the measurement accuracy/repeatability? Should I have expected the pressure to decrease with the new globes? I have a goal to bring the rear pressure within spec. Have some old, 80-series springs that might work.
