# Problem with Air Lift Slam XL strut bearing's



## 1490R32 (Jan 9, 2011)

Has anyone had the same problem with having to rebuild AirLift strut bearings. I was going to do my frame notch today and noticed this when I took the wheel off.










See video link. This is not my car but its doing the same thing.









After looking around to find out what caused it I found that the strut bearings went bad again and caused my tire to ware uneven on the inside. I put my hands around the strut and pushed back and forth and noticed a lot of play in the strut bearing. This is the second time in less than two years and 20k of ownership. AirLift has been very cool about sending me rebuild kits under warranty but this is getting old and expensive. The weird thing is that the car drove fine and showed no signs of any problems and I would have never noticed it until the tire blew up. This post is not to bash AirLift, I love there products but just need some help finding out why this keeps happening.


I went to rebuild the strut bearings today and discovered this uneven ware on the metal shaft that the plastic bearing rides on. These picks are of the same strut (passenger side) grooves on one side and smooth on the other side. This explains the sloppy movement from side to side and the repair kit did nothing to help the situation. I hope AirLift will honor the warranty with such low miles on it?


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## Squirrel Nuts (Aug 25, 2010)

I believe we have the same exact issue. Air Lift has been great sending me a repair kit and now a new strut. I've had this issue since the first week of installation and it drives me nuts as the car has never been able to be aligned properly and it makes an annoying creaking/squeaking sound. Hopefully the new strut takes care of my issue. I also took the bag off the strut and noticed that the shock was leaking grease.


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## 1490R32 (Jan 9, 2011)

Squirrel Nuts said:


> I believe we have the same exact issue. Air Lift has been great sending me a repair kit and now a new strut. I've had this issue since the first week of installation and it drives me nuts as the car has never been able to be aligned properly and it makes an annoying creaking/squeaking sound. Hopefully the new strut takes care of my issue. I also took the bag off the strut and noticed that the shock was leaking grease.


 My struts made a creaking/squeaking sound when they went bad the first time but no warning signs this time around and have been quiet ever since now. How hard was it to get AirLift to finally send you a new strut and are you having problems with both sides or just one?


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

I guess i am not quite getting the point here, how can a bad strut bearing (plastic plates in this case) cause tire wear like that?


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## 1490R32 (Jan 9, 2011)

MechEngg said:


> I guess i am not quite getting the point here, how can a bad strut bearing (plastic plates in this case) cause tire wear like that?


 Yes, plastic plates that's the reason they fail I think? When they ware out it causes play from left to right and creates negative camber on the tires. If there is any play in those plastic plates it will naturally want to lean in towards the engine bay and puts most of the weight of the car on the inside corner of the tire. At least that's what my tire guy and a person from AirLift told me today. They are sending me another rebuild kit to fix the problem for a second time under warranty. Its my fault for not catching this sooner because I have been lazy about not getting a alignment and rotating my tires for the past 10k miles. (Lesson learned) I just changed my oil a few weeks ago and did not notice it then but was not even looking at the tires to be honest with you.


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## plastic_bullet (Mar 11, 2006)

With as common as this problem is, you think they find a permanent fix...


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## 1490R32 (Jan 9, 2011)

Bump with update. Help!


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## slawny091 (Jan 18, 2009)

I've had the same issue with mine, only on the driver side though..... It's a bit aggravating knowing that I paid $1600 for this suspension and even with replacement parts, the strut is still the same. Time for Airlift to address this issue with a new bearing design. Just throwing this out there, wouldn't metal be better to use than plastic?!


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## chrisgti03 (Jun 13, 2003)

I'm getting my baggs put in this wed. I also am going to be running slam xl in the front. I'm also goin to having this issue?


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## 1490R32 (Jan 9, 2011)

chrisgti03 said:


> I'm getting my baggs put in this wed. I also am going to be running slam xl in the front. I'm also goin to having this issue?



I think you will be fine! AirLift is a great company and makes a great product. There is a lot of people who run Slam XL'S without any problems. Its like anything else you buy there is a certain % of failure rate per X amount of units made. I am just one of the unlucky one I guess. I have a call in with Jeff at AirLift and hope they fix the problem I am having and stand behind there product.


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## 1490R32 (Jan 9, 2011)

AirLift has great customer service and is going to replace my bad bag under warranty Thanks for everything Jeff and Jeremy at Air Lift:thumbup:


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## plastic_bullet (Mar 11, 2006)

Would delrin be a better alternative to what they are currently using? I plan to make my own at work, and see how they perform.


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## 1490R32 (Jan 9, 2011)

*Air lift is the Best.*

Air Lift sent me a new bag to fix the problem under warranty Thanks Jeff and Jeremy for the great customer service.


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## 20thGTI12 (Feb 18, 2005)

is there a write up to rebuild the airlift xl bushings? I remember seeing the link and now I cannot find it anymore...


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2008)

20thGTI12 said:


> is there a write up to rebuild the airlift xl bushings? I remember seeing the link and now I cannot find it anymore...


 Shoot me an email at [email protected] and I can email you the instructions.


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

20thGTI12 said:


> is there a write up to rebuild the airlift xl bushings? I remember seeing the link and now I cannot find it anymore...


 Of course there is  

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5642846-DIY-Airlift-front-strut-upper-plate-rebuild


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## Seidelly (Jan 23, 2011)

I have had this same problem as well.. With less than 2500 miles on the bag setup.... They were great about sending me repair kits, but again after 500 miles they're bad again.. 

Its a good thing I do this **** my self, because if I didint, this would be costing me hundreds to have them pulled and fixed each time.... 

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:


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## plastic_bullet (Mar 11, 2006)

The ****ty thing is they know this is a problem and still haven't done and thing to solve it. They just keep pumping out repair kit after repair kit... To have such a great product, that's backed by their customer service, you think they would be quick to find a solution to this.


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## vjg1215 (Mar 23, 2009)

plastic_bullet said:


> The ****ty thing is they know this is a problem and still haven't done and thing to solve it. They just keep pumping out repair kit after repair kit... To have such a great product, that's backed by their customer service, you think they would be quick to find a solution to this.


 Agreed.


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## Lawn_Mower (Jul 15, 2008)

Hmmm... would this cause squeaking over bumps and such? Possibly steering wheel vibration?


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## ryanmiller (Apr 13, 2006)

I'm considering using this style bearing when mine go out.. 

food for thought. 










with these on either side.. 










only issue is keeping it sealed , although the current ones aren't sealed anyway


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

Lawn_Mower said:


> Hmmm... would this cause squeaking over bumps and such? Possibly steering wheel vibration?


Possibly. Hit me up online and I can get you a rebuild kit :beer:


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## NotoriousWithaG (Apr 28, 2005)

I have a feeling mine are going bad too, for the last two weeks ive been hearing a creaking/squeaking sound from mainly the right side and sometimes the left combined but havent felt anything through the steering wheel while driving. And in the next week im planning on takinga 2 hour trip so Im kind of hesitant.

Are there any other ways to tell besides jacking the car up and moving the strut around?


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## Jfelicia64 (May 30, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> Possibly. Hit me up online and I can get you a rebuild kit :beer:


 
So creaking when taking off or driving over speed bumps slow etc is a sign of bearings going bad? I have been experiencing this lately


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## SMG8vT (Oct 8, 2004)

This thread just scared me off of XL's for the time being


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## plastic_bullet (Mar 11, 2006)

SMG8vT said:


> This thread just scared me off of XL's for the time being


Don't be such a girl


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## SMG8vT (Oct 8, 2004)

Just keeping my old HPS's for now they work perfect, hardly any mileage on them.


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## egobrain (Apr 11, 2013)

Where I can find bearings like yours?


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## plastic_bullet (Mar 11, 2006)

egobrain said:


> Where I can find bearings like yours?


How weird for this thread to show up, I ordered a couple rebuild kits yesterday. 

Are you talking about what Ryan posted? I would check mcmaster-carr for something like that. For a standard rebuild I would check ORT, br, or airlift, they're about $10-15 per kit. :thumbup:


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## egobrain (Apr 11, 2013)

plastic_bullet said:


> How weird for this thread to show up, I ordered a couple rebuild kits yesterday.
> 
> Are you talking about what Ryan posted? I would check mcmaster-carr for something like that. For a standard rebuild I would check ORT, br, or airlift, they're about $10-15 per kit. :thumbup:


Yeap, I was talking about Ryan's post.
Airlift sends me a repair kit for free. But as I see most of XL users stacks on this problem maybe once or twice in year. Repair kits price not so high, but delivery to Russia costs 75$, and I want to resolve this problem once and for all. 
Now I'm trying to find any way to change plates on XL struts with option to install reliable bearings...:banghead:


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