Bx TD Estate Rear Suspension Cylinders

remedie · Post by **remedie** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:56 pm

Are BX estate rear hydraulic suspension cylinders interchangeable with any other in the range, ie Zantia, XM

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:11 pm

Not sure. They can vary even amongst the BX range itself. Sure someone will confirm!

remedie · Post by **remedie** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:17 pm

Thanks. The OSR has failed, pumping out the LHM everywhere.
Can't find a replacement anywhere so if anyone can help I would much appreciate it.

Discoil · Post by **Discoil** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:05 pm

When I was working at a Citroen garage I obtained some ' used ' Xantia rear cyls and found that by carefully filing the metal ( aly ) around where the pressure pipe went in, they were an exact copy of a BX one.

I've not used them as such yet but hindsight said to obtain some just in case!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:34 pm

I've been led to believe that Xantia non hydractive one's can be used as alternatives, should the much rarer bx one's not be available or if the price puts you off. They require modifying as per discoils comments, how much did you have to file off?

Discoil · Post by **Discoil** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:59 pm

MULLEY wrote: They require modifying as per discoils comments, how much did you have to file off?

I honestly can't remember. Being aly I filed then tested for size,filed,tested etc,etc.

I do remember being too aggressive with one cylinder ( to be used as a reluctant spare part if needed )

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:04 pm

I suppose the easiest way is to compare the bx one that is off the car with the replacement xantia one, measuring accurately how much to remove. Quite handy that these do fit, as they are often quite a bit cheaper than bx one's anyway & are actually available still.

remedie · Post by **remedie** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:10 pm

Many thanks you guys. I'll get to a breakers tomorrow and get one and
measure and fit. Just got the BX on the road again after 6 months sorn.
it's a great car considering it's got 234000 on the clock. I post a note when I've done it.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:50 am

i just looked on service citroen and they list two cylinders for the BX not including 4X4's

part No,s
95563031 saloon left ?

95599871 estate left ?
these are both 140.12 trade inc VAT each

the early XANTIA cylinder without HA

96073507
is 102.66 trade inc VAT

why they say left for the BX cylinder i dont know as im sure they aint handed,

also you could try PCR of lancing west sussex who are citroen peugeot dismantlers here is a link

http://www.pcr767676.co.uk/

regards malcolm

remedie · Post by **remedie** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:23 am

Many thanks for that. I did try PCR but no joy. So went to breakers yard and
managed to get 2 BX saloon cylinders. maybe I could use the seals or something. Or I might be really lucky and there the same.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:27 am

The estate ones are a larger diameter (presumably to cope with the extra payload of the estate), but I've heard of people using the hatch ones with no problems. It would be wise to do both sides at the same time though.
I've just put my last new spare on, however in this case it was the rod that had failed allowing the piston to pass the first seal - hence full HP pressure was blowing off the return pipe when on full height!

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:09 pm

The BX saloon and estate rear struts are identical and exchangeable. The estate strut has a larger i.d. and consequently a thinner outer cylinder thickness - this is why they fail more frequently.

Malcolm any chance you could look up this part no for me please ??
527225.
Its a Xantia rear strut but not the type that is BX exchangeable. Is it for an Auctiva or any 1996 onward Xantia. I bought it by mistake on ebay and now need to sell it on.

sdelasal · Post by **sdelasal** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:47 pm

what is a 'hydraulic suspension cylinders' ? is it the suspension strut, the sphere or something else? Steve

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:35 pm

It is the suspension strut Steve.

Jaba, that clarifies things. I knew that the piston was a larger diameter, therefore I assumed the whole thing was also larger. But I guess it makes (some kind of) sense to use the same casting and simply machine out the ID a little more. Or have a different insert in the same die tool to reduce wastage and machining...

RxBX · Post by **RxBX** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:08 pm

sdelasal wrote:what is a 'hydraulic suspension cylinders' ? is it the suspension strut, the sphere or something else? Steve

Steve in this Thread, a Rear Suspension Cylinder is being discussed ! In THISdiagrammatic it's labelled #9 (It's exactly that !)
It's a cylinder with a piston/ram which is Hydraulically pressurized with a Sphere connected to one end, then a connecting rod from the rear radius arm is located into a nylon/plastic centralizing cup internally to the piston /ram which then moves back and forth when radius arm goes up and down thus acting against the LHM fluid as the hydraulic medium and the nitrogen filled sphere with an internal diaphragm is acting effectively as the spring (That's why when the Sphere have gone flat you need them replaced otherwise its like riding on a Skateboard)
I hope this simple overview is of help for you Steve

Also have a read thro' this LINK and this one which shows a cross-section thro' a SPHERE.

Hi Mat,
Is it perhaps best to just put a good second-hand Xantia Estate pair off a non hydro-active model (At least then you know there an identical pair on the bore's etc.) and then just mod the feed pipe end length as discussed in THIS thread to clear the stop plates as fitted to the BX.

But is the BX push-rod end the same diameter as the Xantia push-rod at the end where it mates with the internal piston/ram, nylon/plastic centralizing cup though ! Can anyone confirm this ?