harsh ride

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citsncycles
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Re: harsh ride

Post by citsncycles »

AEP told me they get their spheres from IFHS in Belgium, and I bought comfort spheres from them last year which I'm happy with (although not listed by AEP). If you look on the IFHS website and PDF catalogue they appear to still list a choice for the BX, so I wonder whether "our supplier has superseded all the spheres to the one for the BX" is more a case that AEP have rationalised their range to avoid keeping slow moving parts in stock...
It depends on whether AEP deal direct or through a wholesaler or import agent.

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mat_fenwick
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Re: harsh ride

Post by mat_fenwick »

All the actually said is they get them from a company in Belgium - it was me who put two and two together when I realised that their part numbers are from IFHS. When I bought the comfort spheres, AEP said they were expected a shipment to be despatched that day so weren't certain whether it was too late to add them to the order. The fact they did manage it, and the date code stamped on them was the same date on which I ordered it suggests they were dealing direct rather than a wholesaler!
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Re: harsh ride

Post by rutter123 »

I have called AEP a few times to obtain a full set of 5 spheres, never had they had them all in stock at the same time, so i tend to use GSF now as if they not in stock will get them in same/next day, and i believe the AMTEC ones they supply can be re-gassed, as some cant.
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Re: harsh ride

Post by Defender110 »

I got mine direct from the IFHS website not through AEP, they do a good price on LHM Plus too, 5 ltrs for £22

http://www.sphere-shop.co.uk/sedan-24-c.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: harsh ride

Post by maxgreenwood »

Stevieb, I'd check the rear arm bearings, these can completely seize and altho the car will adjust to correct ride height, there will be little suspension movement even tho spheres are ok. . I thought my rear spheres were gone on this recent one I picked up but the garage told me no- arm bearings, and I've had a few BXs! I still had some suspension movement and they Wern't that noisy. They can partially seize- get them before they grind the arms to bits! Anyway the same back spheres on mine are perfectly useable now I've done the arm bearings. Altho I still might swap for my nice soft genuine cit ones on the 16TZS!


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Re: harsh ride

Post by stevieb »

I ordered some spheres from AEP three weeks ago and they said their supplier in Denmark will not be able to supply until next week. In the mean time the rear suspension is rock solid. I have not been using the car apart from a couple of local trips of less than a couple of miles to the dump or shop. Today after a nice warm dry day when all the ground has dried up i noticed that the leafy covering of road where i normally park was not damp with water but was patchy with LHM in various places.
A quick squint underneath saw an offside rear sphere wet with LHM. I started up, the suspension rose but the warning lights never went out, there was a soft 'bonk' sound (seal blowing?)and the rear suspension immediately collapsed with LHM pouring everywhere around the same sphere. Can anyone tell if this is this isolated to the rear sphere and could I have damaged anything by using it with hard suspension for those few times?......has this happened to anyone else?
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Re: harsh ride

Post by mat_fenwick »

Blind guess would say it's the suspension cylinder/strut corroding through :( I guess that using it with zero suspension would cause any pressure spikes to be transferred to the (weakened) wall of the cylinder rather than be absorbed by the gas in the sphere.
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Re: harsh ride

Post by stevieb »

got to be on the high pressure side .....are there any pipes in that area that could have corroded? where can i see a diagram?
Last edited by stevieb on Sat May 03, 2014 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mat_fenwick
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Re: harsh ride

Post by mat_fenwick »

Possibly. Should be fairly easy to see where a high pressure leak is coming from if you can get underneath!
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Re: harsh ride

Post by stevieb »

how can i get underneath with the car so low? I set the suspension to workshop setting to level the car off.......where do I position a jack?
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mat_fenwick
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Re: harsh ride

Post by mat_fenwick »

Depends what jack you have - some trolley jacks will fit. Or drive onto ramps if you have them. Or dig a hole to allow jack clearance, but possibly not if it's parked on a public road...
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Re: harsh ride

Post by Thread Bear »

A good set of ramps does seem to be the thing to have, unless superior technology is available. Somewhere I have seen a ramp with a jack attached to take the car higher on an adjustable basis. I suspect that would be expensive and you need a pair.
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Re: harsh ride

Post by MULLEY »

I've had a rear cylinder rupture, damn annoying, when it was removed the alloy casing was as soft as cheese, that shield is a design flaw imho. A few members on here have made some holes in the underneath of the shield to allow moisture to be released which hopefully will avoid the cylinder from staying wet & corroding.
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Re: harsh ride

Post by stevieb »

I've actually got off my arse and got something done about it.....there is no way I could muck about under the car or move it to my hard standing area at the rear of the house. After a bit of searching, I got the car collected and sent to an independent citroen specialist on a flat bed with a set of spheres in the boot BX55FB/BX40RB. They reported back today....all done.......The massive loss of pressure/leak was the back of the OSR sphere blowing open.......never seen or heard of this before....will post pics when I can. Four new spheres fitted and a new LHM....

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