Air Struts: Repair, Replace, or Swap?

[LaMamelle]

Howdy!

I'm continuing to work on my 1986 XT Turbo, I had just finished rebuilding the breaks and was about to take her on her maiden voyage and as the compressor is going, I hear a quiet "psssh" which turns to a quick and louder "PSSSH". I am able to hear and feel a hole in the rubber boot on the driver side rear shock. It feels like it's right in the middle of the boot, about an 3/4 in wide. What's the best method for repairing these? Just a tire patch of some kind? or maybe some kind of thick rubber band? Or is it better to see if I can find a replacement on Ebay. Or should I give up on this 80s dream and go the practical route of replacing with regular coil and struts 😆.

Thanks in advance,

Philly

[moosens]

One vote for Replace with Struts.  
Did it with a wagon. Was so worth it.
 

Had an XT with same situation but never fixed it. My poor sister in law suffered that XT hardtail for a while before she’d had enough. Only reason to refresh or replace with same would be listening to your heart. My opinion. 

[LaMamelle]

16 hours ago, moosens said:

One vote for Replace with Struts.  
Did it with a wagon. Was so worth it.
 

Had an XT with same situation but never fixed it. My poor sister in law suffered that XT hardtail for a while before she’d had enough. Only reason to refresh or replace with same would be listening to your heart. My opinion. 

Hmmm, I think I'm going to at TRY to repair them, but as a backup, I'll get myself some regular struts. Do you know if the struts from an 89 XT6 would fit in an 86 without much issue? Or should I go for something else?

[moosens]

I’m not sure but i would think the XT6 is a little different ratio and might hold the nose up somewhat, or a general body lift by about 1/2” or so. 
 

Only a guess. 
 

Such little activity here compared to years back pre- FB but if you haven’t already so check the archives. 

[el_freddo]

I doubt you’ll find replacements other than the odd second hand unit that rarely comes up for sale. 

It would be cool to keep the air struts, to do that you’d probably need to find a suspension shop that specialises in this sort of thing. Take the struts in and leave your platinum credit card with them too. I’ve heard the air suspension rides very well.

Any 4wd L series struts will bolt straight in. That will be the easiest way to get your tex on the road while you decide on/sort out/bin the air struts. 

[LaMamelle]

I forgot to take a picture of the damage, but the hole was WAY bigger than 3/4 of an inch. It was on the reverse side so I couldn't see it at first. Maybe an inch and a half, right in the middle where it bends. I'm trying to rubber cement and a large rubber batch on the outside and then letting it cure over night. If that doesn't work I'll try to take the whole thing apart and do a patch on the inside and outside. 

If all else fails I've taken the regular struts off my, destined for the junk yard, XT6. You're right el_freddo, looks like it'll bolt right in. 

Sad to see my old XT go but her sacrifices will not be forgotten 😔.

[bushytails]

I wouldn't expect any reasonable repair to hold...  And if it did, it'd just pop somewhere else next week.  It's not like a tire where an object punctured it - it exploded because the material has failed with age.