Thread: Air suspension struts - how can they still be good after 250k?

Originally Posted by Bulletman

When I asked AF im positive they told me they are made in China by Beijing west industries , but were made to the same standard as the Delphi struts.
Cheers Bulletman

Somewhere west of Beijing I’m guessing.

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

Somewhere west of Beijing I’m guessing.

I was at the time purchasing a new radiator after already having purchased and fitted the air struts and commented that I wanted a nissens brand not a made in China brand and his reply was my last purchase was made in China so why was I worried. My previous purchase was the 4 BWI struts as the package deal they did. I asked if he was referencing the struts and he said Beijing West Industries which now make the struts to Delphi specs... So read that as you will but I took it as they were now made in China.

To be honest if it wasn't so expensive to do so I would return them plus I'm only going on my feel of the car not any special tests to prove my suspicions, so it would be very easy for them to say they are fine and then I'm up for more expense to pay return freight not to mention a car out of action for a month or so .
Cheers Bulletman

I thought the suspension was gettng a little bouncy on my D4 with 152k km on it, but nothing too bad. Then I drove a D4 with 42k km on it today and the difference was obvious, the steering felt a bit nicer too. The struts on the low kilometer D4 (MY16) had BWI labels on them.

Hey bullet,

I am the same as you, my AF units are feeling crap. I reckon they are 60k old, not really sure, I know I won't get warranty, Rock Auto has a good price on Bilstein 4600 series shocks. I'll be building my own struts and replacing the BWI aswell, for me the Bilstein units will need to be painted. Don't want bright yellow shocks.

BWI group took over Delphi in 2009. So every D4 has "chinese" struts

Originally Posted by RoundaWhile

BWI group took over Delphi in 2009. So every D4 has "chinese" struts

Not necessarily, I believe they were still made in the UK until quite recently.

The Land Rover part numbers had been almost ground off my cheap set that lasted not more than half as long as genuine LR. Oil and seal quality options and the possibility of restricted use of LR valve settings leaves plenty of room for poor quality versions from the same factory that produces the genuine parts.

The question is if what LR genuine spares would sell you be any different to what AF supplies?