Air Lift - Question About Bellows

[lowlvo]

I'm putting together ideas of how to put a bag over a MacPherson strut. I'd like to put the bag over my existing strut housing (which will be shortened with a short strut insert as well) and it seems like my options are very limited.

Universal Air Aero Sport seemed to be my only choice until I stumbled upon the Air Lift 50710 Replacement Bellows. From all the research I've been able to do it's the same bag that is used on the Universal 75561 and 75559.



Inside Diameter: 2.2"
Outside Diameter: 7"
Mounted height 8.8"
Total stroke 5.9"
Max compressor 2.9"

Now, my concern is that I don't know how the bags are constructed.The Aero Sport bags are sealed on the top and bottom, with threaded mounts and the air port, as I've been able to see from photos.They mount onto a steel plate that I could weld to my strut housing. Every photo I've found of Air Lift's 50710, 75561 and 75559 are from the top and show the red top plate.

How are the Air Lift bags sealed on these kits? How are the bellows mounted on the 75561 and 75559 strut kits? Are they a unit that I would be able to use in place of the Aero Sport bags, mounting them to a plate welded to my strut housing? Does the replacement bellows come with all of the hardware pictured?

Sorry for all the questions. Bagging old cars isn't easy if you're trying to do it on a budget.

[mike410]

So I swear that I had already replied to this yesterday, but I guess it didn't go through or something.

So I will do my best to answer your questions as I have the 75559 kit and have taken the bag off. The bag seals with an o-ring in both the top and bottom opening. The top one seals to the strut shaft. The bottom seals to the strut body. The bag is held to the strut body by the C shaped bracket that sits in a groove/ring that is machined into the strut. A nut on the top keeps the bag from coming off the top. I don't think it will be easy to use them in place of aero sports. They would require your strut to be the same circumference so that the bag could seal to it. Also the strut shaft would have to be the same circumference as well. I would assume that the replacement comes with all the hardware shown.

The only relevant picture that I have, its of the C bracket that holds the bag to the strut.

[lowlvo]

That's exactly what I needed to know. Thanks for that Mike. I think I'll be sticking with the Aero Sport's in that case.