LS400 / UCF11 Front air strut - different connector?

[Toml]

Hi all,

Anyone aware of a change to the OEM Toyota air strut fittings/connectors?

The car is an 89 UCF11 Celsior / LS400 -- I just replaced my front struts with brand new Toyota struts (same part number), but the air line fitting is slightly different and doesn't connect correctly to the new struts.

I've had a look around at aftermarket air suspension fittings and they all seem to use a completely different type of connector than the Toyota struts, so does anyone know whether such a connector would be available outside of Toyota to build some new lines?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Lextreme II]

Can u send some pictures?

 

[Toml]

I'm going to try and get some, but I think I'll have to pull one of the new struts out again because its too hard to see through the hole in the fender.

 

[Toml]

OK I took a few pics with the new struts still in the car; hopefully we can see the differences.

First, the front air tube connector looks like this:

The old strut connector. You can see below that it only protrudes 8-10mm from the strut.

Hopefully you can see here that there's two 'levels' in the old strut fitting - the first level is flat and the next is threaded. Compare this to the first pic of the air tube connector and you should understand how this fits.

Now the new strut. The end of the fitting protrudes over 15mm from the edge of the strut, so its much longer than the old strut. Also you should be able to see that there's only a single 'level' inside the fitting, the threaded level comes all the way to the edge. This is the same thread as the old strut, so I can screw the first level of the air tube connector into the new strut, but the second level comes up against the outside edge. Hopefully this makes sense.

Thanks for any help offered.

 

[Lextreme II]

It should be ok if it fits. I have one air strut available but not sure left or right....

 

[Toml]

Nah, it's not okay.

It "fits", but it doesn't fit correctly and doesn't let any air out of the struts. There's a rubber check valve in the opening of the connector on the strut, and the old air tube fitting doesn't extend far enough into the strut to release this valve.

I'm basically looking for any experience to see whether anyone's seen another type of fitting (i.e. was this a change in the later model UCF11s?).