I have been getting emotionally involved with my Selective Ride suspension system. The little plastic gear piece inside one of my actuators broke. A new actuator costs about $250 and the plastic part can’t cost a nickel. There seems to be no known repair. I took on the challenge.

The plastic piece broke in half and fell out when I shook the actuator. I knew what I had to replace. The problem was making it and getting back inside the housing.

After several cold beers I decided that I could make the part out of nylon. I could get it back in the housing in two pieces and then glue them together when they were inside the housing. I made a flat piece for the bottom, folded it in half and pushed it through the hole. I cut the gear part from a nylon spacer. I put some epoxy on the gear part and slid that into the hole and clamped it in to let the glue set. The next day the glue had set, the piece was not glued to the actuator, the gear on the shock mated with the new piece just fine, and the thing went together without a hitch.

The question is, how long will it last? I drove it several times yesterday, and I drove it to work today. So far so good. We will see what the future brings. I figure it is worth at least a beer for each day it holds.

 

good luck
at one point in my career I worked in orthodics and prosthetics. If we had a part(plastic like those gears) we couldn't get we would sometimes make one by using a clay mold impression of the part and filling it with high density epoxy and carbon fiber.I also have FX3 and thought if I have to replace those gears I will try to make one first.