PSA for daily driven XIDA users.
 

Do NOT use in winter, OR dusty, dirty conditions without DUST BOOTS. I was outright told by Chris at Inertia Labs (the company that handles xida rebuilds, warranty or otherwise) that the shocks are not designed for use on freezing roads, or daily use on rough roads. The stainless retention rings are rapidly degraded by the salt on the roads.

I THOROUGHLY wash the underside of my car, regularly, and spend literally 10 full minutes cleaning EACH xida shock off, and my xidas are failing, again, this time it only took 6000miles.

I just really wish I would have known this, before hand. I would have invested in dust boots. I will post a link later today for dust boots that fit.

Hope this helps someone.

Dammit.

I remember using tie rod boots for shocks on subies, but they have hallway sized springs. What could fit in <2.25" and accordion that much, or are we looking at external boots to cover spring assemblies from tophat to shock.

How are they failing? What is the symptom? I have about that many miles on my road Miata with unbooted XIDAs.

How much is the rebuild costing?

I'm trying to think how you could have made this post more dramatic, but I'm drawing a blank. Won't any shocks regularly exposed to salted roads eventually have issues with the ferrous parts?

Anyway, do you mean the torrington bearings are rusting? There can't be many other exposed steel components other than them and the piston shaft..

He said stainless retention rings. Stainless steel is corrosion resistant, but when exposed to chlorides, it tends to crack.

I dont have a specific solution, but Ive seen boots that go over the springs and had velcro on the top and bottom.

I also contacted tractive about this, ill post what they reply.

I had seizing with the front shocks, not to mention loud squeaking. But they were rebuilt under warranty and havent seized yet.

The rear shocks are both leaking heavily. I hope they are covered under warranty, because Inertia labs rebuilt them recently.

I didnt mean to sound dramatic, I just want people to know they need to protect their xidas.

Always wrap it before fun time. Got it.

I would like to point out that Marcello's experience is quite out of the ordinary. I don't know his precise conditions or environment but to have a few shocks leak after only a year or so, rebuild all 4 then have all 4 start leaking just a year or so later.. is a category of one.

We have thousands of Xidas in the field. Shipping for over a decade now. Leaks are exceedingly rare. Like 10-15 or so replaced under warranty in the last decade. Dust boots are not a bad idea but please don't get the idea that there is some significant danger or design weakness here.

As you were :)

Would coilover socks work to protect them from salt etc? Although they may contribute in retaining humidity around the coilover which sounds bad.

Ah! Coilover sock! Thats what i was looking for. I kept searching for dust boot, dust cover, etc.

Now to find what dimensions will fit. Too bad I dont have a sewing machine.

Let me know if you have confirmed gutentight fitment around xidas.

Omg like xidacoozie

I don't think luck is the word I would use

I dunno'. My GEN2s are coming up on 4 years and 20K track miles. Due to my great driving skill (LOL), they see dusty conditions often. I've only lightly hosed them off once or twice in that time though. Maybe you are overcleaning yours in addition to the salt exposure?

Nicest socks I found.

https://stance-usa.com/shop/stance-e...r-shock-cover/

Yes but, are any of you driving in conditions like MN highways in the winter? I think there's less salt in the Pacific than they put down up here this winter. Are your asphalt roads white with salt thumpetto? You can build up a nasty crust of road salt real quick if the road is at all wet. :(

How does a XIDA know the difference between a curb at the track vs a rough road? FWIW shock covers do keep out some dirt and dust, but they also keep IN any dirt and dust that gets past them, as well as keeping in some extra heat.

True. I plan on zip tieing the top and bottoms of the sock, and checking inside whenever I wash the car.

Yes. They salt like mad here, even when it just dusts and doesnt stick. To be fair, it can also be undriveable at any depth of snowfall, since it tends to quickly become a frozen slush.

170 dollars for parts, 100-120 labor. EACH shock. Fyi, brand new, bare shocks from 949 are 385 shipped each. So...

+1 for not a HUGE deal.

I had some gen 1 Xida-S circa 2011 on my car until 2016, lots of street driving(~55k), random dirty mountain roads, a snow day or two, hell they even saw rally-cross(the sandy kind in FL). They were indeed "shot" internally once I sent them off to Inertia Labs to be rebuilt, but that didn't keep them from resetting the TTE record at Barber by ~3 seconds the weekend before I took them off ;)

So while my car was up in the air for the winter, I noticed that one had some surface rust on the shaft. Is this something I can use a scotch bright or whatever to try to knock most of it off? Leave it? Just send it?

I have a track day next week and I feel as though if it hadn't spent so much time in the air, that currently rusted section wouldn't have even been exposed.

All others looked fine. Just dirty from normal use.