RE: Oil Vs Antifreeze in struts

[Thi VanAusdal <tvanausdal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Hello BMW Experts!       I was soo happy to see two posts
> on this subject!
>     Thi says on this topic:
> >My thought is this:
> >what harm, if any, does the oil do if used?
> >You have heat transfer with oil.
> >Will the damping be affected by too much cooling?
> >Will they drop down to near freezing?  Will ice
> >form on your struts?  Maybe we could run cooling ducts
> >to the brakes from the strut then.  Okay, this is silly. *SLAP*
> >Thanks, I needed that.
> >Use oil, there's no downside.  Unless you spill it.
>      The only downside I can think of is that oil and water
> don't mix, so if water was left in, or got in, it might make
> some rust.
>      The up-side to antifreeze (as I see it), is that it mixes
> with water, and it is optimized for heat transfer and for anti-
> corrosion.  Conversely, I would think oil would be optimized for
> lubrication.                  Murf (splitting hairs?)

The earl [sic] is not in a place that needs lubrication.

The strut tube is designed to accomodate the strut insert
with a little slop - sort of like porn actresses.  [NOW you're awake]
Anyway, by tightening down the collar + washer at the top of
the strut insert, you remove the radial and axial slop.  The
oil is just there to transfer heat.  If your insert is moving
inside of your strut, you have some serious issues to handle.

And please don't drive anywhere near li'l ole me on the road. :)

With antifreeze, you do have anticorrosion additives.  Well, just
like oil.  With antifreeze, though, the lower specific heat (due
to lower viscosity) makes it less desirable.  I doubt that it 
makes much difference, though, for this use.

 - Thi V.

------------------------------