How to Rebuild Shock Absorbers: Filling with Air

The shock absorber rebuild experiment continues. The rebuilt strut, filled with fresh oil, is pressurized to 50 PSI to fight foaming. You can see how I soldered a schrader valve from a tire into the outer shock tube to act as a fill port for both oil and air.

Here is an excelent video from shock manufacturer Bilstein demonstrating the role of gas pressure in preventing fluid foaming: Cavitazione ammortizzatore - Example ...