Air Suspension

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Author Message   Jay Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 09:14 pm:    Can you retro-fir a 95 and earlier air suspension from a Range to Disco. I assume its yes, because they have an almost identical chassis. Has anyone ever done this?   PerroneFord Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 09:28 pm:    Why on earth would you want to do this? Do you have any idea how expensive and problematic they are? People are scrambling to get rid of this stuff. If you really want one of these systems, hang out on the RN BBS for a week. Someone ditches one of these systems about once a week. Someone is getting rid of one right now. -P   Anonymous Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 09:31 pm:      Milan Posted on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 08:39 pm:    Well Perrone, I wanted to do it too because I'm sure I could make it work. But apparently it's not a straight swap - different spring seats/perches - so I was told. But most importantly when I asked on the RN board, people wanted over $700 for their useless SLS stuff. So I figured they could stuff them and I bought coils instead. If somebody there has free SLS, I'll take it. Let me know. ;)   PerroneFord Posted on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 11:25 pm:    You'd need to weld on some supports for the air tank if you wanted it in the stock location. As well as front shock mounts which are different, the spring perches as you mentioned, the computer logic, the compressor, the lines, etc. It seems like an awful lot of work for not much gain. The air bags are $250 each to replace, the valve block about $1500, the height sensors for $100+, the computer logic for over a grand... You could get all this stuff used, but you'd be facing replacement on it anyway as it appears to have about an 8 year lifespan if treated nicely. I forwarded some infomation to a gentleman last year about doing this. Sent some pics from and text from someone who'd done it a few years back. If you decide to do it, let us know. I'd like to see detailed pics. I was quite surprised that someone was able to use the EAS compressor and tank to do tire fills as the consensus was it couldn't be done. -P   Bill Bettridge (Billb) Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 09:13 am:    Milan, There's an article in this months LRO about a guy in the UK who put the system on his 110 if you want to check it out. Bill   tmsltd Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 09:31 am:    I have three valve bodies, one with a compressor, a few height sensors, and a two sets of used air springs. I would sell the valve body with compressor, one set of air springs and one air tank for $300. i do not have a computer or a complete set of height sensors. I have been using the air tanks and compressors to make on board air for Discoverys. Let me know if you are interested. trevor   Milan Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 07:27 pm:    I wanted just the air compressor and the valves, lines and the bags. I would not reuse the computer. But like I said I wanted it free - something sombody is about to throw out as I don't want to pay for an experiment that may not work. Thanks, Bill, I'll see if I can locate the mag.   PerroneFord Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 10:43 pm:    It's pretty rare to find them "for free" since people who are keeping the systems are often willing to pay handsomely for spare parts. -P   Darryl (Smeag) Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 11:12 am:    I'm converting mine to air up my tires, that little compressor is very expensive if bought from LR. With the right fittings it shouldn't be difficult. Darryl   Milan Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 07:53 pm:    Perrone, While I am cheap, I don't mind paying for something I know is worth a lot. However, every time I went to RN, somebody was whining about the EAS and how they're gonna convert to coils and when I asked for the "crap" they wanted hundreds of $$. That's what went agains my grain. tmsltd above has a much fairer price but like I said, for my purposes I'd only take one that someone wanted to get out of the garage. I'm just surprised, that people who have problems with it, don't rip out the computer and convert to manual contorl. I think air susp is nice and when it's all already hooked up why not use it.   PerroneFord Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:11 pm:    I think the problem is that its the air bags that tend to go first, not the computer. So replacing the air bag is about $250-275 a piece. And by the time one goes, they are all on their last legs. So unless people want to spend over a grand on 4 airbags and THEN converty to manual control, it's just much cheaper to convert to springs and be done with it all. I understand what you mean about the RN board and trying to find some deals. But like I said, people who are looking to buy spare parts are willing to part with a lot of cash, so it keeps the prices up. Good luck finding your stuff. If you're so inclinded, take pics and write a description because I'd really like to put that on the Spanish Trail page... -p   Kim S (Roverine) Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:37 pm:    i don't think i understand the air suspension ... i have wanted to try to undertand it better, but right now, i don't have a clue. i have sls in my d2 (which is "tricked" out a bit so it gives me a constant lift - not all the way tho') ... my gut feeling is that in the long run, it's not good. it just doesn't feel right ... as in i have thought it would be something that will eventually break, and i will have to deal with it ....to quote rob, (one of my favorite quotes, BTW) "damn, rarely do i feel i'm soooo right about something, without knowing anything about it. but damn... situations like this is where i'm usually at my wrongest" can anyone shed some light? ..in very simple, direct, terms? ... (Kyle?, hehehe) kim   PerroneFord Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 11:06 pm:    Kim, I don't know about SLS, but on the Rangie, the air springs take the place of the metal coil springs. They have a computer that determines when they inflate and deflate. When the rubber bags wear out, the leak and that corner sags. Older Range Rover classics would deflate all 4 springs when one failed and so you'd be forced to ride on the hard rubber bumpstops to the dealer, or get a flat tow. There is are a lot of points of failure in the system. The air bags, the connections at the bags, the lines, the valve block that controls flow on each line, the computer that controls the system, the height sensors that determine the height of each spring, the switches for manual control, etc. Many of these pieces are very expensive (like the valve block at $1500) so when the truck was out of warranty, many owners would just choose to replace the system with coil springs for perhaps $300. The system is nice when it's working, but over time, it has proven to be very unreliable and expensive to fix. Add to that, the fact that the dealer has to reset the computer when something in the system fails so every failure means a $100 trip to the nearest dealer, even if you've fixed the real problem yourself. Heard enough? -P   Jay Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 11:35 pm:    Well Ive heard enough. That killed my curiousity!! Time to move on to another idea. Thanks for the input guys. and girls   PerroneFord Posted on Friday, March 29, 2002 - 12:01 am:    Awww... and I didn't get to the part about when you go have tires put on and you don't turn the system off. Dangling the axles lets the system trigger an "out of range" fault and you get to visit the dealer and open the wallet. Same thing when you get exhaust work, or an oil change at a place that lifts the truck... Also of note, is that a lot of people claimed that the system was improved on the 95-01 RR. As these trucks are now getting older, the exact same failures are showing up. There is now a kit offered by some folk to convert the NBS rangies to coils as well. -P   Milan Posted on Friday, March 29, 2002 - 10:05 pm:    Well Perrone, You have good points but like I said, when I could not find a deal, I just went for coils. With coils, I know what I have and they're very reliable. So, sorry, I won't be doing any write ups soon. But the idea still intriques me enough that I may do it one day.