"When towing the rear air suspension will compensate for heavy tongue weights which would normally leave a coil sprung car sagging."

A HUGE BENEFIT !!!!!! If you tow 6000 lb while carrying ~ 2000 lbs of bricks (calculated each time right up to the train and axle weights of the vehicle) --- air suspension is a MUST IMO. Yes, I have done it many times in my LR4s and 2020 Defender and never had a problem.

Enjoy!

 

Pick one. Both can’t be true.

And notice the smiley face.

 

Saw the smiley face first time. But sorry, both are true.😇

 

There is always the stories of the air suspension issues. Of course you don't hear the ones about what happens when coils break. I have had coils break, or get the mean lean to one side, sit on their butt with a trailer. Air offers a ton of advantages, which is why most decent vehicles go to them now. Coils are 30's tech, yes no moving parts, but they do break, when they do they damage stuff. My 97 NAS Defender broke a coil, destroyed the shock and ripped the brake line. It also took a couple of days wok to fix everything. Coils are just plain dangerous to change yourself. You need a spring compressor, which in of itself is a goofy tool. I have had air on my P63 RR and the L322 RR SC. The P63 never failed anything in the air system, its climate control system was its weak design factor. The L322 needed both front struts after 14 (they went about 4 months apart) years and I also replaced the front level sensors. That truck had about 40K off-road, I used it for work.The struts cost $155 rebuilt and take about an hour and 10 minutes to change. The level sensors cost $22 aftermarket and take almost 10 minutes to change. Problems are fairly easy to diagnose. Go to the 4x4 info page, look at the reference blocks that show the shock height and the sensors where it thinks the shock should be.

Coils and leafs all take a set after time, your truck will lean. They are a pain to change. The air shocks outlast most conventional shocks by 70K miles. They just are not that hard to change. The parts are not that expensive aftermarket. The truck just handles better with air. It is kind of like cassette tapes where replaced by CD's and CD's by digital players, don't see a lot of people going retrograde there. Same with suspensions.

 

I think the air suspension is absolutely fantastic. The ride quality on an air-equipped Defender, particularly with tire pressures at light load level, is excellent.

 

my car also has this issue. It lowers in the front after being parked ( when in offroad height)
id like to bring this issue to my dealer. What should i tell them how should they diagnose it

 

Another coil vs air post.... You will have some die hard air suspension people as well as coil springers, albeit less of the latter. As stated above. Air suspension has a bunch of benefits. Auto leveling for heavy loads and tongue weight. Lowering for access mode for easier entry and also for low garage doors. Ability to raise the vehicle up for clearance. Also comes with electronic dampening shocks which can soften or firm up the ride when needed. It is amazimg how well this system works especially on the road. Virtually no body roll and the vehicle just seems so firmly planted yet comfortable.
The benefits for coils are that it is just way more simple and easy to fix. Way less complicated with way less components. This all translates to less likely to fail (some try hard to disprove this) . There is also the fact that you can tune a coil spring. You can engineer a spring to have multiple different rates. An air bag is a balloon. Also you have conventional shocks and struts. Easy to swap out with aftermarket and much less likely to fail (numerous reports of rear EDC shock failure already). It is just more reliable.

​​​​​​The coil sprung defender definitely dives more on braking, noses up when accelerating, and has more body roll when cornering. It feels softer in that respect. It will sag when u put a load in or on it. And if you lift it as i did, it is a pain to get in and out of it. The technology of the air and electronic dampening does correct a lot of those issues. It is amazing how well it works.

​​​​​​AS the op asked, if it is mainly for road use, air suspension is worth it. I think the benefits outweigh the drawback.

In my opinion, for off road and for overlanding where long trips in remote areas and no easy access to a dealership are a common occurance, i believe coil springs are a better solution. More durable, simple and easy to fix. Just 4 coils and 4 shocks vs numerous components with ecus and lots of wiring and plumbing. On an already complex and tech heavy vehicle, the air suspension just adds more potential for failure that involves needing access to dealer level repair and diagnosis. I believe and have 1st hand knowledge that when properly set up, coils will stack up and even out perform air suspension in certain off road situations.

So let the coil spring bashing replies commence! 😃




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Only happening in offroad height? Interesting. Mine happens in regular height, and honestly, I rarely adjust. I told my dealer what was going on and at first they found nothing and asked if I was OK with the tech taking it home overnight (and I was). When he was driving it the issue happened where it lifted while sitting at a stoplight, so I guess I got lucky. I'm not sure why they couldn't just let it sit at the dealership overnight and measure before/after, but I'm no LR service expert.

For you, I'd take it in and explain the issue and see if they'll help you out based only on that, since it shouldn't be dropping at all overnight, barring wild temperature swings.

 

Well said, Sarek. Open-minded and balanced.

 

Sarek et. al:

I am currently suffering a learning experience with my 2011 LR4, which I have relocated far away from any JLR or equivalent service center. In response, I am looking for / building an "immobilization potential" list to understand if, in the end, I need to scrap out a perfectly good and likeable 2011 LR4 vehicle in order to go back to a pre-1985 laws and technologies truck -- maybe even to 1975 era vehicles.

So far, I have recently been immobilized by:

1) a failed fuel pump computer module, which I solved by trouble shooting with a known good one and buying a new one off of ebay;

2) what appears by iterative testing / deduction to be a failed KVM module or receiver (keyless entry). To avoid the cost of replacing the KVM and to use the truck in a remote location, I am learning by trial and error the extreme sensitivity to incorrect placement of the key fob (and its RF ID transponder) in relation to the immobilzer receiver which is located beneath the steering column -- basically its taking me up to 10 minutes to place the key fob in a location which provides a signal to the ECU that I am an authorized person to push the start button;

3) a leaking transmission -- for which there is no useable fill point -- nor more importantly, any up-top method to measure the amount of fluid in the transmission;

4) and a new recall on the fuel filler neck -- which I am just now contemplating how to address.

5) Coil replacement kits exist for the LR4, so we have a solution to the "air bag fails in the outback" challenge.

Enjoy !!